The Earth is a very different place in the future, and online characters matter just as much, if not more than real life. The world of the Oasis, a videogame, is home for many people as a distraction from the problems and horrors of the real world. The game has the power to fix the world and more than enough money to improve the state of the earth. The only problem is that when the creator of the game died, he left an easter egg in his game that whoever finds first gets to own the game. A young man named Wade Watts competes against an industrial giant, IOI to be the first to find the egg and save the world.
This is a great book with lots of fun references and easter eggs within it to many fun parts of pop culture or different video games. The conflicts are great and the characterization through screens is incredibly interesting and fun to read.