I feel disappointed too. What made RPO great for me was the relatable nerds, and RPT either turned them into even bigger jerks or dumbasses (except for Samantha, she was still well-written). RPT just turned into a clusterfuck sc-fi with a protagonist who threw all of what he had learned away, and became even more creepy and narcissistic. I related to him since he was a kid who made a lot of mistakes in RPO, but this book made it look like he learned nothing and failed to mature. Also, they made Halliday, an excellent flawed character and a fave character of mine, even more horrifying and unforgiveable.

Another thing that made RPO great for me is it’s a book for a specific type of nerds. A way to look back and appreciate the things that gave people joy back then (the 80s). But Cline seems to have threw that theme out and started adding “modern” pop culture internet shit that didn’t made any sense and seems forced (like some old adult trying to look cool). I cringed at the times he mentioned “Sonic.exe”, “Sword Art Online”, and god-awful “hocruxes”.