I really liked the first book due to all the nerdy references and the ending utilizing Monty Python’s Holy Grail. Even when his friend was revealed to be a black lesbian due because it was better to present herself as a white male I just rolled my eyes. The second book on the other hand was garbage. You get the whole women in gaming lecture, the real hero was a woman trope, lgbt stuff of course, and the aforementioned character whining about the lack of representation everywhere they go or whining about the fact that Prince (they visit an area of the Oasis with Prince playing concerts) became a Jehova’s Witness and condemned homosexuality. The book overall seems to use to Sword Art Online plot as well.
It’s like the author felt the need to apologize. Although the the woke crowd a white make nerd from the 80s is evil incarnate it seems
I'm not watching a movie/book designed from the ground up to be a nostalgia masturbation session
I used to work with the author's childhood friend (they all still meet up a few times a year to play D&D) and would constantly be regaled with stories about how he had just met with Spielberg about getting the book turned into a movie.
I hadn't read the book, so I was lent a copy of it and had to try to come up with nice things to say about it. I love 80s culture as much as the next guy, but let me tell you, it was hard to do.