Episode 127 :: Nerdy Show Book Club – Ready Player One
Grab your oscillation overthruster and shove some garbage in your Mr. Fusion, ’cause we’re blasting off into 1980s obscurity! This month’s community read-along is Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One a book tailor-made for any geek nurtured in the neon womb of 80s excess and schooled on some of the greatest nerd-centric pop culture ever made. But is a book written by a nerd for nerds a good thing? Can carefully catered niche references go too far? And how does its sci-fi story stack up against its contemporaries?
Join Cap, Hex, Colin, Brandon, and Tony for another adventure into the dog-eared pages of Nerdy Show Book Club. Find out what other books we’re reading and what we think about ’em. Get in on the fun and read along with us!
Next Month’s Read-Along Book: Neuromancer by William Gibson 
- Sunglasses at Night :: The Megas
- Spin Me Right Round :: Robotronica
- Dead Man’s Party :: Intervision
Books Discussed:
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
- Ready Player One Audiobook read by Wil Wheaton
- Willow by Wayland Drew
- The Stuff of Legend by Mike Raicht, Brian Smith, & Charles Paul Wilson III
- Cover Run: The DC Comics Art of Adam Hughes
- Neuromancer by William Gibson
Links:
- Previous Nerdy Show Book Clubs
- Discuss Ready Player One on the forums
- Discuss Neuromancer on the forums
- Ready Player One’s movie deal
- Ready Player One contest announcement
- More info on the IRL Easter Egg Hunt
- War Games
- Pittsburgh Batman
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (117.7MB)
4 Comments
Only part way through, but I do feel compelled to point out, the car with the ghostbusters decals and ocilation overthruster that you thought was self congratulation? It isn’t. Or, at least not the way you think. Ecto 88 actually exists. Cline customized it himself. In fact, the contest to win a delorean was origionaly to win Ecto 88, but Cline couldn’t bear to part with it. So, really it’s more of a cameo appearance.
Well, he made it after he wrote it. At least that’s my understanding. Anyway, like I said, I’m all for Ecto 88, makes sense to me!
Ah. I’d assumed he made it ahead of time.
Great episode. I hadn’t heard about “Ready Player One” yet — going to check it out after I finish the book I’m currently reading. Sounds like a fun read.
I loved that Oingo Boingo cover played at the end. 🙂