I READ BOOKS.

Let's talk about what I'm reading.

[kev-reads-along]

STAR WARS: FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW, Stories 1-3

RAYMUS by Gary Whitta

Our first point of view in STAR WARS: FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW directly ties together Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars. Captain Raymus Antilles of the Tantive IV has had a really bad day. Not only did he get orders to go to backwater planet Tatooine, but he got redirected to the largest space battle that has ever taken place between the Rebellion and the Empire, taken on board Force-knows-what from a transmission on Scarif, his hyperdrive is busted, and he’s probably being chased across the galaxy by the Empire’s most fearsome enforcer: Darth Vader. Plus, the spunky senator aboard his vessel is probably going to get him killed. It’s hard out here for a Rebel Captain.

THE BUCKET by Christie Golden

Stormtroopers are people too. Or something like that. This story is a window into the mind of the trooper that set his blaster to stun and captured a defiant Leia on board the Tantive IV. He’s pretty happy to be a part of Lord Vader’s personal legion, which they refer to as “Vader’s Fist.” But he’s not big on the senseless killing part. Sorry to tell you buddy, but you signed up for the wrong job. It’s like Vader’s favorite song is “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor” by Drowning Pool.

THE SITH OF DATAWORK by Ken Liu

Even in a galaxy far, far away, there’s paperwork that has to be done. Er, datawork, rather. Arvira is strong in the ways of datawork; he frequently helps Imperial Officers out of a jam with some quick thinking and filling out the correct forms in return for favors. Take Bolvan, for instance. He uttered the now infamous words “Hold your fire. There's no life forms. It must have short-circuited.” Well, we all know that was the wrong choice, so now he needs to cover his tracks. Of course Arvira can help...in exchange for being allowed to fire the Star Destroyer’s laser batteries. “Even datawork wizards like pew-pew-pew.” Indeed.

[kev-reads-along]

Whatever Rogue One beamed us from Scarif, they really want it back.

Gary Whitta, STAR WARS: FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW

[kev-reads-along]

My Next Read-Along: STAR WARS: FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW

Star Wars is so much more than a franchise to me. It has become synonymous with childhood joy and adult escape in my life. It doesn’t matter what my shifting interests are currently focused on; I am always into Star Wars. I’m always ready to quote my favorite lines, debate fan theories, or drop cash on merchandise from that galaxy far, far away. I can’t help myself.

It probably has everything to do with all the memories I have that are attached to these films. When I was young, there was a period of a few weeks where I was very ill and shut in my house; it was there, looking for something take my mind off being sick, that I first watched Star Wars on a VHS tape recording from a TV network showing of the film. I watched it over, and over, and over. Later, when I would visit my grandmother during the summers, she would go to the video store and rent Caravan of Courage for me for the weekend. My dad’s gift of choice to me for years was Star Wars Legos. I went to see the 1997 re-release of Star Wars with my best friend. I played the Decipher CCG all throughout high school with my buddies. I’ve seen every early screening of each new film since Attack of the Clones with large groups of my friends. I mean there was even a period of time when the Star Wars Encyclopedia was my preferred bathroom reading.

Hi. My name is Kevin and I am an unabashed Star Wars fan.

So when I heard that a book of short stories about characters from the original Star Wars was being released to celebrate 40 years of the franchise, it was a no-brainer. I had to read it.

Plus, with names like Delilah S. Dawson, Paul Dini, Matt Fraction, Kieron Gillen, Claudia Gray, Ken Liu, Greg Rucka, Chuck Wendig, and Wil Wheaton attached, it should be a good read.

I’m briefly putting my literary volumes and modern pop fiction aside for the moment and I am going to embrace my geekyness with STAR WARS: FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW. I’ll take the same approach I took when I read and reviewed Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales: I’ll read 3 or 4 short stories a day, and post my thoughts here. There’s 40, so it should be varied and a lot of fun. I plan to at least have it finished before going to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi later in December. Yes, I’m seeing it at a midnight screening. I’m awesome that way.

May the Force be with You dear reader and give you either the pleasure of geeking out with me or the patience to wait it out while I read through this book.

[kev-reads-along]

READY PLAYER ONE: Finished.

“Don't need money, don't take fame. Don't need no credit card to ride this train. It's strong and it's sudden and it's cruel sometimes. But it might just save your life. That's the power of love.” - Huey Lewis

There are some books that you read to be thought-provoking and soul-searching. There are also books that you read just for the fun of it. The best books satisfy both of those things. Case in point: READY PLAYER ONE.

