Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

My boyfriend received a copy of Ready Player One in a Loot Crate recently, and he tore right through it. He told me nothing about the book except that it wasn’t at all what he expected and that it was crammed full of ’80s pop culture references. I couldn’t wait to start reading it. The chapters are short, allowing for convenient stopping places during a busy week, but I still struggle with focus no matter how exciting a book is. When I found out that Wil Wheaton did the narration, I decided to go the Immersion Reading route. It seemed fitting once I learned more about the setting. I don’t think it would be spoiling anything to describe the setting as a bleak American future where citizens escape into a simulated reality more popular than facebook. Ready Player One highlights the struggle against corporate power like any good cyberpunk dystopia. Gamers will have no trouble identifying with the protagonist, Parzival, as he works toward his digital salvation from poverty.
I found myself clapping like a giddy fangirl at some parts, clenching my fists at others, and catching my breath before the tears at the highs and lows. Imagine a universe where every fictional setting actually exists and you can hop a flight from Middle Earth to Pandora if you’ve earned enough money and levels. Now imagine that everyone living inside this universe had the same opportunity to win exactly one crap-ton of money by following a trail of vague clues. You’d want the money bad and you’d do whatever it takes to get it, but the universe is so huge it could take forever to find it. Ready, set, GO!
I enjoyed this book and the experience of the audio narration. If you get a chance, snatch a copy for yourself.