"Ready Player One" - Ernest Cline

Published in 2011 by Dark All Day, Inc.

The year, 2044.  The world, going to hell in a handbasket.  The protagonist, Wade Watts aka Parzival.  In reality (a pretty awful place by this point) Wade lives with his Aunt in a stack of double wide trailers that threatens to fall over at any point, she hawks his technology and school gear to buy drugs and people don't usually live very long without a safe hiding spot.  In the OASIS though, a magical technological other world, he is Parzival, a slightly more muscular fellow with admittedly better skin and the potential for greatness.

James Halliday created the OASIS and introduced the world to a new better place that wasn't overrun by disease, pollution, and general effed-up-ness.  The OASIS is infinitely large and can be whatever the user wants it to be.  Kids attend school there, people meet and date, in fact they don't even need to be people.  Why not be a flying Ork with lighting bolt tattoos   The quest is to find James Halliday's egg.  Before he died, he programmed the world to have three hidden challenges that if completed would give the winner access to his vast personal fortune (in real life and in the OASIS.)  So what's a pudgy kid from the trailer parks supposed to do?  Obviously, battle evil forces and try to win while making some friends along the way.

Filled 100% with strange, funny, cheesy, stupid, wonderful 1980's references, this novel was a quick and delightful read.  It probably won't be winning the Man-Booker prize but after Schindler's List I needed a little pick-me-up.

Rating: ***