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I wouldn't class Ready Player One as the best book of 2012, but it was certainly enjoyable (when I read it in 2011). I prefer This Is Not A Game and Pattern Recognition in this genre; also worth checking out is Tad Williams' Otherland series.

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I can confirm that Pattern Recognition is (in my memory) even better than Ready Player One, which is also an amazing book. Thanks for the others, didn't know about them.

In what way is Pattern Recognition similar to Ready Player One? I was intrigued by the description of RPO, but when I read you talking about Pattern Recognition being in the same genre, I was really confused.

I thought Pattern Recognition was truly awful and couldn't finish it.

I classify them all as kind of cyberpunk/ARG fiction. Pattern Recognition takes place more in the physical world than Ready Player One, but they are both digital treasure hunts. As an ARG junkie, they naturally feel the 'same' to me. The style of writing is quite different though, and Gibson's style in Pattern Recognition isn't as fun to read as Ready Player One.

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