FANTASY & SCI-FI | Review: Ready Player One

It's been so long since I've posted..yadda yadda..been busy....empty promises....

And now that that's out of the way, I have a new review on an older book, Ready Player One. I went into this book (as a non-gamer) knowing that a large part of it's appeal would be the references. That aside, I'm very drawn to dystopian books, and this was no exception. I knew the references could very well go over my head- but hey, so much in my day-to-day life does. Heh. Okay. Let's get into the review.

**ALL MY BOOK REVIEWS ARE SPOILER FREE

Title: Ready Player One
Author: Ernest Cline
Genre: Science Fiction > Dystopia
Pages: 372
Release date: August 6th, 2011
Links: Amazon | Goodreads

My rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars


BOOK DESCRIPTION (courtesy of Goodreads)

"It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune--and remarkable power--to whoever can unlock them.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved--that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt--among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life--and love--in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?"

FANTASY & SCI-FI | Book Review: The Night Circus

I'm pretty late on reading this one.
I purchased The Night Circus, written by Erin Morgenstern, about two years ago when it was rising in popularity, and it has spent those last two years gathering dust on my book shelf. It wasn't until three weeks ago that the book suddenly caught my attention and I knew the time had finally come to read it.

***ALL MY BOOK REVIEWS ARE SPOILER-FREE

Title: The Night Circus
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Genre: Fantasy > Magical Realism > Romance
Pages: 387
Released: January 1st, 2010
Links: Amazon | Goodreads

My rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars


GOODREADS DESCRIPTION:

"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance."

FANTASY & SCI-FI | Book Lists: I Love Time Travel

Book Lists, the segment in which I make lists, because lists are fun.

I love time travel books. So for today's list I will be ranking the time travel books I've read, as well as a list of time travel books on my prospective reading list.

Before, I jump right in, I want to rant for a bit on what I consider a "time travel" novel. It is not a book that contains time travel in it; rather, it is a book in which the main plot (subjective, I'm sure) revolves around the aspect of time. It's a difficult perspective to explain, but I hope it makes sense.
Henceforth, what I don't count as a time travel novel would be the likes of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling), Fortunately, the Milk (Gaiman), and not even Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (Riggs), though arguably, I can understand if you do.

In this Book Lists post, I will go over the ranking of the only 5 books I've read that I consider to be "true" time travel novels, and discuss further readings in the genre.

FANTASY & SCI-FI | Book Rave: All Our Yesterdays

March is here and so begins my new adventure in blogging.
Each week I will feature a different genre. And within each week I will have different segments.

This week's book theme will focus on the Science Fiction & Fantasy genres.
And our segment today will be a Book Rave. Book Raves will be a common segment that are nearly identical to Book Reviews, except you'll know prior to read it that it will be a full-on glowing review.

This particular book review will be on Cristin Terrill's All Our Yesterday's.

**ALL MY BOOK REVIEWS ARE SPOILER FREE

photo credit

Title: All Our Yesterdays
Series: Book #1 in the All Our Yesterdays series
Author: Crisitn Terrill
Genre: Science Fiction > Time travel
Pages: 360
Release Date: September 3, 2013
Links: Amazon | Goodreads


My rating: 4 out of 5 stars


PLOT SUMMARY (courtesy of Goodreads):

"What would you change?

Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain.

Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present—imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside.

Marina has loved her best friend, James, since they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it... at least, not as the girl she once was. Em and Marina are in a race against time that only one of them can win.

All Our Yesterdays is a wrenching, brilliantly plotted story of fierce love, unthinkable sacrifice, and the infinite implications of our every choice."