Ready Player One, Ernest Cline

I read this book in a weekend and loved it - it's a proper adventure story, set in a vividly described world which feels just about plausible.

It's about a virtual reality world called OASIS and it's creator, 80's pop-culture obsessed James Halliday. OASIS is a phenomenon in which most people spend almost all their lives, going to school, gaming and socialising in this world. Halliday dies with no heir and hides his fortune as an easter egg in OASIS. The novel follows our protagonist who is trying to find the fortune.

A quote on the cover says Ready Player One is a cross between The Matrix and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - the format also reminded me of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It's gripping, funny and just a brilliant idea, the competition is a great format to explore the idea of VR and how it could become intrinsic to our lives.

The protagonist is the usual kids/teen fiction hero; no family, poor and unattractive which is vaguely annoying, but he is well drawn and you absolutely want him to succeed. The novel touches on loads of themes which are relevant to how we live now and the way humanity might be heading. Cline makes you think, but without beating you over the head with ideas. The 80's thing wasn't so exciting for me as I didn't get alot of the references; but Cline engaged me all the same. It's a hugely satisfying story, and very fun.

The Inheritors, William Golding

I was surprised by this novel, it's one my Dad gave me. I didn't make it to the end of The Lord of the Flies, so didn't start this one with high hopes. It turns out to be a really interesting and strangely gripping book.

The Inheritors deals with some of the same themes as Lord of the Flies. For the most part the novel is told from the point of view of Lok, we aren't sure what Lok is; but he seems to be a creature very similar to a neanderthal. We follow Lok as he moves with his family or tribe to their summer home. After a while it becomes apparent that there are some other, hitherto unknown creatures living nearby.

In some places it's quite hard to understand exactly what's going on as the book is told from Lok's perspective and his language and thought process hasn't evolved fully. It's a little like watching a film through fog, you can't be sure of what you're seeing. In spite of that I liked the way it was written, it's an interesting exploration of what early people might have thought and how they lived. It also gives you some room to think about what is happening and the consequences of that, it slows you down.

One thing I found really annoying wasn't Golding's fault, but the publishers. The copy I was reading is my Dad's - so published in 1977. For some bizarre reason in the 70's it was ok to write a review on the back which completely gives away the ending of the book...?