[Review] Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline picks up several years after the first book; Wade and his friends are all living the high life as owners of the OASIS after winning Halliday's contest in Ready Player One. But when it's revealed that Halliday had more than one postmortem contest up his sleeve, Parzival, Art3mis, Aech, Shoto, and Og will have to risk more than just their OASIS avatars in order to save billions of people, including themselves. With new and returning enemies, the countdown is on and Wade is about to face his greatest challenge yet. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the originality of the plot. It had plenty of unique moments, while still remaining familiar to gamers of all kinds. There were quests galore, with entire planets in the OASIS dedicated to 80s references. But while I liked the quest plotline, I didn't like our protagonist nearly as much. I'm sure it was by design, creating a redemption arc for Wade, but I really hated the person he initially became after winning the contest in Ready Player One. At the beginning of Ready Player Two, we see a Wade who's bitter, selfish, and self-centered. He cuts himself off from his friends, spies on Samantha, and zeroes out any avatars he catches making fun of him in the OASIS. He's fixated on the past, and is obsessed with Parzival's newfound unlimited powers. I really couldn't stand Wade in the beginning of this book, and almost DNF'd it multiple times. He does have a bit of a redemption arc, realizing it's not all about him, but I was so turned off his character at that point that the redemption arc only made him a tolerable character. I loved this plot, but the hero was definitely more of a zero until he finally realized the power of friendship (which you would think he learned after the contest in the first book...). Enjoyed the lot, but wanted to punch the main character.