3.5 Stars 
 "Being human totally sucks most of the time. Videogames are the only thing that make life bearable." 
 Note: This book will probably offer the most enjoyment to Generation X. Since this reader is technically Generation Y, there was a LOT of 70's-80's trivia and factoid-dropping that didn't do much of anything for me--in spite of the fact that I love gaming and general geekdom. 
 What we have here is a near-future dystopian that doubles as a broad-niche geek tale. The story is told in the 1st-person perspective of eighteen-year-old Wade Watts, and primarily takes place in an expansive virtual-world MMORPG (Massive Multi-player Online Role Play Game) called the OASIS. 
 The plot unfolds several years after the death of James Halliday, the 80's pop culture-obsessed shut-in creator of the OASIS--who happened to leave behind the promise of his entire fortune to whomever could unlock his hidden in-game puzzles and prove themselves worthy. 
 Wade is a destitute orphaned gamer, living and scrounging under the negligent "care" of his vile aunt in a sort of vertical trailer park in the sky. His teenage father died before his was born, and his mother used the OASIS as a babysitter for him while she worked as a virtual callgirl--up until her unfortunate OD death, which results in the domestic conundrum we find Wade in as we're introduced to him in the first chapter. 
 (Cue the sad violin music.) 
 But despite his underdog background, Wade isn't actually the most sympathetic or likeable of protagonists. He's a cynical misanthrope striving to use his vast accumulation of obscure 80's knowledge to win his world's version of the lottery--though he's put little thought into how he'll use those unlikely proceeds. He has only one friend, an online personality named Aech, who shares his obsessions but with whom he shares no actual depth of interpersonal knowledge. Plenty of room for character growth! And some growth does occur, (though it takes until the final 1/3rd of the book before kicking in to any notable degree.) Still, some readers may find it tiring to be stuck in his POV exclusively. 
 Between the teen angst/apathy and sometimes heavy-handed leftist influence (environmental and economic-collapse based dystopian premise, nihilistic main character opens with a condescending diatribe against any and all religion, generic 1-dimensional 'evil corporation' antagonist...), I found my interest wavering more than I'd like. But in this reader's opinion, the biggest weakness of the story was the romantic subplot. The lengthy expositions on masturbation carried more convincing feeling than the whole of the actual romance. This lack of believability actually had little or nothing to do with the fact that it was an online/long distance relationship--(this reader would be the FIRST to attest to how real and deep those have the potential to be, even without the aid of virtual reality.) Instead it seemed more a result of implied development rather than demonstrated--too much tell and not enough show. 
 On the upshot, Cline offers readers a speculative-yet-probable virtual realm with plausibly depicted interface tech. The sociological aspect is fairly well fleshed out and even explored a few thoughtful questions regarding human interaction. There were a handful of 90's references that did give me a nostalgic warm fuzzy or two, and overall, it did cater well to the competitive nature of the gamer sub-culture. (Complete with satisfying mass-scale boss battle!) 
 In short, this is a gamer-centric fun read. I DO recommend the audio book, as it is read by none other than Wil Wheaton--whose pretentious and denigrating inflections suit the character of Wade almost perfectly. (No offense, Wil. I <3 you!)