New Arcadia: Stage One

I really liked the premise and the beginning of this book. It definitely reminded me of Ready Player One. But I LOVE Ready Player One and I didn't love this one. I think part of that is that the pop-cultural references are even more gratuitous (and not as meaningful to me or recognizable to me as the ones in RP1. At least in RP1, there was a plot reason for the main character to be obsessed with 80s pop culture. I also didn't realize it was setting up a sequel when I started reading it, so that was frustrating. I got bogged down in the middle of the book and if I wasn't so stubborn about finishing most books that I start, I might not have finished this one. But I'm glad I stuck with it as the end was better than the middle.

The other thing that was a bit jarring about this book is that it was written after the Covid-19 pandemic started and the book takes place about 3 years later and is, in a way, offering commentary/speculation on the social/psychological repercussions of living through this pandemic.