A review by mirror_matt
Otaku by Chris Kluwe

4.0

I'd heard Otaku pitched as Ready Player One, but good and....... it is. Free of RPO's sickly sweet nostalgia, Otaku thrills in and out of its virtual worlds. Kluwe also has something to say. About the the toxicity of online fandoms. The relationship between video games and the military. Video games as escapism. He's smart to cast a black woman as his hero, but sometimes he stumbles writing Ashley in first person. It reads as tin eared but not outright offensive (to me another white man). Ash also has a queer subplot that is at best hack and doesn't go anywhere. All in all, it's engaging story with plenty of twists, clever ideas, and nuanced themes.