Ready Player One

It's the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS - and his massive fortune - will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, and Halliday's obsessions have become the world's obsessions. And then Wade unlocks Halliday's first puzzle. Suddenly the world is watching, and Wade finds himself embroiled in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, pitted against powerful opponents who are willing to commit very real murder to gain control of the OASIS . . .

Note - bottom corner of front cover, small section has been torn off.