Xander

Did anyone read this book? I'm about 25% through it now and am totally loving it. For anyone who is/was a geeky child of the 80's, it is really fun. So far, I would highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of 80's pop culture.

Jason Bovberg

The most entertaining book I read all year, for sure.

pelenor

I read it through Audible, with Will Wheaton reading it and since I am a child of the 80's, I loved all the references. Although I had to look some of the less familar ones up lol. I read that it was optioned to be adapted as a movie. Now that would be col if they could clear al the rights and do it justice.

bishop2knight

Not only is this the best book of the year, it's now one of my all time favorites. It's a fast, energetic read that I couldn't put down.

Quake1028

I am starting it tonight after I finish off A Feast for Crows. Cannot wait.

starman9000

Yeah, this sounds right up my alley, I'm going to track it down. Thanks for the suggestion!

Xander

About halfway through and it's still going strong. Such a good book!

Geofferson

I'll have to check it out - sounds like I'd enjoy it.

Xander

Just finished it last night. What a great book! Easily the best book I have read in a long time. I hope Cline does another book in that universe.

starman9000

Just started this yesterday and am going through it pretty quick, for me. I'm really liking it so far, though sometimes his writing style really bothers me.

starman9000

Finished it last night. Very fun book. My earlier complaints disappeared pretty much from when I mentioned them, so that's good. I hope they can clear enough rights to make the movie work. I can't believe how much stuff from my youth I had forgotten (like Dragon magazine) it makes me want to see if I still have those in boxes somewhere.

I had no idea until I finished it that he is the guy that wrote Fanboys, so good for Cline. Can't wait to get some more from him.

starman9000

Larry C.

So I'm guessing if I was born in 74 and was 6-16 years old in the 80's this is a MUST read?

starman9000

That, and you enjoy books like Harry Potter/Hunger Games/Enders Game.

It's very fun, but is young adult in style, even though the references out date that audience. (which is perfect for me, as I'm a slow reader, but was able to crank this out in pretty much two evenings)

I guess I should also add you'd probably need to into geek culture in the 80s too, I don't think my sister would care much about this book. It's more D&D/Atari than Debbie Gibson/Florescent shoelaces.

TimeandTide

I don't think I've ever been this on the fence about a book before.

I dug (and got) many of the references since I was also a D&D-playing, WarGames-watching, and text-based-adventure-gaming geek in the early '80s, but the sheer volume of pop-culture references was a major turn-off. (Many were pointless and felt shoe-horned into the story as an excuse for Cline to namedrop anyone and everything geek-related.)

And although I could sort of relate to Wade on the nerd level, the characters were entirely flat and cliched (which makes sense, I guess, since Ready Player One is essentially Goonies set in the future).

Also didn't care for Cline's writing style. I get that the voice of the story is a teenage Wade's, but the dialogue is entirely unnatural and forced. That RPO sounds like a YA novel, yet its target audience is 30+-year-old men, is also confusing.

I don't know. I'm glad I read it as I have fond memories of the very arcades and TV shows and console gaming Cline references in the novel, and I enjoyed picking up some of the more obscure and indirect allusions, but I felt that in the hands of a better writer, the book would have been much, much better.

And having said that, I wouldn't mind seeing an annotated/illustrated version of this.

grenier

Thanks to the suggestions here, I just started reading it. I'm not very far in but it's grabbed me.

mhg83

Started reading it too. Like what i've read so far.

marginal

I haven't read a whole lot yet, but it strikes me as nostalgia porn. Just geeky/pop culture references strung together, one after another, without much real point or insight. And I personally think they're explained in far too much detail for a reader from that era. I assume that's for younger audiences.

TimeandTide

lattethunder

starman9000

The explanations get reigned in after a while, that was the same complaint I had.

All in all, I enjoyed it, but it is very flawed.

mhg83

I loved this book but like others have said the constant explanations of the 80's references got annoying. It would've been better if Cline would've included an appendix called "The Geek Dictionary" that would've explained the references for people that didn't understand them.

Also i was expecting something different with the ending

mhg83

And since Warner Brothers bought the rights, i think a good replacement movie for the first gate would be The Goonies.

mhg83

Now i have to buy the softcover!

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wmansir

I just started this last night. I read the first 1/3rd of the book and it's been OK. The 80's references are a bit much and the "net neutrality", open source, etc geek politics are a bit on the nose, but overall it is a fun read.

Regarding the contest, since it's not in the ebook versions (which is how I'm reading it) I'm guessing the easter egg is page layout or font based. I know one of the first hidden clues revealed in the story's contest is from a font based coded message.

PS. Speaking of the ebook version, as I was reading this on my nook I found it was funny that the main character, who attends a virtual reality school, describes the VR console as the size of a paperback.