From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
Five stars aren't enough. Words aren't enough to describe how great this book is. If there's any 80s pop culture rattling around in your head at all, and especially if you love video games, I can't imagine how you could do anything better right now than read this book.
...more
Underwhelming and, at times (ok most of the time), really irritating. Wade was an insufferable special snowflake (insufferable may be too strong of a word, but damn he annoyed me) and I really did not like him especially in the first half of the book. I get that the 80s and various tech references are integral, but there were SO MANY that had zero to do with anything important. Explanations of what some things were came off as patronizing when it wasn't being a "look at how much of a geek I am!"
...more
I don’t think I can put how great this book is into words. This book is..the book for people like me. Who love their internet friends as much as the people they’ve grown up with. For those who always felt a little left out until you find that thing that makes sense. Those people that like what you like.
For lovers of the geeky. For lovers of 80s pop culture. Who geeked out a touch at mention of an obscure tv show. For those who love the people in their lives for who they are deep down. Who belie ...more
For lovers of the geeky. For lovers of 80s pop culture. Who geeked out a touch at mention of an obscure tv show. For those who love the people in their lives for who they are deep down. Who belie ...more
Aug 15, 2013
Julie
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
reading-challenge-2014
I loved this book! Everything about it--read this book even if you don't consider yourself a gamer, geek or child of the 80s. It is utterly charming, thoughtful and funny.
Please read this book :) ...more
Please read this book :) ...more
After the first part of the book, which was mostly like some middle aged geezer reminiscing about how awesome the 80's were, and how cool he was for knowing all of these pseudo-obscure pop-culture factoids, we finally get to the meat of the story: gaming versus reality. In all fairness, I'm pretty nearly a middle aged nerd geezer myself, and I even got a chuckle out of some of the references. A lot of it was just name dropping, though, and contributed nothing at all to the storyline... hello DeL
...more
In the year 2044, you can live a completely virtual existence in the Oasis; go to school, work, socialize and no one needs to know your true identity. However, the creator of the Oasis was a product of the 1980s and has created a contest that requires it’s participants to be experts of the ‘80s. It is retro-futuristic, original, part comedy, part mystery and not the best book I’ve ever read but a lot of fun. If you grew up in the ‘80s and played the games Tempest or Joust with an actual quarter
...more
Pretty good story! In 2044, everyone prefers the virtual reality of the OASIS to real life, since real life is pretty grim for most people. Also, everyone is competing for an "Easter Egg" left behind by the OASIS creator, which would bequeath the finder with billions of dollars and complete control of the OASIS. Will the good guys find the egg, or will it be the greedy corporate pigs who prevail? There were so many 80's pop culture and video game references that it was a bit much at times. Also,
...more
Most people will identify with this book as a real geek-fest for children of the 70s and 80s, which it most definitely is. John Scalzi (an author I discovered last year and very much enjoyed) wrote this blurb:
Imagine Dungeons and Dragons and an 80s video arcade made hot, sweet love, and their child was raised in Azeroth. If you not already experiencing a nerdgasm at the thought, I don't want to know you.
So that pretty much sums it up better than I ever could!
In the first act of the book, I found ...more
Imagine Dungeons and Dragons and an 80s video arcade made hot, sweet love, and their child was raised in Azeroth. If you not already experiencing a nerdgasm at the thought, I don't want to know you.
So that pretty much sums it up better than I ever could!
In the first act of the book, I found ...more
I listened to the Audiobook version of this and couldn't stop listening. What an excellent story. Lots and lots of geek and gamer references, probably about half of which I didn't get, but the story is written so that you don't need to know the details of the game being referenced.
...more
Very interesting and clever concept, but ultimately it was only so-so. I suspect you've got to be both an 80s aficionado and a super techie gamer type to love this book. I found this vision of the future to be horrendously hopeless and felt bored with all of Parzival's time in the OASIS. Get outside! Live life! Touch a human being!
...more
LOVED this book. And I'm a little sad I didn't listen to the Wil Wheaton read version. I didn't so much read it as gulp it down, so maybe I can listen to it in the future.
The writing is OK, neither great nor poor, but the story is compelling and satisfying. It makes you want to be a gamer though, so if you don't have that addiction it might be better to avoid the book. ...more
The writing is OK, neither great nor poor, but the story is compelling and satisfying. It makes you want to be a gamer though, so if you don't have that addiction it might be better to avoid the book. ...more
Great read...lots of 80s pop culture references. I highly recommend listening to the audio version.
A quick read. Well written and lots of fun. The 80's references were a hoot!
...more
