**Review based on audiobook version, narrated by Will Wheaton"

80's pop culture, atari, Star Wars, NPGs, Easter Eggs, oh my!

Wade Watts is an 18 year old living in a rotting futuristic world where reality cannot live up to the possibilities available in the immersive Oasis, an online-alternate reality similar to World of Warcraft meets Second Life. The Oasis has infiltrated daily life so much that most kids, including Wade, even attend high school within this online 'game.'

Part of the mystique of the Oasis is its creator, James Halliday. Halliday grew up during the golden dawn of computers and video games, the late 1970s and early 80s. He was your stereotypical gamer geek but had the drive, ambition and brilliance to launch his obsessions into a multi-billionaire dollar empire, especially after he launched the Oasis. Upon his death, with no family or chosen heir, Halliday stunned the world by releasing a prerecorded video with the invitiation for all those in the Oasis to try and find his hidden "easter egg." The first to find the egg would win the fortune and the complete control of his empire, including the Oasis. In a world where most live in abject poverty, this is the quest of a lifetime.

Ready Player One follows the pursuit of Wade Watts for Halliday's egg, and throughout you are entertained by the various puzzles and pop culture references that challenge him along the way.

For anyone who has ever played an atari game, rolled a 20 sided die, or somehow lost time while immersed in an online quest, this is the book for you. Will Wheaton's narration was the cherry on top. Awesome.