This book is filled with ads and information as if you were using it to visit Ankh-Morpork. It's good for a laugh, but there is no story involved. If you are a fan of the Discworld series, then you'll understand many of the references, and enjoy it that much more. I normally wouldn't have bought this book, but it came with a very large, very beautiful, map of Ankh-Morpork. The map is laid out on a grid on one side, so that you can find the streets and locations that are mentioned in the particular book that you are reading, or for ads within this book. The other side of the map has a nice, non-grid, picture of the entire city.

Ready Player One is set in 2044, and the world has suffered from economic depression, climate change, and heavy social problems. To escape this dystopian landscape, people log on to an immersive online world that is accessed through consoles and VR equipment that they keep in their home. The final act of the online world's creator, was to initiate a game that would give the winner immeasurable wealth and power, both within and outside of, the online world. When the primary character of the novel is the first to make any progress after years of people being stumped by the contest, he becomes a target for others who want the power for themselves.
I listened to this novel on audio book. The narrator, Wil Wheaton, was fantastic. The overall plot and pacing were fantastic, and kept me engaged for the most part. The only thing that pulled me out of the story were occasional "info dumps", where the author added way more information that I needed, or was interested in. The book is a love letter to the 80's, and many of the information dumps were related to pop culture, and 80s esoterica. Some of the dialog was a little clunky, and sounded unnatural, especially between the group of friends in the book. All of that being said, these things were not enough to keep me from really enjoying this book.