Vague description of this book: Snow Crash meets Ender's Game. You don't need to have ready either one of those to enjoy this. I LOVED listening to this book (narrated by Wil Wheaton). It was extra nerdy, lots of great references, and overall entertaining. It makes me wish that some of the virtual worlds that are currently available were more immersive like The Oasis. It was definitely "nerdy fluff," but you shouldn't judge it poorly for that. I suggest you give it a read/listen.

So good. So sad it’s over. 😊

3.5. I liked this book a lot, but I didn't love it. I doubt I will read any sequels, hence the 3 stars, instead of rounding up to 4.

It was good and compelling but to be honest, this really wasn't that creative a book. It's essentially Willy Wonka but in the video game world. Also, the VR setting that the author introduces is basically real life and the matrix in one. The book was a quick read and I was sucked in, but the three trials were really pathetic (quoting an 80s movie by heart or playing an 80s video game by heart? Come on) and the final trial was absolutely lackluster. The author went through it way too quickly and it was essentially just a rehash of the first two trials with a bit of a twist. If you want a quick read that will suck you in quickly, this is a good pick but it's not a great book. It could have been much better

#35 A book set in the future

This is the kind of book that feels like you're walking through a dream while you're reading it. An imaginative offering for anyone who is a fan of video games, the 1980s, pop culture, or all of the above. I'm not even sure if dystopian is the right label for this, because if it is, this book is not nearly as dark as the genre usually seems to be.

A couple of things that seemed out of place: the unnecessary promotion of an atheistic world view early in the book and the awkward diversion from the plot near the end to briefly foray into transgender issues and pronoun awareness. Both instances were odd because they were disconnected from either character or plot development, which made them stand out all the more. Maybe that was the intent.

I liked the ending and don't feel it is a spoiler to say so. It also leaves the impression that a sequel is a possibility, though this book stands fine on its own. I look forward to checking out the movie.

I listened to this as an audiobook and couldn't 'put it down'!!

The narrator was perfect for this book which always makes me want to keep listening!

The story was really fun and easy to get into. Loved the characters and how they all interacted with each other. The world building is really amazing and being a child of the 80's I loved all the references even if I didn't get all of them!

A few things were a little overdone or a little obvious but all in all this was a super fun read/listen and I'm excited to see it when it's made into a movie!

Recommend: 15 or older; few instances of explicit language (f, s, b words) but it wasn't throughout the whole book; lot of deep concepts to discuss around virtual reality vs reality, judging people based on looks (the ability to be who you think people want you to be in the Oasis), obsession (healthy and non healthy), cheating, love, poverty, indentured servitude, etc; two different situations where people are killed in real life; few references to masturbation and sex but not too descriptive; overall concept is great and does a good job of taking a hard look at virtual reality in a fun way!

I enjoyed the heck out of this. It's a nostalgic love-letter to 80's console videogame culure. Imagine if all the time you'd ever spent playing computer games, watching cartoons and reading sci-fi and fantasy stories was actually preparing you for the ultimate VR treasure hunt with a multi-billion-dollar prize? It's a pure geek fantasy.
The story suffers a bit from having a pure-evil cartoon villain, but that also perfectly suits the theme (player vs the bad guys). It might also fall a little flat to anyone that isn't a child of the 80's/early 90's, but anyone that cares at all about gaming/TV/cartoons/music should have fun with it. Overall: a good, fun read.

Art3mis supremacy

3.8 rounded up. The ending was super exciting, I just think I would have enjoyed it more if I was into old video games and 80’s pop culture. Still a fun read regardless.