A memorable debut...[and a] gleefully apocalyptic novel... as ever with this kind of dystopian fiction, there is a satisfying tingle in imagining an Armageddon just round the corner. But Amsterdam also gives his book an emotional heart

What makes Things We Didn't See Coming such an impressive novel - and very impressive debut - is the playfulness of the writing contrasted to the grimness of the subject matter

Rarely has the darkness of life been looked at with such buoyant irony, imaginative grace and disarming ardour. Read it once and then read it twice

A small marvel, overflowing with ideas. Scary, funny, shocking and touching by turns

Here's that rare thing - a post-apocalypse novel that's more than doom and gloom. A treat to read - playful, intelligent and intriguing

A novel that ditches traditional narrative drive in favour of nine separate episodes, each capable of standing alone as a short story... It might sound frustrating but somehow it works...he has got the emotional intelligence dead right

The familial tensions are wonderfully teased out, the menace of the gathering storm subtly implied, a moment of moral panic deftly judged... There is a much here that points to a bright future

Set in a future landscape both fantastic and strangely familiar, a beguiling narrator describes a world transformed by battles over resources, climate change and drug-resistant diseases. This is a novel rich in ideas and is alarmingly eschatological and sensitive to the certainty of human frailty, and love

Should please reader who enjoys Margaret Atwood's dystopias

Impressive debut novel...Amsterdam writes with tremendous assurance and his narrative teems with ideas, repeatedly twisting in unexpected directions. His disturbing but beguiling novel introduces a writer with a striking, original voice

Kennedy's sixth novel might move by turns through mystery, love story and comedy of shipboard manners, but its central subject is the transgressive, near-sexual pleasure of passing off fiction as fact

As impressively ingenious as a fairground house of mirrors ... dramatic, exciting and unpredictable... It sails through the Big Novel Test in that it stays in the mind long after it has been laid down. And there is a powerful magic in that

A complex, challenging novel... there's strong language throughout. At times the tone is chill and distancing but it edges gradually towards a final satisfying sense of empathy and resolution

Pure geek heaven. Ernest Cline's hero competes in a virtual world with life-and-death stakes -- which is only fitting, because he's fighting to make his dreams into reality. Cline blends a dystopic future with meticulously detailed nostalgia to create a story that will resonate in the heart of every true nerd

I was blown away by this book...Ernie Cline has pulled the raddest of all magic tricks: he's managed to write a novel that's at once serious and playful, that is as fun to read as it is harrowing. A book of ideas, a potboiler, a game-within-a-novel, a serious science-fiction epic, a comic pop culture mash-up-call this novel what you will, but READY PLAYER ONE will defy every label you try to put on it. Here, finally, is this generation's NEUROMANCER

Completely fricking awesome...This book pleased every geeky bone in my geeky body. I felt like it was written just for me

Pleasingly geeky novel ... No wonder there are plans to make into a film

Ready Player One is a fantastic adventure set in a futuristic world with a retro heart. Once I started reading, I didn't want to put it down and I couldn't wait to pick it back up

Cline's novel is a nerdcore odyssey; engaging and fun, this Gen-X popcult thrillride drew me in like a Galaxian machine set to free play.

Cline [crafts] a fresh and imaginative world from our old toy box ... Cline strikes the nerves of nerd culture as expertly as Andy played that skeleton organ in The Goonies

Totally awesome!

I would recommend this book in a heartbeat...young or old - it's just brilliant!

In the safe hands of none other than Mr. Steven Spielberg, this is your last chance to read the book before the movie hype drowns out the written word. A mixed up dystopian fantasy adventure novel with more nods to 80’s pop culture than even the biggest John Hughes fan will be able to handle, it’s just a whole lot of fun to read

This is one you need to read before EVERYONE knows about it!

Ultimately entertaining, enthusiastic and enjoyable. A real must-have for any collection…a beautifully constructed piece of escapism which will pull you in with such vigour that you miss your train stop.

Powerful and very timely message