Ready Player One

By Ernest Cline

Categories: Literature & Fiction

In 2045, reality is grim, and Wade Watts only feels alive inside the OASIS, the vast virtual world where most of humanity spends its days. When the OASIS's eccentric creator dies, he leaves behind a series of fiendish puzzles built on his obsession with 1980s pop culture. Whoever solves them first inherits his fortune and control of the OASIS. Then Wade cracks the first clue, and suddenly he's up against rivals willing to kill for the prize.

Recommended by 10 people

• Jenn Im
• George R. R. Martin
• Brian Armstrong: “A compelling picture of how VR might play out. People will spend more and more time in the meta-verse (side note: and likely end up using digital currency).”
• Bill Gurley
• Austen Allred
• Astro Teller
• Casey Neistat
• Shaan Puri
• Mark Zuckerberg: “anyone who's interested in this space would read Ready Player One and Snow Crash. I think Rainbow's End is one that is maybe not as commonly cited, but I think is maybe the augmented reality sort of equivalent of some of the seminal works that talk about virtual reality.”
• Tom Bilyeu: “Ready Player One (the book) made me realize that as technology continues to advance, a new type of game world will emerge.”