Who wrote the science-fiction novel 'Ready Player One', which was adapted into a film in 2018?

Ernest Cline (born 1972) is the American science-fiction author of 'Ready Player One' and its sequel, 'Ready Player Two'. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of 'Ready Player One', directed by Steven Spielberg.

From 1997 until 2001, Cline competed in poetry contests, before turning his hand to novels. Published in 2010, 'Ready Player One' is set in the 2040s, where most of the population spend their time logged into a virtual universe called the OASIS. Within the OASIS, players can design their avatars, attend online schools, play games and live virtual lives. At the beginning of the story, the man who created the OASIS has just died. Before his death, he hid three keys in the virtual universe and stated in his will that he would give his inheritance to the first person to successfully locate all three keys.

Several publishing companies fought over Cline's manuscript, with the Crown Publishing Group coming out on top. The day after 'Ready Player One' was published, the film rights were sold to Warner Bros. The sequel was published in 2020 and a film adaptation is in the early development stages.

In between writing 'Ready Player One' and 'Ready Player Two', Cline wrote 'Armada', a science-fiction novel that also involves video games. The film rights were sold to Universal Pictures in 2015 for a seven-figure sum.