Courtney

I want to give this book 0 stars.
Here is my biggest issue with geek culture: gatekeepers. You know who the gatekeepers are. They're the guys who tell you you're not a true fan of the thing unless you know this-this-and-this obscure fact. Unless you've seen every permutation of this thing. Unless you've seen every episode of this show or every film this director made. You can't call yourself a fan unless you've read every book in the series. Multiple times. The gatekeepers are the guys who think they're special because they like things. The guys who think they're elite because they like things, and don't want other people into their super special nerd club. The guys who drill you to name non-singles by a band if you are wearing a t-shirt. Those guys.
Here is my biggest issue with this book: it's one gigantic metaphor for the gatekeepers of geek culture. Complete with actual gates! Gates you can only open if you Get The Reference!
It takes winking and nudging nerds to a point where it stops being cute. There is a literal 2-page spread dedicated to name dropping all of the hippest possible geeky pop-culture references from between 1975-2010. The author of this book desperately wishes for you to pat him on the back for liking things. In return for liking all of the same things he likes, you can wade through the clunky references to unlock the otherwise decently clever plot underneath.
We get it. Ernest Cline likes Firefly. The number of lampshades he hangs on the fact that he likes Firefly/Kurt Vonnegut/Monty Python/80s movies/pick a thing is exhausting. I shouldn't have to be as immersed in geek culture as he is to get all of these jokes (unluckily for me I sortof am). It's a lazy, amateur crutch. The story can depend on silly references without forcing the reader to. The references should be a bonus to those who get it, not the entire point.
I wish there was something meta in the story, which forces all of these characters into being obsessed with everything geeky this video game creator had been obsessed with in order to unlock his puzzles. There's not. You have to also be obsessed with everything geeky this author is obsessed with in order to unlock the plot.
I think, as a geek, I'm supposed to feel catered to? I sortof just feel insulted.