the reader in a quiet corner

"No one in the world gets what they want and that is beautiful."

I'm a 90s kid, so I would have appreciated more if I read about 90s nostalgia porn, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or Power Rangers, or Britney Spears or Spice Girls or Goosebumps and Gameboys and Floppy Disks (although, yeah, floppy disks existed in the 80s, too).

Nonetheless, I mostly enjoyed the 80s and sometimes 70s pop culture references, although the only video game I knew was Pac-Man, and I liked the references to Neon Genesis Evangelion and other 80s anime. What can I say? I like reading about pop culture.

In Ready Player One, the world has come to a major decline, but they are still able to support advanced technology like the OASIS, the only thing that keeps people going. Like it says, it's an OASIS, where you can be whatever you want to be and live in a virtual world of your fantasies. AND IT'S FREE. Talk about wish-fulfillment. The OASIS is what we are all still waiting for. After all, they can really play Quidditch there, and we can be witches and wizards or elves and hobbits. You get it. WE NEED THIS THING.

The hero, Wade Watts needs to solve the riddles to get the ultimate prize the creator of OASIS left when he died: To inherit his whole fortune, including the virtual paradise he created. He's competing against corporate bastards who will do everything in their power to seize OASIS and transform it into an ad-infested site where only an elite few can access.

It was pretty slow, sometimes. It was hard to like the way Wade narrated sometimes, because he gives a lot of details without much insight to it. I'm sure name-droppings of past games, consoles and shows are enjoyable to people who actually get it, but to me, I only wanted him to solve the riddle and find the Egg!

Once the tricky beginning and middle parts were over, I was able to enjoy the climax up to its resolution and ending. Believe me, it was a treat, and if they ever make a movie of this, I'm sure I'll watch it. And, because I love a well-made resolution, this book gets 4 stars.

"As terrifying and painful as reality can be, it's also the only place where you can find true happiness."