Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

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Publication date: 2011
Publisher: Crown Publishers
Pages: 372
My rating: 3.5 stars
Ages: 16+

In the year 2044, Wade (aka Parzival) is one of many "gunters"--those searching for the three keys left on the Oasis after the founder's death. Winning means total control of the Oasis and riches beyond imagination. When Wade becomes the first person to find a key, he has to race against the other gunters and the nefarious IOI to find the last three keys.

This is not the kind of book that I would normally pick up for myself. I'm not a gamer or really understand gaming. But it was assigned for a new book club that I just joined, so I got it from the library and read it.

I was pleasantly surprised! It was an interesting futuristic novel, set mostly in an online world. I don't like the idea of people spending all their time in a virtual reality, but since the real world had become depressing, I guess it kind of makes sense. There were times when I forgot that the virtual world wasn't the real one, which I think is exactly what was supposed to happen.

At times, the 80s references seemed a little out of control. It also wasn't a perfect book. But it's interesting and easy to read.

There was some language.

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