Ready Player One

I consolidated the comments for my reference later. Someone else might also find it useful: # Fiction Books Recommended for Programmers (HN Thread 46128404) ## Adrian Tchaikovsky - *Children of Time* — Science Fiction (Evolution, Space Opera) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25499718-children-of-tim... (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25499718-children-of-time) ## Rick Cook — Wizardry Series - *Wizard’s Bane* — Fantasy, Programming/Magic Mashup https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112616.Wizard_s_Bane - *Wizardry Series (overview)* https://www.goodreads.com/series/43084-wiz ## James P. Hogan - *Inherit the Stars* — Hard Science Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/743568.Inherit_the_Stars - *Code of the Lifemaker* — Sci-Fi, Artificial Life https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/296722.Code_of_the_Lifem... (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/296722.Code_of_the_Lifemaker) - *The Two Faces of Tomorrow* — AI, Hard Science Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218017.The_Two_Faces_of_... (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218017.The_Two_Faces_of_Tomorrow) ## D. F. Jones — Colossus Trilogy - *Colossus* — AI, Classic Sci-Fi Thriller…

"Galatea 2.2" by (my all-time favorite author) Richard Powers "Off to Be the Wizard" by Scott Meyer "Daemon" by Daniel Suarez "The Adolescence of P1" (vintage) by Thomas Ryan "Snow Crash" by William Gibson "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline "We are Legion [We are Bob]" by Dennis Taylor

Anything Neal Stephenson. I've read them all. Multiple times. But some other stuff that people haven't yet mentioned that I enjoyed: - Matt Haig: The Humans, How to Stop Time - Richard Morgan: Altered Carbon trilogy - Ramez Naam: Nexus Trilogy - Hugh Howie: Silo series - Ann Leckie: Ancillary Justice - Ernest Cline: Ready Player 1

Nearly every time the USMC list goes up on HN, the reaction is the same: Why the heck is Ready Player One on the list? Thanks for diving a bit deeper into the selection. To add a bit more context, the USMCRL has this in addition to the categorization: "2044. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets..." As the selection is in the 'Primary Level - Enlisted' alongside Ender's Game and Rifleman Dodd, I think it is there to showcase initiative and intelligence for young enlisted marines. Still, I'll admit, it is a strange choice.

I also really enjoyed this book, despite being born in 89. But, at the same time, it felt like the book was just him writing out lists of references, and just saying what was happening. The author is not the best "writer". That being said, the book is good, and ridiculously addicting to read. I read the whole thing over two days and couldn't put it down.

Ready Player One. Read it before seeing the movie. If you were born in late 70s or 80s, you will enjoy the references.

Some books that I recently read and enjoyed: Non-fiction a) Sapiens (Yuval Noah Harari) b) Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon (Kim Zetter) c) Hackers: Heroes of the computer revolution (Steven Levy) d) Masters of Doom (David Kushner) Fiction: e) The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Leo Tolstoy) f) Ready Player One (Ernest Cline)

1. Off to Be the Wizard (Scott Meyer) - Very good. 2. Ready Player One (Ernest Cline) - I liked it although it's kinda ridiculous and one-sided. 3. The Bloodline Feud (Charles Stross) - Actually part 1&2 of a series. Really need to continue, very good. I'd say this was not "oh I know what will happen next" which is kinda rare. 4. The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman) - It's ok, but not as good as I had hoped. 5. Coraline (Neil Gaiman) - It's a children's book, and very short, but I liked it a lot. 6. Accelerated C++ (Koening/Moo) - Not finished, I was under the impression it's "C++ for programmers well-versed in other languages" and for that it's a bit slow-starting, but not bad I guess I really need to read more. :|

Worth mentioning: 1. Ready Player One 2. On The Road (re-read)

* Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo. Powerful anti-war story. * Vagabonding, by Rolf Potts. Shaped my views on hard work and travel. * 1984, by George Orwell. Brilliant and terrifying. * The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. Overcoming mental pain through consciousness. * Planetwalker, by John Francis. Inspired me to walk and put myself into things more. * Pure enjoyment: Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson), Ready Player One (Ernest Cline), Watchmen (Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons), Red Rising trilogy (Pierce Brown). Honorable mention: The Water Knife (Paolo Bacigalupi).

I'll second The Baroque Cycle (or Cryptonomicon: it doesn't matter which). But might I also suggest the works of Terry Pratchett, particularly Discworld? Sir Pterry's work is among the best I've ever read. If you're looking for something a bit fluffier than the above, then I would suggest The Dresden Files. Sure, it's mindless fluff, but man, it's good mindless fluff. The same applies to The Codex Alera (which apparently resulted from a bet that the author couldn't make a good book from an awful idea: the idea given was the lost roman legion crossed with Pokemon). I can also suggest Ready Player one in this category. Ready Player One is essentially geek culture (especially gaming culture) furiously... well, you know. Giving itself one. But it's a fun ride (unlike Armada. But that's another story).…

I read 'Ready player one' and I really enjoy it. Right now I am reading 'Seveneves' recommendend by Bill Gates.

I'll second someone else's recommendation for The Martian, that was just a really fun read you can just burn through because it is so enjoyable. If you want another really fun read, Ready Player One was fantastic. I've also enjoyed the Old Man's War saga, there are 6 books but you can skip book 4 since it is a retelling of book 3 from the POV of another character. This is a space saga and I really like the universe he created. In the hard sci-fi genre, I really enjoyed The Forever War. And for just pure world building fantasy, the Game of Thrones books (The song of Ice and Fire series) are some of the best written books I've ever read.

