Ready Player Two is a 2020 science fiction novel by American author Ernest Cline. It is the sequel to his 2011 debut novel Ready Player One. Plans for a Ready Player One sequel were first announced in 2015, though Cline did not begin writing the book until late 2017. Cline attributes further developments to the critical and financial success of the film adaptation of the first novel released in 2018. Ready Player Two was published and released on November 24, 2020. It debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list. The novel received widely negative reviews on release. Critics expressed disappointment in the story, writing, characters, and poor usage of references saying that it failed to expand in "new and exciting ways" on the original with many taking note of excessive similarities to Sword Art Online and other popular media in the plot. A film adaptation is in development. Background In 2015, in an interview with Den of Geek, screenwriter Zak Penn, who wrote the film adaptation of Ready Player One, reported that Ernest Cline was working on a sequel to the original novel. In December 2017, Cline confirmed that he was working on a sequel. Cline stated that the novel would have a different story-line involving all of the characters, while still exploring pop culture references like the first book. Cline announced further developments following the film adaptation of the first novel and cited its critical and financial success, as well as the studio's interest in adapting a sequel, as additional motivation to finish what he had started. Cline later stated that Steven Spielberg contributed to the writing process of the book. Ready Player Two was published and released on November 24, 2020. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Wil Wheaton would do the audio recording for the book, as he had for Ready Player One. A "treasure hunt" promoting the book was held on the video game Roblox. Plot After the events of the first novel, the High Five have scattered across the globe: Aech is on vacation in Senegal with her fiance, Bollywood singer Endira Vinayak. Shoto has taken over operations at GSS's Hokkaido division, and Samantha has flown back to Vancouver to pack up her belongings and say goodbye to her grandmother. To keep himself busy, Wade Watts decides to test out his new superuser abilities, a result of winning the competition that