Ready Player One Read-Through: Chapter 8

Wade enters the Tomb of Horrors, where we are treated to a Dungeons & Dragons homage. This chapter is a pure eighties games nostalgia trip.

More film references:


My surroundings made me feel like I was in a low-budget sword-and-sorcery flick, like Hawk the Slayer or The Beastmaster. (Page 77)


Nice name-dropping there; no need for subtlety or room for the readers to catch any references themselves. Though this is the least instance where Ready Player One shows little to no respect for the audience's intelligence, desperate as it is that you know any obscure eighties trivia.

Wade continues to be very lucky on his quest - he knows the tomb inside-out because he's read everything about it before as part of his goal to be as obsessed with the eighties and D&D as Halliday was. There's no tension, no investment, because I know that he will succeed in obtaining the Copper Key on the first day of trying, because he is into video games that much. I'm bored.

We also find out that there is no saving place in the OASIS if an avatar dies, like in an adventure game:


If my avatar died here, it would mean starting over with nothing. (Page 79)


Further proof that Halliday programmed the OASIS to be like an all-or-nothing prison system. The more obsession and time spent away from the real world, the better.

Wade encounters Acererak, a lich (undead) king and gatekeeper, who challenges him to a duel - or, a joust. There is an arcade game actually called JOUST. Yes, I am reading about two characters in a virtual reality who, rather than go off on an exciting adventure in a whole world full of possibilities and limitless creativity, play an old arcade game. With joysticks and Flap buttons. On the edge of your seat, yet?

The game has Players One and Two ride different birds instead of horses. So this is like the eighties precursor to Angry Birds.

Wade and Acererak playing a game for the Copper Key is like watching someone play video games instead of playing them yourself, which is not nearly as much fun. Books and video games are not the same medium; reading this is tedious.

Of course Wade will end up winning in the end despite a rocky start (he "hadn't played Joust in over a year" and his "Joust skills were a lot rustier than I thought."). He's invincible. Again, no tension.


It was one of Aech's favorite games, and for a while he'd had a joust cabinet in his chat room. He used to challenge me to a game whenever he wanted to settle an argument or some asinine pop-culture dispute. For a few months, we played almost every day. In the beginning, Aech was slightly better than I was, and he had a habit of gloating over his victories. This had really irked me, so I started practicing Joust on my own, playing a few games a night against an AI opponent. I honed my skills until I finally got good enough to beat Aech, repeatedly and consistently. Then I began to gloat over him, savoring my revenge. The last time we'd played, I'd rubbed his nose in defeat so mercilessly that he'd flipped out and vowed never to play me again. Since then, we'd used Street Fighter II to settle our disputes. (Page 81)


A healthy, fun friendship, there. Seriously, everything about this paragraph, when unpacked ever so slightly, reveals a relationship bordering on abuse. Who says video games encourage violence, aggression and antisocial behaviour? And of course our modest hero would say that Aech was only slightly better than him at the game at first. You sure you weren't always gloating, Wade?

I'll skip right to it: Wade wins at Joust. He wins against an AI - not even that, but an NPC - because he is a nerdy demigod with no life, and is as lifeless as an AI (or because a gaming software couldn't improvise, and "This was an axiom in videogames, and would be until humans invented true artificial intelligence" - way to be ominous and creepy, Wade).


I solemnly returned his bow. As I did, the lich transformed into a tall human wizard dressed in flowing black robes. I recognized him immediately. It was Halliday's avatar, Anorak.
      I stared at him, utterly speechless. For years gunters had speculated that Amorak still roamed the OASIS, now as an autonomous NPC. Halliday's ghost in the machine. (Page 84)


Uh, why is this such a surprise to you, Wade? Wouldn't it be obvious that Acererak is Anorak? He's a gatekeeper in the egg hunt, and their names are hardly any different!

So now we get more of creepy, narcissistic Halliday, in his own way foreseeing his evil plan unfold from beyond the grave.


The chamber filled with the sound of a full orchestra. Triumphant horns were quickly joined by a stirring string section. I recognized the music. It was the last track from John Williams's original Star Wars score, used in the scene where Princess Leia gives Luke and Han their medals (and Chewbacca, as you may recall, gets the shaft.)  (Page 84)


Oh yeah, you'd know about the marginalized getting the shaft and being left out of things, never receiving the attention they deserve, wouldn't you, Wade?

He wins the Copper Key, just like that, and the clue to finding the First Gate is engraved on it. His avatar gains enough points to be on the tenth level now, in case anyone cared. He is "now filthy rich". From rags to riches in the course of ten pages. Good for him.

More pop culture references and insights into Halliday's hometown and youth (again, in case anyone actually cared), then, when considering heading for the First Gate right away:


I knew I should get some sleep first. I'd been logged into the OASIS for almost fifteen solid hours. And tomorrow was Friday. I could teleport to Middletown right after school and then I'd have the whole weekend to tackle the First Gate.
      But who was I kidding? There was no way I'd be able to sleep tonight, or sit through school tomorrow. I had to go now.  (Page 86)


Wade won't sleep until he has found and solved the First Gate. He has been logged in for fifteen hours, with no food or any sustenance. Yes, the OASIS is totally not addictive. Yes, Wade is a great role model for YA audiences. Or this is how Cline sees gamers, obsessed ones at that.

Are there any toilets in the OASIS? Where are the real world toilets, washrooms and bathrooms? There can't be that many in the stacks. Sheesh, Wade must stink something fierce.

The chapter ends with Wade encountering another avatar as he heads for the exit. Dun-dun-duuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnn! To be continued in chapter 9.