Player One

 I wanted to like this more than I did.  The basic premise was fascinating, and I did love all the puzzles and the whole idea of the game. It felt like a cross between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Westing Game, but geekier than both.  The problem with it is that it is trying too hard to be relevant to old-school 80's geek culture. There were too many references, too many times where the character just happens to remember a strangely oblique reference to something that he had played years ago that honestly, even people living in the 80's had probably forgotten (and often for good reason). Yes, I understand that Wade devotes his life to the study of these things, but being able to retain the muscle memory to play all of these games (and 80's games, for those who have forgotten, were often very difficult to master) years after the last time he had played them, and to play them at such a level, stopped feeling lucky and started sliding into "...seriously?" territory pretty quickly. It started feeling less like he had studied and worked hard and more like he knew whatever the plot needed him to know, and that's always an uncomfortable feeling. In addition to that, the whole romance aspect was just awkwardly handled. Wade starts off as<spoiler>unattractive, but manages to slim down and become attractive just in time to meet this girl that he is interested in, and in addition to that, she is apparently the only character that looks like her (attractive) avatar. </spoiler>That just sort of smacks of wish fulfillment in an extreme way, and the objectification there feels awkwardly tacked on given the reality of a physical form doesn't really matter too much in the game. In the end I liked it in spite of these problems. It was a quick read with an interesting premise and some clever puzzles, and it would probably be an even better read for someone born a few years earlier than I was who would actually recognize more of the references than I did. It's worth a read if the premise sounds interesting, though probably not all the acclaim it is getting.  

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS.

Ready Player One serves as both a love letter to geek/nerd culture and a timely reminder about the allure of escapism. It is packed full of references to 80's pop culture and science fiction; managing to blend the two harmoniously and create a novel that is well worth reading.