I haven't felt this exhilarated about a book's ending since The Martian! So good. Even as someone who has just a basic knowledge of 80s geek lore, this book was so fun. I didn't get maybe 40% of the references, but I knew if I had grown up in the 80s, this would've been my favorite book ever. Maybe it would've felt like a fanservice to that specific age group, a money grab akin to the "only 80s kids will get this" clickbait we see online. But I think the story itself, the characters, the social/political/economical commentary suffices to dispel that thinking altogether. I think the author is obviously a fan and as any writer will tell you - you write what you know.

If I could change once thing, it would be the whitebread MC who, besides being very poor with a terrible home life, is otherwise definitely not a minority. While I appreciate that the other three main characters are people of color, Wade is just so overdone as a character. We've seen him in literally every sci-fi movie ever. Maybe that was the point, but I think it would've been so much more effective to put a POC in that role. White dudes aren't the only ones who enjoy 80s nostalgia, even though that was clearly the major market for it, so our MC could be literally anything other than the Nice Guy Geek Dude.

That said, the other characters were so good. I expected at least one to betray them all but I'm glad it didn't happen. That would've been expected, even if devastating. Hell, I was surprised there wasn't a single betrayal in this story.

Art3mis was great, Aech was great, even Daito and Shoto were amazing. I just loved the action. This was a long book, make no mistake, and sometimes the 80s lore got a little dull, but overall it was exciting and captivating and interesting and YEESH I hope that's not where our world is headed to? But also, like, it totally is.