This wasn't the first time I listened to this book, and it won't be the last. This is the book that made me love audiobooks. Wil Wheaton's performance is superb. The story is fantastic. Highly recommended. ( )

I wanted to like this book, I really did, but there were a few things that I couldn't come to terms with. First of all, I love everything this book is about, virtual reality, online gaming, dystopian futures, nerd culture and the 80's, for me this should be a recipe for an incredibly awesome adventure... But it wasn't. First of all, the writing was really flat, I understand it's supposed to be first person limited perspective of the kid, but I just couldn't connect with it. I'm not sure how to explain it, but the writing just seemed amateurish, informal, but not informal enough to be stylized.

Though frankly, my biggest issue was with the premise of being obsessed with the 80's in the year 2044. Don't these kids have modern bands / films / animation too, or is everything only a big throw-back? I understand that might be missing the point, I just for some reason couldn't buy into that reality, it's like the equivalent of every kid in the 2000's being obsessed with big band music or doing the charleston. Most of the book seems like a never-ending name drop, where every moment they'd throw in something like how the protagonist was listening to billy idol or marathoning knight rider while R2D2 served him drinks. It feels somehow artificial, like I was getting the sense of the perspective really being that of someone in the year 2012 writing about someone in 2044 talking about 1980's nerd culture. I had too much of a sense of the author's presence in this time period.

If I turned off my brain and just enjoyed it, this book was great! However when I started thinking about the world of the book and the writing, I had a hard time. Oddly enough if there's a sequel, I will probably read it. I like the characters and the world, but I just want to see beyond the never-ending sea of 80's references and an improvement in writing style. ( )

Loved this book. Page turner. Interesting story. ( )

realtà virtuale
videogioco ( )

I liked the idea of the book, but I feel like it could have been executed better.

In a dystopian future, a virtual-reality video-game designer creates a contest to determine who will inherited his estate.

I liked the parts of the book that involved the contest the best. The characters were alright, but they seemed a bit flat.

It seemed like half of the book was 80's nostalgia and descriptions of virtual reality gear. A lot of the nostalgia and the tech-talk was necessary for the story, but it was overdone so it got tiring. ( )