Fun nerdy book (New York Times bestseller 2011) by Ernest Cline, I noticed Garriotts name mentioned in chapter 5 where the hero in the story describes his idol Halliday. "He was a god among geeks, a nerd uber-deity on the level of Gygax, Garriott, and Gates." Probably has been mentioned before, but it was a cool surprise for me.
Yes...good book. as @Rufus D`Asperdi mentioned, alliteration is likely the reason that list is as it is. There are many many people, songs, games, movies, etc mentioned in that book. The whole book is an homage to 80's culture in America. Nice read, especially if you were born in the 70's-80's and love video games.
Ready Player One movie is supposed to be out in 2018 with director, Steven Spielberg. My son is about 3/4 through the book now, and loves it. We're both excited about the movie.
It's more than that. Go to the wikia pages for Ready Player One and search on Garriott. Also note that the SotA items Sword of Ba'heer Fyndoro's Tablet are in the game with the author's permission. http://readyplayerone.wikia.com
Yeah, the author is VERY switched on about games and stuff and the whole concept of the OASIS in the novel is MMO-based. Name-checking RG was a no-brainer, for mine, and a very smart one at that.
Yeah, James Halliday / Anorak was based on Howard Hughes and Richard Garriott: http://www.ernestcline.com/blog/2011/10/19/how-lord-british-inspired-anorak/ I also wonder if Siranto was a nod to Sorrento.