Ready Player One

Likable teenager Wade Watts lives in a depressing, hopeless world in the year 2044. He escapes his dismal reality by logging into the Oasis, a virtual world created by the now deceased James Halliday. Before dying, Halliday initiated a virtual contest whose solution is hidden in late 20th-century pop culture, with the winner inheriting Halliday's immense fortune. Wil Wheaton, Wesley Crusher on TV's Star Trek: The Next Generation, does an excellent job reading this sf coming-of-age novel, capturing Wade's tension and determination. Recommended for sf and 20th-century pop culture aficionados. ["This debut is a great geek beach book, an unapologetic romp with brains and style," read the review of the New York Times best-selling Crown hc, LJ Xpress Reviews, 7/7/11; the Broadway pb will publish in June 2012.—Ed.]—Ilka Gordon, Siegal Coll. of Judaic Studies Lib., Cleveland