"It suddenly occurred to me just how absurd this scene was: a guy wearing a suit of armor, standing next to an undead king, both hunched over the controls of a classic arcade game."<br/><br/>This is a truly spectacular work: for a debut novel the writing is first rate and the entire premise astounding.<br/><br/>The year 2044 sees Humanity escaping the reality of increased energy depletion and environmental damage in a virtual world.  One of the creators of this virtual world eventually dies and, rather than being conventional about his will, leaves everything hidden in his creation, secreted and hidden away behind clues, quests and games. Of course, everyone wants to win, and so begins a mass study of this guy's likes, tastes and era of upbringing.<br/><br/><br/><br/>"At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, READY PLAYER ONE is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut—part quest<br/>novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired<br/>by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed."<br/><br/><br/>The story follows one such Gunter (an "egg hunter"), and chronicles his progress through searching for the coveted goal.  The real world crumbling around him, our hero escapes, like everyone else, into the very real but totally artificial world of the OASIS. <br/><br/>"When I reached the bar, I ordered a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster from the female Klingon bartender and downed half of it."<br/><br/>Because the world is virtual, everything you can think of is included: it's a crossover of every book, movie, music, meme and trope you can think of, and because of this the book was sold to me as an uber geeks paradise.  Of course, there's a lot in there that appeals to my inner geek, but seeing beyond that, it's also a superb story, a compelling world with a stellar protagonist and it even packs a bit of a moral punch, too.<br/><br/>"They pooled their resources and purchased two very expensive, very powerful antimatter bombs on eBay." <br/><br/>It's a classic Good versus evil, corporate-slamming romp, with warnings of monopoly and corporate greed intertwined with heartening messages of tolerance and respect for choice and acceptance. Above all that, there's the story, and it's an epic: a fantastic quest, with our hero from as low a background as you can think of, masterfully trying to rise above the odds (and doing it in an impressive geeky way, of course).<br/><br/>I struggled to put the book down, and would truly recommend it for any science fiction, fantasy, or fan of the eighties.