The year is 2044 and the energy crisis has driven the population from the suburbs (because no one can afford the gas) and into poverty stricken shanty towns comprised of "stacks" of mobile homes near the urban centers. Most people spend the majority of their time in the OASIS, a FREE virtual reality world that originated as a massive multiplayer online game but evolved into an entire virtual society. The designer of OASIS dies at the beginning of the book and in his video will (that is sent to all OASIS players) he reveals he has hidden 3 secret keys that unlock three gates in the game. The first person to unlock all three gates and find the hidden easter egg will inherit his $250 Billion fortune and control of his company. Needless to say everyone freaks out and starts looking for these keys (including an evil corporation that of course wants control of the company so they can monetize OASIS and flood it with advertising). It just so happens that the OASIS game designer grew up in the 1980's and was obsessed with 80's pop culture, so all the clues to finding the keys and the gates have to do with 80's video games, movies, music, cartoons, TV shows and comic books. But for years no one finds anything and eventually the fervor dies down for the most part, except for the few die hards that are super super into it. One of these guys, an 18 year old high school student who lives in the stacks, finally figures out the first clue and gets the first key. And this is when things get really interesting.
So there's the premise. Pretty good, no? Now, I'm not, and never have been, a gamer. My geekiness tends towards movies, sci-fi novels and comic books. And there is A LOT of gamer stuff in here. In fact the entire quest for the easter egg is essentially an action adventure video game. But if you have EVER played a game on the ATARI or Nintendo, or any of the game systems since (I stopped at the NES, but ATARI pretty much ruled until I was ten or so) then you'll get it. Don't worry. You don't have to be a gamer to enjoy this book. Anything that needs explaining is explained, but not overly so. It all serves the story and I never once felt the author was getting indulgent about his setting explanations.
For me the three most appreciated references (and there are tons of them, probably more than I was even aware of) were the Firefly class space ship, the Voight-Kompff machine, and the BeBop. These were the ones that made me laugh out loud, make a fist in the air and pull it back with my elbow while shouting "YES!" (there has to be a name for this gesture, it's too universal to not have one, so if anyone knows please enlighten me).
Another thing I really appreciated about this book was the reverence it paid to the idea of open source (not that you have to be aware of this in order to get what the book is trying to say at all, you don't). Sure it may have simplified the concepts a little (necessary since that wasn't really what the book was about) but I think it honored the spirit of it and I love that. The protagonist and his friends are essentially protecting access to OASIS for everyone. The access is free and the OASIS creator still amassed a fortune, proving that not everything has to be about profit and the bottom line. Allowing corporate control of the OASIS would be tantamount to shutting out anyone that couldn't afford it, and because of what the OASIS had evolved into and come to mean, well it would essentially be like a fascist take over of a previously free and democratic section of society.
Okay, sorry. I'll stop now.
I was reading this book at Rio Rita Saturday afternoon when I ran into my friend Louisa. When I showed it to her she was like "oh yeah, you know I went to UT grad school with him..." all non-chalant talking about being buddies with his wife. I was like, "um, you think you could introduce me, cuz I gotta pick his brain now.... pretty please!?!?"
It's Austin, I'm sure I'll run into him sometime. That's just how it works 'round these parts.
2 comments:
Ernie Cline is cool. He also wrote "Fanboys". But you are equally as cool Sarah.
I know, I dug Fanboys (see previous post:-)
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