+1 (+2?) for Deep Work and Ready Player One. Read both this year, and both are excellent. Also really liked The Martian.

Last year I gave myself a Zuckerberg-style goal to read a book every two weeks. It started well, but some months were harder than others (usually when the book wasn't very good, so I would switch to podcasts for a few weeks, before getting back on track). Here's an unordered list of the best: [BUSINESS / SELF-IMPROVEMENT] - "Work Rules!" - about Google's culture and values - "Search Inside Yourself" - about mindfulness, meditation, and the impact on your life. - "What got you here won't get you there" - Liked a lot more than I expected. - "Re-read Innovator's Dilemma" - a great classic; never gets old. - "How will you measure your life" - from the same author. Also excellent. - "The Best Service is No Service" - good overview on why Amazon's customer service is so good - "Crucial Conversations" - half is common sense; half is good tips to practice everyday. [PROGRAMMING] - "Fluent Python" - was afraid it'd be too basic, but not really. Enjoyed it a lot. - "Think Complexity" - about algorithm complexity, data structures, etc. Great read. - "Python Data Science Handbook" - meh. - "Fundamentals of Deep Learning" - good intro. Helped me solidify some concepts from Andrew Ng's ML course…

Oh boy, you fucked up now. Here are the books I read this past year that I felt were "Good", starting from the most recent : To Kill A Mocking Bird (Insanely good) True Grit (Insanely good) The Little Friend (Good) Priceless (Very good, about art theft) The Secret History (Insanely good) Ready Player One (Good, nerdy) Shadow Divers (Very good, history nerd book) Diary of Anne Frank (Very good) Unbroken (Very good, way better than the movie) With The Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa (Very good) Seveneves (good, but I'm a Stephenson fanboy) The Martian (Very good, but just watch the movie). I read a bunch of other stuff, but that's what I found really "good" this past year.

Got a new job in May so slowed me down, but got through around 8 this year. I'm a Lencioni fan: Death by Meeting -- Describes 3 types of meetings Getting Naked -- Describes how to consult I'm also a Marshall Goldsmith fan: What Got You Here Won't Get You There - Once you get beyond a Director level with some mistakes, read this book Mojo, How to Get It, How To Keep It - Another "look yourself in the mirror" book Also: 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership - John Maxwell. A little prod to act more like a leader. Ready Player One -- Ernest Cline, Great Young Adult Book. Escapist fantasy. Every Shot Counts -- Mark Broady, Statistical Look At Golf, but has some smell of Kahnemann To Kill A Mockingbird -- Timeless Classic I Never Got To. Loved Atticus. I won't read a Watchman if it spoils my view of what Atticus was all about. Started But Not Finished: Business Dynamics Thinking -- Sterman (out of MIT). I need to take off work to read this 'cause it is so massive. Basically it is control theory applied to business modelling. However, I am convinced if somebody can apply these models, it really is the best competitive advantage. However, too people willing to stick with it.…

Riyria Revelations trilogy - quite good. Follows two thieves for hire. Read the books in publication order Ready player one - liked it samurai's garden Expanse series by James Corey entertaining Steelheart and Firefight by Sanderson- good but like Mistborn better Worm online serial parahumans good Nonfiction I read: Delivering happiness, Drive, Power of Habit, Power of full engagement

Ready Player One. by Ernest Cline. Brilliant geeky read (fiction) :)

I read The Martian, Snow Crash, and Ready Player One over the course of a month or two. All three of those books have their flaws but I enjoy the style and page turning nature of them a lot.

Just finished: Ready Player One and The Riftwar Saga (both very enjoyable) Reading: Predictably Irrational (more substance than most business books I've read)

I started The Martian by Andy Weir about 3 days ago and I'm really enjoying it. It's a really entertaining book that I highly recommend! Last week I finished The Paradox of Choice and Zero Day. I enjoyed both of them, although I don't think I'll be reading any of the sequels to Zero Day. Before that I went through The Maze Runner trilogy, those were entertaining reads. Some other books I've read recently that I can remember off the top of my head are the Divergent series of books (eh), How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen (great read), Ready Player One (loved, loved, loved this book), Starters (didn't bother reading any more in the series) and Moon walking With Einstein (I enjoyed it).

I too just finished Ready Player One. Such a great read. I tend to lean on Good Reads lately for recommendations. But picked up Atopia Chronicles (http://amzn.com/B00DUK1RKY) after browsing popular sci-fi on amazon's best-sellers list. It has great similarities to Ready Player One - virtual presences, future VR challenges, etc. but a very different kind of book (split into multiple story lines, not one continuous story). But that said, if you've not read Snow Crash then drop everything and read that next!

I'll 2nd Ready Player One as a great book. It and The Sentinels by James Layton were my two favorite reads this year.

I make note of the books I read in 1-2 sittings because I can't put them down. This year these were: Five Billion Years of Solitude - Lee Billings Ready Player One - Ernest Cline Grand Ambition: An Extraordinary Yacht, the People Who Built It, and the Millionaire Who Can't Really Afford It - G. Bruce Knecht

Reamde by Neal Stephenson, Daniel Surez freedom (tm), deamon, and kill decision. ready player one anything by mark twain

I wouldn't class Ready Player One as the best book of 2012, but it was certainly enjoyable (when I read it in 2011). I prefer This Is Not A Game and Pattern Recognition in this genre; also worth checking out is Tad Williams' Otherland series.

Ready Player One was the best book I read this year, and the best in recent memory. My wife — who isn't into video games or much of 80's culture — loved it as well.

I read a number of good books but hands down my favorite that I read in 2012 was Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. This is from Amazon: At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, READY PLAYER ONE is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed. It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.…