I just can't get into this book. The premise is corny, and reads like a screenplay. Maybe it's because I actually know what goes into building virtual worlds. Sure, lone-programmers built entire games--in the Atari era--but today games are built by teams of THOUSANDS of programmers, each toiling on a minute detail. People get famous developing techniques for animating hair, but nobody builds entire games all by themselves. Even if they do they must use tools developed by thousands more developers. Easter eggs are ferreted out by decompiling and analyzing source code. A process that's not nearly as glamorous as pouring over '80 pop culture for clues. Everything about the world this is set in is disorienting and hard to follow. You're never quite sure what the rules are, and without any visuals to back it up you're lost. I'm sure the movie is better, though I've not seen that yet.