You’d think that somebody would make a decent effort to make a social network around sharing recommendations of content like books and music, because some of the most interesting books that end up in my queue to read come from such recommendations via other means (IM mostly).

Ready Player One was such a book, a friend recommended it out of the blue, and the description looked interesting enough that I added it to my collection for later reading and completed it a couple of weeks ago.

The book has a charming idea; in the future the world is going to shit and everyone spends most of their time in a giant cross between Second Life and World of Warcraft. The creator of this dies and leaves a great treasure hunt involving 80s classic computer games and geek references, the reward being the keys to the system and his vast fortune. On this chase the story follows a single character as he attempts to solve the clues, and the friends he makes along the way.

In many ways it reminded me of a Neal Stephenson novel, especially Reamde; and I mean that in a complimentary way. It kept a reasonable pace throughout the narrative and sustained interest through all the different happenings. Though nothing truly surprising happens, it’s not about that, but about being along for the ride and chuckling at just how many references you can get.

★★★★☆