Are you ready?

 Ready Player One is a novel that will take you on a wild ride through a virtual world, where the real world is nothing more than a dystopian nightmare. The novel is the brainchild of screenwriter Ernest Cline, and while some might argue that it's old wine in new bottles, I can tell you that this book is like a fine wine that gets better (not that I would pretend to have drank wine before) with every page.

Our narrator, Wade, is an 18-year-old orphan who lives in a vertical trailer park in Oklahoma City. He spends most of his time in the OASIS, a virtual world that's free to access and has all the bells and whistles you could ever want. The OASIS was created by the legendary billionaire James Halliday, who left a curious will. Halliday had devised an elaborate online game, a hunt for a hidden Easter egg. The finder would inherit his estate.

The hunt is on, and Wade, or rather his avatar Parzival, is the first gunter (egg-hunter) to win the Copper Key, the first of three. Halliday was obsessed with the pop culture of the 1980s, primarily the arcade games, so the novel is as much retro as it is futurist. Parzival’s great strength is that he has absorbed all of Halliday’s obsessions. He knows by heart three essential movies, crossing the line from geek to freak. His most formidable competitors are the Sixers, contract gunters working for the evil conglomerate IOI, whose goal is to acquire the OASIS.

Cline’s narrative is straightforward but loaded with exposition, which makes it all the more interesting. The novel takes its time building up to the meeting between Parzival and Sorrento, the head of IOI. Sorrento tries to recruit Parzival, and when he fails, he issues and executes a death threat. This dramatic high point is a real nail-biter that will leave you on the edge of your seat.

Unfortunately, the book slows down after this exciting moment, and Parzival spends his time navigating more ’80s games and movies to gain the other keys. While it’s clever, it's not as exciting as the first part of the book. Even a romance with another avatar and the ultimate “epic throwdown” fail to stir the blood.

Despite this, the novel is packed with witty references to ’80s pop culture and video games, which will keep you entertained throughout. The book also manages to explore themes of friendship, identity, and the dangers of corporate greed. All of this is delivered with Cline's signature humor and wit.

In conclusion, Ready Player One is a must-read for anyone who loves a good sci-fi adventure with a healthy dose of humor. So put on your virtual reality headset and dive into this dystopian world. You won't be disappointed. And as wade says ""Like most gunters, I’d always been of the opinion that the Hunt was a way for Halliday to exact posthumous revenge on a world that had mistreated him. But I was starting to think that it was far more than that. It was his way of giving the entire world an enormous middle finger."