In the year 2044, the environment and the economy have gone to hell. People are poor, sick, and miserable—except when they’re in the OASIS, a completely immersive online video game where they can be fabulous beauty queens or dragon-slaying wizards. The OASIS provides education, jobs, and alternate lives that are ten times more fulfilling than anything the beat-up, worn-down real world can offer. For teenager Wade Watts, the OASIS is his life and his obsession—because it’s creator, eccentric techno-genius James Halliday, left a treasure hunt embedded in the game that leads to a billion dollar real-world fortune and complete control over the OASIS. Halliday was obsessed with the 1980s, the decade of his youth, and Wade (and the rest of the world) have followed in his footsteps, studying John Hughes movies and Atari video games for clues to Halliday’s “Easter egg.” And when Wade gets to the first clue before anyone else—even the soulless minions from the evil IOI corporation—the world (online and offline) will never be the same. Sweet, funny, clever, and quirky, with a cast of badass (ok, geeky) gamers, ‘80s trivia galore, and a Hollywood movie adaptation already in the works, Ready Player One is, quite simply, a winner.

posted Dec 13, 2011 at 2:43PM

Even those who don’t play video games will be drawn into Cline’s story about a boy named Wade Watts and the online alternative reality world called the OASIS. The OASIS is where Wade plays games, attends high school, and tries to hunt down three hidden keys to unlock a treasure worth a fortune in real life. As Wade gets closer to finding the secret keys, his real life is in danger and it’s a race against time and other players to find the keys first. Filled with ‘80s trivia and references, this is a fast paced adventure that will especially appeal to anyone who lived through that decade.

posted Apr 10, 2013 at 6:49PM

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