It has been nearly a decade since Ready Player One took the publishing world by storm in 2011 but now author Ernest Cline is ready to invite readers back into the Oasis. Announced today, Cline's highly anticipated sequel novel, appropriately titled Ready Player Two, will release in North America on November 24. Fans can pre-order it now, however.
Cline revealed he was working on a sequel novel back in 2017 during a livestream for the Ready Player One movie adaptation. Cline didn't reveal specifics but did say at the time that he had found inspiration in watching director Steven Spielberg bring his story to life on the big screen, and he even bounced ideas off the director for the sequel.
Ready Player One was set in the dystopian future of 2045. With little excitement in the outside world, much of humanity logs into Oasis, a virtual reality world created by the 1980s-obsessed genius James Halliday.
The book follows teenager Wade Watts, a "Gunter" who has dedicated much of his life to solving the mystery of a treasure hunt left behind in Oasis following Halliday's death. With the one who discovers the Golden Easter Egg granted ownership of Oasis, Watts' in-game treasure hunt soon becomes a real-life adventure as Innovative Online Industries attempts to assassinate him so that they can win the hunt and gain control of Oasis.
Cline's love of geek culture reflected in the story itself, which makes numerous references to '80s pop culture and video gaming. While Ready Player One fans are probably eager to step back into Oasis, it will be interesting to see if Ready Player Two will also rely heavily on the same nerd culture references that made the first novel so popular.
Ready Player One was adapted into a blockbuster film by Warner Bros. and directed by Steven Spielberg. It released in 2018 and went on to gross $582.2 million worldwide.