Set Phasers to Nostalgia!

I adored Ready Player One.  It was this nice blend of Willy Wonka and Wargames.  Easter eggs abounded.  It was every ironic t-shirt I’ve ever sweat in playing 8-bit games in a barcade.  Here, Cline tackles the world of space invaders ala The Last Starfighter, Ender’s Game and to some extent Iron Eagle.  Only here, I felt like the story was overburdened with too much nerdstalgia to retain it’s structure.  I didn’t care much about the characters and I felt like I was getting fois grased with references.  It was a little too….too.