Rating: 
Summary: 5 stars for the whole novel, not just this volume.
Review: In my other reviews of volumes in this novel (I'm not going to call it a series, because it really isn't-- it's really one long book) I tended to give them four stars. The problem is that when you're getting installments in a larger work, it's hard to see a particular book as complete and satisfying in its own right. All of the Otherland books suffer a bit from not really being series installments in the sense that they don't really have their own arcs or their own stories to be worked out.Anyhow, it's a pretty amazing accomplishment, no matter how Williams chose to structure the work. Otherland is an impressive meditation on the virtual reality, the desire to live forever, storytelling and the nature of morality. _The Sea of Silver Light_ is particularly satisfying to read because all the open threads in earlier chapters are finally gathered together into a recognizable pattern and the mysteries are one by one revealed. IMO, the revelations are everything that they should be-- a great combination of simple humanity and technological (& spiritual) mysteries. Definitely highly recommended. As one reviewer already warned, don't read them out of sequence!
Rating:
Summary: Great ending, but does it need to be 900+ pages long?
Review: Sea Of Silver Light(SOSL) is the coup de gras of the Otherland series. After finishing this story I had bittersweet feelings. Like saying goodbye to good friends after a long journey. The story wraps up a lot of loose ends and questions that are brought up in the previous novels. How did Otherland came to be? What is Otherland? Why are the children in comas? Who lives...who dies? Williams does a great job with this story, and I appreciate the synopsis at the begining of SOSL that covered the events of the first 3 books. Its nice to have a few paragraphs detailing the events of the last 3 books to refresh the memory and figure out where the characters left off at the end of the 3rd book. A question comes to mind, while reading this massive tome, does this story really need to be told in 900+ pages? The answer is no, not really. Tad Williams could have easily wrapped up the entire story in 500-600 pages, but the extra 300+ pages cover side stories involving characters travels in other worlds in the Otherland network as well as characters in the real world. The pacing of the story makes up for the extra verbosity of the story. As for the ending of SOSL, be prepared as not every character makes it out of this story in one piece or even alive. Good or bad, some characters bite the dust. An excellent series by Tad Williams. I look forward to his next story, which will available on the internet only and not in bookstores.
Rating: 
Summary: An Investment in Time....but worth it
Review: I have to say that overall I enjoyed all four books in this series. Williams did an excellent job of juggling multiple plot lines and developing his characters. The first book in the series moved a little slowly while he introduces all of his elements but once you get through it the final three were quite enjoyable. I eagerly followed the adventures in the virtual world and was always excited to see what the next world would be when they crossed through a portal and were transported to a new land. A lot of creative thought was put into the writing (I enjoyed the Oz land....a very wry twist on what COULD have gone wrong in that realm). All that being said I was somewhat disapointed with the ending. After all, again, reading all four book was quite an investment of time and I felt that Williams did a few to many cliffhangers (Dread's final victims, Renee's father and company to name a few) that were resolved by basically saying "and then they were rescued". After 4,000+ pages he could have spent the time to elaborate on these story lines and completed them in a much more satasifactory manner. All in all, though, a good read and I would recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A great end to a great series.
Review: Tad Williams is truly a master. In "Otherland", he has proved himself as adept in epic SF as he is in epic fantasy. This volume is certainly a worthy close to a fantastic series. All the loose ends are tied up - sometimes perhaps a little too neatly in that some characters tend to make miraculous recoveries from near-death experiences. But these instances are balanced by Mr. Williams refusal to turn the story into a fairy tale by not having everyone live happily ever after - not everyone's situation is neatly resolved. I won't go into anymore detail in deference to those who are reading this before they try the book. Although the "Circle" perhaps fizzles a bit in this installment (no new ground is broken here), the unveiling of the true nature of the "Other" is very well done. In some ways it is a surprise, but it is one of those "neat" points I mentioned earlier in that it very tidily brings all the main characters together for the final dénouement. And, suffice it to say, Johhny Dread gets his. The interrelationships started in the earlier books blossom, and one that develops between Paul and Martine, the two adventurers most affected by the "Other" is also touching. By the end of the tale, even Long Joseph and Del Ray have become sympathetic characters. And, the exploration of the philosophical questions "What is life?" and "Is there no end to corporate greed?" continues, as well as "How far will certain megalomaniacs go in their search for immortality?" One of the cool touches of the book is one that I really didn't appreciate till the end of this book. That is the little "netfeed" blurbs that precede each paragraph. They provide true insight into the period in time in which this story occurs. I will miss my new-found friends in "Otherland" and would caution any would-be readers that you must be prepared to invest a lot of time and a lot of thought into this journey. But, 3000+ pages after it began, I must rate it as one I am glad I have taken.
