I'm having a hard time knowing exactly how to feel about this book, so let me just start by saying that the parts of this book that I liked, I LOVED. Cline has gone above and beyond in creating a vast, believable virtual world in which the citizens of a bleak earth escape the terrible reality around them. His descriptions of the OASIS and all that happens there come across not just as a fun fantasy, but as something I could genuinely see existing in the next 30 years or so. 
 Additionally, this reads as one hell of a page-turner. I blew through the book in just a few short days, whereas most novels tend to take me several weeks to get through (unfortunately). I constantly wanted to know how Parzival was going to fare on his hunt for the Egg, and could barely put the book down. 
 The spirit of discovery in this book is vast, with Cline having created the book's main quest with all the joy of his childhood still intact. But, I think this is where I start to take issue with the book. The central concept was clearly designed by Cline as some sort of uber-nerd fantasy: a world in which complete and utter devotion to video games and pop culture knowledge is actually rewarded, even valued higher than almost any other trait a person can have. And this isn't written from an ironic point of view, where we sometimes worry for the mental health of a world driven mad by 1980s references, but is rather written as some sort of near-utopic virtual world/trivia list. There are interesting video game facts in here, but overall, the same thought kept bothering me, and it's something that bothers me in the real world, not just in the one created here: nothing new is being created. Instead, we're shown a world in which the huge, vast, incredible creation of the virtual OASIS world is really just a big stupid container for a ton of old stuff. We hear all about how there's a Star Wars sector and a Blade Runner sector and Voltron and Godzilla and Dungeons & Dragons all simulated within this life-changing contraption, but we rarely if ever get a real sense that anyone is doing anything new with it. It seems silly to complain that a fictional video game system isn't "doing anything new," but my problem is less with that, and more that that is portrayed as somehow GOOD. As if millions upon millions of humans would flock to join a giant emulator to escape the pain of reality. It's very implausible, beyond the fact that it seems to value references over creation (as does Cline, occasionally, using the built-in drama of already-existing games to build his world). I know there must be more to the OASIS than this, but Cline doesn't really show us. It's all pop culture all the time. 
 Also, there are two parts of this book where people literally just quote along to a movie. You know, that thing the most annoying people in the world do? Well, it's a SPECIAL POWER in Ready Player One. And the person who knows the most about old video games and movie quotes gets a jillion dollars! Congrats, new money, now that you have devoted your entire life to memorizing otherwise useless facts, I'm sure you'll have lots of ideas about what to do with your jillions. 
 Complaints about the book's unrealistic ouroboros of pop culture aside, there are more technical issues I had with the book. First of all, the writing feels less like a novel and more like a friend trying to tell a story to you from memory. It comes across very flat, with absolutely no subtlety. If someone gets a special item randomly, you KNOW it's going to be important later. But even that is preferable to the countless times Cline digs his hero out of a hole by just suddenly throwing in a ton of backstory to explain why Parzival is able to do a given amazing incredible feat in the middle of a harsh circumstance. 
 Oof, and the dialogue. The people in this world all speak like the absolute most grating modern gamers (apparently gaming language does not change an ounce by 2044), saying shit like "Sux0rz" and claiming to be "leet" or whatever. Every time a person spoke I wanted to sledgehammer them. Luckily, there is very little speaking out loud in this book, as the vast majority is told from a first-person perspective (where the narrator does not at all match the tone of his idiotic speaking voice). 
 And the love story. Hoo boy. One of the dumbest! There is pretty much no reason for a love story to exist in this book, and yet there it is, with all the flare and romance of a kid making two Barbies kiss. At one point we see a chat transcript from the two lovebirds that reads like you accidentally opened your 12-year-old sister's Google Hangout with a boy she thinks is "kinda cute." It's meant to make our hero seem nerdishly charming, but it really just made me feel even sorrier for him and everyone in this world. 
 I think I've complained enough about the stuff I didn't like. As I mentioned up top, I loved parts of this book, and it kept me reading the whole time. But I never really felt like I was experiencing this world, as much as I felt like I was just being told this it exists. But, I think that's the price you pay when the foundation of YOUR work is referencing OTHER PEOPLE'S work, as is the case here. So, if you're really into 80s pop culture and/or video games, give it a read to see what the fuss is about, but just know that the fuss is a little too loud.