Books like Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
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Story type
What it is about
- Regression (Civilization)
- Virtual reality
- Utopias
- Puzzles
- 1980s in video gaming
- Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
Where it happens
- Ohio
Kind of book
- Novel
Came out
- 2010s
Ages
- Ages 15+
- Adult
Awards
- Alex Award
- Prometheus Award
About this book
Its Library of Congress subjects: Regression (Civilization), Virtual reality, Utopias, Puzzles. It is set in Ohio and listed for ages 15 and up.
Where this comes from: Library of Congress · Wikidata · Common Sense Media · Open Library subject
Books like this one
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Why: Both are dystopian and adventure books.
What both books share
- dystopian
Ready Player One: "Fiction, dystopian" (OL subject); "YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Dystopian" (OL subject); "dystopian" (OL subject); "dystopian fiction" (WD genre)
The Hunger Games: "Dystopian fiction" (OL subject); "dystopian literature" (WD genre) - adventure
Ready Player One: "Fiction, science fiction, action & adventure" (OL subject); "adventure" (OL subject); "adventure fiction" (WD genre)
The Hunger Games: "Action & Adventure" (OL subject); "adventure fiction" (WD genre)
- dystopian
-
Why: Both are dystopian and science fiction books.
What both books share
- dystopian
Ready Player One: "Fiction, dystopian" (OL subject); "YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Dystopian" (OL subject); "dystopian" (OL subject); "dystopian fiction" (WD genre)
The Handmaid's Tale: "Dystopian fiction" (OL subject); "Fiction, dystopian" (OL subject); "FICTION / Dystopian" (OL subject); "Dystopian" (OL subject) - science fiction
Ready Player One: "Fiction, science fiction, action & adventure" (OL subject); "YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Science Fiction / General" (OL subject); "science fiction" (OL subject); "science fiction" (WD genre)
The Handmaid's Tale: "science fiction" (OL subject); "FICTION / Science Fiction" (OL subject); "science fiction" (WD genre)
- dystopian
-
Why: Both are dystopian and science fiction books.
What both books share
- dystopian
Ready Player One: "Fiction, dystopian" (OL subject); "YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Dystopian" (OL subject); "dystopian" (OL subject); "dystopian fiction" (WD genre)
The Road: "Fiction, dystopian" (OL subject); "dystopian fiction" (WD genre) - science fiction
Ready Player One: "Fiction, science fiction, action & adventure" (OL subject); "YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Science Fiction / General" (OL subject); "science fiction" (OL subject); "science fiction" (WD genre)
The Road: "Fiction, science fiction, general" (OL subject); "science fiction" (WD genre)
- dystopian
See all books like Ready Player One
What they share, at a glance
Ready Player One next to each book above. A dot means both books' records carry that fact.
| Book | Science fiction | Dystopian | Utopias | Adventure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Hunger Games | not shared | shared | not shared | shared |
| The Handmaid's Tale | shared | shared | not shared | not shared |
| The Road | shared | shared | not shared | not shared |
| Brave New World | shared | shared | not shared | not shared |
| Fahrenheit 451 | shared | shared | not shared | not shared |
| Nineteen Eighty-Four | shared | shared | not shared | not shared |
| Divergent | shared | shared | not shared | not shared |
| The Martian | shared | not shared | not shared | not shared |
| Project Hail Mary | shared | not shared | not shared | not shared |
| Red Rising | shared | not shared | not shared | not shared |
| The Dispossessed | shared | not shared | shared | not shared |
| Messenger | shared | not shared | shared | not shared |
Tap a dot to open the record the match comes from.
Ready Player One: the facts, checked
Each line names the page it was checked on and the date.
- First published
- First published on August 16, 2011. Source: Wikidata, checked November 6, 2026.
- Edition checked
- The edition checked here is a 374-page paperback from Broadway Paperbacks. Source: Library of Congress, checked November 6, 2026.
9780307887443 ... pbk. ... 374 p. ... Broadway Paperbacks
- Awards and honors
- It received the Alex Award in 2012. Source: Wikidata, citing ala.org, checked November 6, 2026.
- Awards and honors
- It received the Prometheus Award in 2012. Source: Wikidata, citing lfs.org, checked November 6, 2026.
How Ready Player One came to be
- Cline says the book began with the idea of a video game designer holding a contest inside a virtual world he had built. Interview: HuffPost, August 17, 2011, checked November 6, 2026.
- He then saw that the designer's puzzles could draw on the pop culture of the 1980s. Interview: HuffPost, August 17, 2011, checked November 6, 2026.
- He spent several years filling notebooks before the story came together. Interview: HuffPost, August 17, 2011, checked November 6, 2026.
I spent the next several years filling notebooks with ideas
See the US print edition of Ready Player One and where to buy it.
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Ready Player One is on these lists
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- See books like Nineteen Eighty-Four
- See books like Project Hail Mary
- See books like Red Rising
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- See books like Song of Susannah
- See books like The Dispossessed
- See books like The Handmaid's Tale
- See books like The Hunger Games
- See books like The Institute
- See books like The Martian
- See books like The Road
- See books like The Three-Body Problem
Common questions
What does the Why line mean?
It names what the two books have in common, using only facts found in both books' catalog records. Tap What both books share to see those facts and where they came from. When the shared facts are few, the line is short. It never quotes reviews, ratings or reader reactions.