Ready Player One: Ernest Cline on how his gamer fantasy became a Spielberg film

He dreamed up his novel about a teenage games fanatic while working for internet companies in the 90s. Cline on his real-life geek-to-riches story - and what it was really like working with Steven Spielberg

It took Ernest Cline 10 years to write Ready Player One. There were times he thought he would never finish the manuscript, let alone publish it. But the novel, mostly set in a global online pleasure world called Oasis, went on to become a bestseller and was translated into more than 20 languages. Now a film adaptation by Steven Spielberg is in cinemas - a real-life geek-to-riches drama so reflective of the book's plot it seems almost unfeasible.

The sci-fi story's setup is simple. Teen protagonist Wade Watts is a games fanatic living in a slum town outside Oklahoma City, but spending most of his time in the virtual world. The death of James Halliday, the eccentric creator of Oasis, triggers a treasure hunt that revolves around Halliday's main obsession: 1980s pop culture. Whoever solves a series of puzzles within the game becomes its new billionaire CEO. Wade enters the hunt, kicking into gear a breathless nerd empowerment fantasy.