20 works of upbeat science fiction to brighten your day

Ready Player One (Cover image via Broadway Books)

12. Ready Player One

Ready Player One, the 2011 debut novel of author Ernest Cline, does not begin optimistically. We’re thrust into a world that is wracked by an energy crisis and ravaged by global warming and overpopulation. Naturally enough, this throws all of the human social order into decline and stagnation. To escape from this grim reality, many people retreat into a virtual world known as OASIS. Not only is OASIS a video game, but it plays host to a virtual society with stable currency and culture.

The creator of OASIS, James Halliday, has since died. However, he left behind an easter egg hidden deep inside the game. Whoever finds it first will inherit Halliday’s empire, Sword in the Stone-style.

That’s plenty motivation for many people, including protagonist Wade Watts. He escapes from his dystopian life by searching for this easter egg, partially by engaging with the pop culture of Halliday’s 1980s youth. He’ll need to get really engaged to escape his life in “the stacks,” a bunch of trailers stacked on top of each other in a near-future Oklahoma City.

The quest to find the easter egg turns into a sort of scavenger hunt, with Watts and his growing group of associates hunting for the next clue to the puzzle. Along the way, however, those associates becomes friends and even a romantic interest.

Some of the geekiness may seem performative after a while, but it’s all in good fun. Even better, Ready Player One is generous and warm-hearted. It also has some insightful social commentary to make things a little richer. Towards the end, Watts very nearly sacrifices his chance at a better life in order to make things right for his newfound friends. In the midst of a growing dystopia, that could be nothing other than upbeat.