Ernest Cline

“Willy Wonka meets the Matrix” (USA Today) in this jaw-droppingly cinematic debut that’s part virtual space opera, part classic coming-of-age story—and part brilliant pop-culture mashup

It’s the year 2044, and—like most of humanity—Wade Watts vastly prefers the online utopia known as the OASIS to an increasingly grim, poverty-stricken real world. Like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual reality. Somewhere inside the OASIS, it’s rumored, are hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them. For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late 20th century.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle. Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions—and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.