I had conflicting feelings about this book. On the one hand, I heard wonderful reviews of this book from readers of different ages. However, what made me pause was the fact that much of the action was supposed to take place inside a video game. I never liked video games and was not sure I'd want to read a book about being in one... In addition, I heard the book described as being filled with 1980s trivia. Frankly, I was not sure about my 1980s trivia knowledge... Nonetheless, I decided to give it a shot; and what a great read this turned out to be!
The book is funny, well-written and very engaging. The 80s references were very understandable. The characters were interesting and likable. I loved everything about this book. Now about the video game. This is not the correct description, at least in my mind. The story is set in 2045, when the human civilization takes a downturn due to diminished natural resources. The only diversion humans have is this massive online virtual reality where everyone spends most of their waking hours. This is where you work, shop, watch movies and news, meet friends, go to school, etc. Seeing how even today we spend a lot of time doing things online, I can totally see the possibility of such a virtual reality being created some day. Cline does a fantastic job describing what it feels like to be inside this virtual reality. He is also good at portraying the loneliness his characters experience in real life even though their virtual lives are packed with adventures, friendships and even romance.
The main character (Wade, aka Parzival) and his friends are engaged in a once in a lifetime game/online puzzle set up by a renown video game designer who had recently passed away. The winner will get his entire fortune valued in billions of dollars. The story is filled with twists and turns. The relationships in the book are sweet and heartwarming, and the story has a really good ending. I rated this book at 5 out of 5 starts on Goodreads and I highly recommend it to everyone who likes science fiction and adventure stories.
The book is funny, well-written and very engaging. The 80s references were very understandable. The characters were interesting and likable. I loved everything about this book. Now about the video game. This is not the correct description, at least in my mind. The story is set in 2045, when the human civilization takes a downturn due to diminished natural resources. The only diversion humans have is this massive online virtual reality where everyone spends most of their waking hours. This is where you work, shop, watch movies and news, meet friends, go to school, etc. Seeing how even today we spend a lot of time doing things online, I can totally see the possibility of such a virtual reality being created some day. Cline does a fantastic job describing what it feels like to be inside this virtual reality. He is also good at portraying the loneliness his characters experience in real life even though their virtual lives are packed with adventures, friendships and even romance.
The main character (Wade, aka Parzival) and his friends are engaged in a once in a lifetime game/online puzzle set up by a renown video game designer who had recently passed away. The winner will get his entire fortune valued in billions of dollars. The story is filled with twists and turns. The relationships in the book are sweet and heartwarming, and the story has a really good ending. I rated this book at 5 out of 5 starts on Goodreads and I highly recommend it to everyone who likes science fiction and adventure stories.
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