Chapters 0034-0039 consist of the battle of Castle Anorak, the opening and completion of the Third Gate, and the finding of Halliday’s Egg as well as how it effects things in the real world. I know I may have spoiled a few plot points here and there throughout my Read-A-Long of the story, but I won’t spoil the ending for you. It does involve a massive battle between gunters and sixers, Mechagodzilla versus Ultra-man, the Atari arcade game Tempest, a simulated walk-through of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and the very first easter egg game of them all, Adventure. Nerdgasms ensue, and the ending is enough to warm even the most non-geeky of hearts.

#parzivalheartsart3mis4life

READY PLAYER ONE is about a lot of things (and by a lot, I mean A LOT) but it’s so much more than the 80′s nostalgia and pop culture references. This book is also a commentary on our reality, our future, social interaction, the evils of mega-corporations, as well as race and gender equality. READY PLAYER ONE is just as much about what it means to love someone as it is about video game high scores. It is just much about what greed can to this world as it is about perfectly quoting every line from The Breakfast Club. It is just as much about valuing this life and living it to the fullest as it is about farming for experience points.

I could gush about this book all day long, but I’m afraid it will scare you off of picking it up and reading it if I do. That very type of thing is probably what made me avoid it for so long. Sometimes the hype makes you want to skip whatever the thing is entirely because the disappointment will be crushing if the collective ‘they’ are wrong.

All I can say is that if you are a child of the 80′s (or even a fan of the 80′s), if you love video games and pop culture, or even if you just love a good story about good people doing good things, READY PLAYER ONE is a book that I would readily put into your hands. Ignore the hype and read it. You’ll be glad you did.

As for me, I’ll be fist-pumping the sky, listening to Simple Mind’s “Don’t You (Forget About Me), and getting ready for my next Read-A-Long.

[kev-reads-along]

I never felt at home in the real world. I didn't know how to connect with the people there. I was afraid, for all of my life. Right up until I knew it was ending. That was when I realized, as terrifying and painful as reality can be, it's also the only place where you can find true happiness. Because reality is real.

Ernest Cline, READY PLAYER ONE

[bookswithmichelle]

Calling all Booklrs

As I am a newer booklr I am not following many book blogs. I really need some people to follow so if you’re a booklr I would appreciate if you like and/or reblogged this post so I can follow you and check out your blog. I would be honoured if you checked out mine as well but you don’t have to. Thank you so much!

[kev-reads-along]

I follow any booklrs I find and I hope booklrs will follow me as well. LET’S TALK ABOUT BOOK BECAUSE WHY NOT.

[bookstobuy]

Booklrs!!!

My dash has become dead lately so if you’re active and blog about anything bookish related- preferably YA but I’m not picky- please reblog this and I’ll deffo check your blog out ☺

[kev-reads-along]

Doing my part to resuscitate your dash. I follow other Booklrs whenever I find them...anyone can feel free to give me a follow as well. Let’s talk books.

[kev-reads-along]

READY PLAYER ONE: 0030-0033

“It’s the final countdown!” - Europe

Just like Hannibal, I love it when a plan comes together. Wade’s self-enslavement to IOI actually pays off; he hacks into their system, steals all of their information on the The Hunt, Halliday, the Third Gate, their protections for the Gate, and their files on himself, Aech, Art3mis, and Shoto. After a daring and clever escape (more hacking and a maintenance uniform, of course), he convinces everyone to meet him in the OASIS so they can plan their next steps.

And by next steps, I mean a direct assault on the Sixer Army at Castle Anorak.

They have several things working in their favor: Parzival uploads proof that IOI has murdered gunters and spread it to all the news outlets for the world to see; Sorrento and this Sixer thugs are not even close to figuring out how to open the Third Gate; Parzival also forwards a message to the entire OASIS inviting everyone that doesn’t want to see IOI take over the virtual world to join forces and attack the army together. Oh, and one more thing: Ogden Marrow, co-founder of the OASIS with Halliday, personally invites the Top 4 Gunters to his home in Oregon for their protection and to launch the final battle for the Egg.

I’M SHIVERING WITH ANTICI...PATION.

For a book that spends so much time on geek-dom, READY PLAYER ONE actually delves into some larger topics. Today’s reading, for example, explores social issues like how we see gender, race, and sexuality. In the OASIS, you can literally design your avatar any way you’d like. It doesn’t have to mirror what you look like in the real world. So in the OASIS, when you’re interacting with someone, you are purely interacting with who they are inside. It’s a mental connection, more or less. All prejudices go out the window. So when Aech and Parzival meet for the first time, face to face, it’s a beautiful thing because even though Aech is not what he expected, Parzival still knows that’s his best friend. What that person looks like doesn’t matter.

I’m not crying, you’re crying.

Next up: The end. For better or worse it’s time to finish this thing.

[kev-reads-along]

If gunters around the world don't join forces to stop the Sixers, they will reach the egg and win the contest. And then the OASIS will fall under IOI's imperialist rule. The time is now. Our assault on the Sixer army will begin tomorrow...Join us!

