Wade Watts is a teenager living in the year 2044. Most of the inhabitants on the planet are starving and living in "stacks", trailer homes stacked onto each other. Instead of living in reality, people live in OASIS, a free, virtual utopia where you can be whoever you'd like and do whatever you want to do. The deceased creator of OASIS has set up an ultimate scavenger hunt within the game and to whom can solve it will receive power and riches. Wade hopes, like so many others, that the key to escaping the rotting world is to win. After years, and the whole world is still searching, Wade stumbles upon the first clue, which starts a frenzy. From there it is a deadly race to the finish... Wade must win to survive the quest and the world, but to do so he also must face the realities of life and leave his virtual utopia.
This was a great summer read and I honestly didn't put the book down. The idea of a virtual world such as the one described in the book does not seem so far fetch nowadays. Today, many people do escape the real world by playing online games and it consumes their whole life. To be whoever you want and have freedoms only a virtual world could provide, wow! Though this novel is fiction, Wade's world could become our own in a few years. Though I know I could easily find a game such as OASIS today, the technology to immerse oneself into the game sounds pretty awesome, and currently, I don't think any company has come out with it.
Wade is the type of kid that you want to see succeed. The reader sympathizes with Wade and wants him to win. He has a horrible life outside of OASIS, but he is sharp-witted and knows how to escape. He preservers and overcomes, like any great hero in a book.
Even though I may not be obsessed with video games, and this book has a lot to do with that subject (as well as pop culture of decade's past) I found this book light and entertaining.
So...
Ready Player One?
*Check and see if your library has something like this!
