Editor’s note: Every once in awhile, Laura “live blogs” her reading on Goodreads. This is invariably because a book is pissing her off tremendously and/or she got really wild and drank not one, but two, non-IPA beers. We’ve decided to immortalize such moments in a new “feature,” named in honor of Jessica “Notso” Darling.
It’s 2044.
The delightful recession of our current times is still ongoing and known as the Great Recession. An energy crisis has somehow led to the development of 30-high stacked trailer shanty-towns, one of which is where our protagonist and narrator, Wade Watts, lives, but not where he spends most of his time.
At this point in our future, an advanced virtual reality system exists that allows humanity to escape the misery of their real lives. Upon the death of one of the creators, James Halliday, a puzzle game within the system is revealed to exist, and whomever solves it first will inherit Halliday’s 240+ billion dollar fortune, as well as ownership and control of the system where most people spend their time.
An EVIL COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION that I equate with Comcast will do ANYTHING to win. Including kill people.
And spend exorbitant amounts of money on virtual magic items.
After years and years of no progress by anyone in solving the puzzle, Wade—known in the system as the avatar Parzival—becomes the first person to solve the first clue.