Ernest Cline, READY PLAYER ONE

[kev-reads-along]

READY PLAYER ONE: 0026-0029

“That's it, man. Game over, man. Game over!” - Private Hudson

So, a lot happens in these few chapters; I’ll try to be brief. [deep breath] Here goes: Wade finally figures out the secret to the jade key (Bladerunner, origami unicorn, Tyrell Corp building, takes Voight -Kampff Test) which allows him entry to the Second Gate (Game Room in a bowling alley in Halliday’s childhood home town, simulation of arcade game Black Tiger, wins robot from Japanese TV show Supaidaman) followed by also solving the riddle for and finding the Crystal Key (Rush album 2112, The Temples of Syrinx, pulls the electric guitar from the stone in the chamber behind the waterfall) which shows him the way to the Third and final gate. [gasp for air] It is Halliday’s personal fortress within the OASIS: Castle Anorak.

There are two problems inherent to this location. One, no one has ever been in Castle Anorak except Halliday himself, may he rest in peace. Two, it is now barricaded by the entire IOI Sixer Army.

No problem! Wade hatches a plan...only, as the reader, we don’t know what it is. It involves him telling Art3mis, Aech, and Shoto how to find the Second Gate, Crystal Key, and Third Gate. It also involves Wade himself getting arrested in the real world by IOI Corp. Police and becoming an indentured employee of the corporation. He basically makes himself a slave to IOI and I don’t know why and IT IS MAKING ME VERY NERVOUS.

With Level Two under my belt and as well as a few chapters of Level Three, I’m making my way quickly toward the end of READY PLAYER ONE. I’ve got that conflicted feeling where I just want to power through the rest of the book tonight but I also feel compelled to string it out as long as possible because I’m not ready for it to be over.

I guess that’s how you know you’re reading a good book.

In the meantime, I’ll take a moment to openly pose the question that’s been on my mind: How many permission letters did Ernest Cline have to right in order to include so many copyrighted references without getting sued?! I mean he’s name dropped everything from H.R. Pufnstuf to Star Trek and even based major plot points around famous video games, movies, music, etc. To be fair, he’s not claiming any of these as his own, and I’m sure I could just google an interview where this is all clarified...but I’d rather just imagine Mr Cline sitting down and writing individually to all these creators and owners with something akin to “Hello, my name is Ernest and you don’t know me, but I love the 80′s and I’ve got this great idea and it involves ALL THE THINGS. Yes, ALL OF THEM.This includes your things. CAN I USE THEM, PRETTY PLEASE?”

It’s so much more satisfying that way.

[kev-reads-along]

Like any classic videogame...a new level often required an entirely new strategy.

Ernest Cline, READY PLAYER ONE

[kev-reads-along]

READY PLAYER ONE: 0021-0025

“This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions...human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria!” - Dr. Peter Venkman

Art3mis finds the Jade Key. Not long after, so does Aech. If not for a hint in the form of an email from Aech, Parzival would have still been beating himself up for neglecting The Hunt and letting himself lose his scoreboard lead. Time to refocus.

The Jade Key is hidden in yet another simulation of one of Halliday’s favorite games: the text-based adventure game Zork. Parzival runs through the game’s dilapidated house, gathering multiple trophies, and returning them to a large trophy case. Once this is complete, he blows a toy whistle that was a prize from a box of Cap’n Crunch Cereal (because of course he does) and the whistle transforms in the Jade Key. He’s lucky to have gotten this far.

But the luck doesn’t hold out. IOI has found the Zork simulation as well. One after another, the Sixers file through and get copies of the Jade Key for themselves. They actually go as far as to murder Daito, another gunter on the top of the scoreboard, in real life. And as if that wasn’t enough: the scoreboard updates keep coming and Sorrento, the head of the Sixers, takes the number one slot. He has completed the Second Gate. Not long after, he finds the Crystal Key. Now all of the Sixers are moving up the scoreboard and Parzival, Art3mis, and Aech all nosedive from the top. The end of The Hunt is near and the bad guys are winning.

The action ratcheted back up, and the story got a violent shove forward. I guess that’s what I get for lamenting the breather yesterday’s chapters gave me.

With today’s news about the FCC deciding to repeal Net Neutrality as we know it, my brain is drawing a direct parallel with the hopelessness of IOI taking over the top of the scoreboard for Halliday’s Egg. I’m especially sensitive today to the sinking feeling I get in my stomach when I think of a government or corporation taking over something that was supposed to be good, choking it, and charging for it. We need our gunters to get their act together and find that Egg. You know what I mean.

