Faux poster for Ready Player One

By lerms.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (who wrote the screenplay for Fanboys) is a pretty excellent book and I'd highly recommend it. Here's a review from SF Signal. RPO is set in a dystopic near-future where the global economy has turned to crap and the masses immerse themselves in an MMO/virtual world called OASIS. The plot revolves around the main character, a teen named Wade Watts, and a group of other players as they try to claim the prize left by one of the creators of OASIS - his wealth and controlling interest in the company that runs the games. At the same time, they have to dodge and hide from an evil megacorporation out to claim the prize for themselves and kill anyone who gets in their way. Their goal is to seize control of the other company and monetize the living hell out of OASIS to the extent that only the rich and powerful would be able to use it.

The book includes a lot of pop culture references. A lot. To be honest, I think Cline overdoes it. On the other hand, the Serenity from Firefly and the DeLorean from Back to the Future are in the book, so that's a plus.