This book stayed with me whenever I put it down. There are some bold, interesting choices that I appreciated, and the writing is top-notch. The characters are interesting and entertaining, and even thought-provoking. 
 I'm surprised that some reviewers say this should be edited down. I was prepared, based on these reviews, to brace myself for enduring the depiction of gamers playing Elfscape; but I liked these parts, which were centered around the character Pwanange. It wasn't about the game so much as about his severe addiction to the game, and as the narration describes what is happening in Pwanage's brain, my brain was being amused. 
 Also funny, and what probably bumped this up to a 5 (4.5) is the character of Guy Periwinkle and what he reveals at the end. The dialogue between him and Samuel at the end is clever, and the reader gets to laugh at Periwinkle, who you could say is a phony, but he believes his worldview earnestly, so does that mean he is the most authentic of all?