Rad 80′s nostalgia from today’s reading: Pacman! Parzival gets distracted by an out of place Pacman console in an arcade. It’s supposed to be out of order, but its only unplugged. After powering it on and playing the perfect game of Pacman to capture the high score, he gets a quarter that was stuck to the game’s marquee. It was sitting there, like someone had placed it there intentionally, waiting to be the ‘next man up.’ I’m sure this quarter will have a part to play later in the story; but for now, it brought back memories of playing Pacman in arcades. I can’t tell you how many quarters I’ve placed on game consoles to mark my place in line. WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA

[kev-reads-along]

I was trying to decide what tune I should whistle as I plummeted to my death when my phone rang.

Ernest Cline, READY PLAYER ONE

[kev-reads-along]

READY PLAYER ONE: 0017-0020

"Hey, Dr. Jones. No time for love!" - Short Round

Being the OASIS’s number one gunter will buy you fame and fortune, but it won’t buy you love. Parzival learns this the hard way. He begins to hang out with Art3mis constantly, and his online crush quickly becomes the romance of his dreams. Hanging out with her begins to take precedence over The Hunt. When he finally works up the courage to tell her he loves her, Art3mis flatly tells him that no, he doesn’t. He’s never even met her in real life. He doesn’t know anything about her. She tells him that getting this close was a mistake...and a distraction. She blocks all communication with him, and Parzival is devastated.

He’s also no closer to finding the Jade Key.

Well, the breakneck pace of awesomeness had to end at some point. The first four chapters of Level Two spend all of their time on the brief romance of Parzival and Art3mis, as well as a thorough description of Wade’s new digs in Ohio and how he’s been spending his time. This is necessary for the progression of the story, but it does make for a less exciting section. Not complaining; it is what it is.

However, there’s definitely some thought-provoking passages here. The description of Wade’s apartment, OASIS gear, and daily routine reveal something key to the world of READY PLAYER ONE: all of these people are desperate to escape reality. Their preferred lives are simulations in a virtual world. The lines are blurred between which life, which world, is the real one. In this internet-dominated world we live in right now, it’s a valid and important question to ponder.

Coolest moment of today’s reading: Online Chat! Art3mis and Parzival have a full on question and answer flirt session through a text chat. It brought back memories of late nights on the dial-up connection typing away to girls on AOL. Ah, youth.

[kev-reads-along]

But over the past few months, I'd come to see my rig for what it was: an elaborate contraption for deceiving my senses, to allow me to live in a world that didn't exist. Each component of my rig was a bar in the cell where I had willingly imprisoned myself.

Ernest Cline, READY PLAYER ONE

[kev-reads-along]

READY PLAYER ONE: 0014-0016

“Don't mess with the bull, young man. You'll get the horns.” -Assistant Principal Richard Vernon

Finished Level One (or, Part One) of Three today and as they say: all good things must come to an end. Oh no, I’m still having a bodacious time reading READY PLAYER ONE. I’m talking about Parzival’s high from completing the First Gate.

As with all post-apocalyptic futures, there is an evil corporation in this story as well. It’s called Innovative Online Industries, or IOI for short. IOI wants to find Halliday’s Egg first so that it can take a controlling stake in the OASIS, begin charging a monthly fee to access it, and increase revenue by selling ad space. Like I said, evil corporation. They extend an invitation to meet with and recruit Parzival to their company. He accepts only to slam their offer and troll them a bit, but that’s when things take a turn for the worse. As it turns out, IOI knows where Wade lives. And they’ve wired his house with explosives. And when he refuses to help them, they blow it up. BOOM.

Thankfully, Parzival wasn’t there at the time. Terrified for his life, he warns his friends Aech and Art3mis about the lengths IOI is prepared to go. They all go their separate ways to finish The Hunt on their own, only much more cautiously than before. Wade takes on a new identity and leaves Oklahoma for Ohio. It’s time to focus solely on the Egg, because sooner or later, IOI will discover it. He can’t let that happen.

I’d like to believe that the numerous corporations in America today wouldn’t plant a bomb in a teenagers mobile home with the intention to detonate it if their demands weren’t met...but then again, some days life feels like we’re living in a present-apocalyptic now. Who knows. Maybe McDonald’s has a body count higher than Red Dawn (1984) and we just don’t know about it.

Today’s reading was less focused on the pop culture and more focused on raising the stakes and pushing the plot forward. I am still totally enthralled. I guess that proves it’s not just the throwback references that are holding my attention; this is actually well written pop fiction. Dan Brown should take notes.

[kev-reads-along]

I want you and your bosses to know something. You're never going to find Halliday's egg. You know why? Because he was smarter than all of you put together. It doesn't matter how much money you have or who you try to blackmail. You're going to lose.

Ernest Cline, READY PLAYER ONE