Ready Player One, a novel by Ernest Cline, delves into the not so distant future in which exhausted energy resources have led to fuel and electricity shortages. People congregate around bigger cities where access to electrical power and wireless internet are still available, resulting in stacked trailers in urban wastelands. Unemployment is sky high and cities are becoming bleak landmarks of an industrialized civilization on the verge of collapse.
Wade Watts, the product of a short-lived teenage romance, is left an orphan surviving on his own. Raised on video games and virtual reality school, Wade exists online in the virtual utopia called OASIS. The opportunity of a lifetime comes along when a reclusive billionaire game designer dies and decides to leave his entire fortune to whoever can solve the challenges hidden in his videogame. Seeing this as a way out of his misfortunes, Wade makes it his personal quest to be the winner.
This book is an adventure of a read for teens and adults. Reminiscent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Harry Potter books, this is a modern quest by an underdog who must utilize hard work, courage, brainpower, and friendship to overcome impossible obstacles. It was a fast-paced and fun read with lots of references to 80’s pop culture and modern morals. I was cheering on Wade Watts the entire time, smiling when he got moments of success and nail-biting through his action-packed tribulations. The book will definitely appeal to millennials, but is recommended for anyone who likes a good quest book that doesn’t take itself too seriously.