I'm not sure how this series passed me by. A friend recommended it as "pretty fun" - it definitely pushes a lot of my buttons.

It also helps that Princess Donut is a great character (and a cat).

If you enjoyed the dungeon / adventure parts of Ready Player One, this book is that on steroids. Achievements, social media, megacorps, classes, D&D abilities, loot, and way more.

I will say that this book is mostly world building and doesn't progress a real storyline particularly far. I've withheld a star for that - hopefully the rest of the series delivers an engaging plot. If they end up being this book repeated I think I would lose interest quickly.

The audio adaptation has had a load of effort put into it, and even though certain bits (game text, achievement popups) can be a bit repetitive, it really worked.