And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune-and remarkable power-to whoever can unlock them.įor years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved-that of the late twentieth century.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.Īnd like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. It's the year 2045, and the real world is an ugly place.

The bestselling cult classic-soon to be a major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg.Īt once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, READY PLAYER ONE is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut-part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed.

Puzzle Island by Paul S. Adshead