Good Read

Lauren Molyneux curls up with a good book to review some of the latest best sellers

Ready Player One
by Ernest Cline
TOP TIP: Ultimately entertaining, enthusiastic and enjoyable. A real must-have for any collection.
In a not-so-distant future, when the people of the world have caused their own energy crisis and global warming has taken full effect, Wade Watts just manages to scrape by. Living in a trailer stack with 15 of his distant relatives, his prized possession is his OASIS console – the mechanism which allows unlimited access to an idealised virtual world. Designed and created by James Halliday and his partner, the world provides many with the opportunity to escape from their bleak reality, embodying countless planets and opportunities for exploration.
This is what the OASIS has always been. That is until its enigmatic creator, Halliday, dies and his contest is launched. Hidden within the OASIS are a series of Easter eggs. With cryptic clues as to each egg’s location, the only hope of completing the quest is to have encyclopaedic knowledge of Halliday’s interests, hobbies and his ultimate passion – vintage video games. The OASIS becomes an endless virtual battleground, but the winner’s life is promised to be changed forever.
Ready Player One follows Wade and his associates on an adventure quest like no other. With a myriad of references to 80s pop culture (music, video games, film), it is an absolute feast for the geekiest of geeks, but will also capture any non-nerd in its charm. Cline has created an utterly enchanting narrative world in which video games become more than just video games – they are life. The novel is one which is extremely difficult to put down and impossible to escape from – the contest will creep into the subconscious until your brain is wracked from trying to decipher the clues in your sleep.
It is science fiction writing at its best, but it’s also written for readers of other genres, maybe even for those who have never read science fiction before. It is a beautifully constructed piece of escapism which will pull you in with such vigour that you miss your train stop, and it maintains its sensational grip on the imagination long after you’ve finished reading. At the turn of the final page I was left on a narrative plane from which it was difficult to come down.
Written for gamers and non-gamers, 70s kids, 80s kids, people who are still big kids, millennials, and essentially anyone who reads, I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t enjoy reading Ready Player One.

The End We Start From
by Megan Hunter
TOP TIP: This is a short book that packs an emotional punch.
The End We Start From is a beautiful book in every essence of the word, from its cover to its narrative and message. With a dystopian setting and embodying the anxiety shared by all new mothers, the novel charts the trials and tribulations of a young mother and son as the end of the world approaches.
The reader’s heart will surely ride the waves along with our protagonist as she attempts to escape the floods that threaten the lives of her and her child. The End We Start From is a novel about love, the struggles of maternity and one of the strongest bonds known to man – that between a mother and her child.

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