I’m looking out for a physical copy to send to my husband’s seventh graders because I think this is a great book for kids. Anyway, the idea of this book didn’t really turn me on to it, but the review of it I read did.

But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life - and love - in the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt - among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.Īnd then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune - and remarkable power - to whoever can unlock them.įor years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved - that of the late twentieth century. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.Īnd like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Ready player one goodreads