As the pending new Spielberg movie based on Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One is rapidly approaching launch I picked up my copy of the book to re-read and see if I can remember why I liked the  book so much.  I remember lying on a beach and reading it in one session, and loving the whole thing.

It is a more PC take on the core of Cyperpunk, as originally crafted by William Gibson. A dysfunctional world ruled over by a corrupt company (IOI in Player One) with only a virtual reality world as an escape.  This time there is a way out, the creator and owner of the virtual world dies and lays down a 3 part riddle / challenge with the ownership of the company as the prize to the winner.

The normal young impoverished kid fighting the system and the dark lords of commerce to again all odds win and make the world a good place.  With all this in mind what could have become a dime-a-dozen sci-fi is one of the best new SF reads I’ve had in a long while.  Didn’t change my views of the world as William Gibson did, but a thoroughly enjoyable book. I hope the film does is justice