Rating:
Summary: Otherland - The Final Lap
Review: Well finally the last part of Otherland is here. We've had to wait 18 months for it, so is it worth it? You betcha! For those who don't know anything about the Otherland series its basically part SF, part fantasy, part cyberpunk, part political thriller, part detective novel, part road movie, and part love story. Confused? well don't be because it pulls it off beautifully. Its hard to review the book totally, without giving away the plot from the previous 3 books and putting in spoilers. Basically the series revolves around a super realistic VR world and the mysteries behind it, however its about much more than that. The characters are engaging and interesting, ranging from an African bushman to the richest man in the world to a World War One English soldier who is more than he seems. For those who have read the 3 previous books it pulls all the strings together and finally explains the roles of many of the minor characters from earlier books. With nods to every genre imaginable this series IMHO puts Tad Williams at the forefront of early 21st century imaginary fiction. Intrigued? Well buy a copy of book one "City of Golden Shadow" and immerse yourself in Otherland.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been great
Review: 4 books, totalling thousands of pages equals what? Yes, a "good" read for escapism, but... I read all 4 books in a row and am left feeling bored with Rene's continual immature outbursts of temper, weary with repetitive TV-show type settings where everyone is exhausted, tired, weary, worn out--a lot like the readers of this "epic" which is a living document to the power of excellent editing which is non-existent in today's publishing world. The premise of this event was 4 books x 900 pgs @ $$$ = publishing accountants heaven. I am a fan of Tad William's other works, and I hold his publisher/editor responsible for this. He gave them a gazzillion things to work with and darned if they didn't leave all gazzillion of them in.
Great literature in any genre is the work of several people, including the author. He held up his end, they didn't.
Rating:
Summary: Didn't want it to end...
Review: These books were a fantastic journey. I found myself wishing it wouldn't end. I could have taken 4 more books without even thinking about it. I was SO wrapped up in it all and in the characters that it literally left me emotionally exhausted. If this series is not the best thing I've ever read, then its close because it's hard to definitively point to something better. My only complaint now is: I don't know how he could possibly top it.
Rating:
Summary: ScatMasterX
Review: I just finished reading this last book in my new favorite series. Speechless, mind-boggling, extraordinary...all those words come to mind at the moment. This is definitely, DEFINITELY, the best book I've ever read, and its three predecessors were great also. I am very glad that I bought the whole series at once, and that the whole series had already been relased for some time before I discovered it. My dad introduced me to it, saying "It's unlike anything you've ever read", and he was right. Absolutely, beyond a doubt correct. There's no way I could have waited a year after each book came out: it would have killed me! Now onto the review...sort of. I can't tell you anything about the book. Nothing. And I sincerely hope you don't try and find out the ending before you read the three books before it, becuase it just won't hit you as hard. As a matter of fact, if you haven't read any of the books in the series, stop reading this right now and don't read any review of any of the books. I'm serious. It just won't be as good, in some small way. The last 300 pages I just read over the last 4 hours or so, locked up in my room, letting it all sink in. No interruptions, no eating, no computer, no anything. That's how good it was. It is one of those books (actually, all the books in the series make you do this) that when you're nearing the end of the chapter, you have to cover the ending with your hand or a piece of paper becuase you know if you don't, you will end up glancing over becuase of all the suspense and ruin it. The book ends the journey of !Xabbu, Renie, Martine, Paul, and the others, with so many twists and revelations that you'll be getting those "good chills" after nearly every chapter. Some scenes are permanently etched into my brain, and some I know will stay with me for a long time. Yes, all of those burning questions are answered, but even after the big ones have been answered he keeps you reading by making smaller suspenses and questions. Really, it's hard to explain without revealing anything, but I IMPLORE you to read them in order, and not look at the backs of any of them, becuase they give away too much information. This WILL BE the best series you have ever read, you just have to stick with them. They may seem horribly long, but once you start reading the pages fly. And when you finish the first book, you'll be starving for answers. Read them in order, and let that hunger grow and grow. Anyway, the ending won't make sense if you don't read them in order, so... Anyway, I'm sorry I can't give it a higher-than-5 rating. It deserves it.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling, but bloated, epic
Review: If you've made it this far, you know what's going on (and if you don't, there are pages and pages of story-so-far synopsis to fill you in). The real question is, does it work? More to the point, does it truly require over 1200 pages to wrap up a tale that's already three volumes old? The answers are interlinked: it works, mostly, but it wavers severely, and mainly because of that overlong running time. Things are spiralling out of control, both in the network and in the real world, and our various heroes and villains are fighting a losing battle against time, desperately trying to complete their tasks before everything ends... ...Or so we're told, repeatedly; but there's little sense of urgency communicated to the reader by chapter after chapter of characters slogging their way through a fading landscape. Much of this is little different from the episodic adventure/trudge of the previous two books. Sadly, the wonder evoked palls with each new virtual world (yes, yet more!), and you can't help but wonder why someone at the editing stage didn't whisper in Williams' ear about the law of diminishing returns. The prose is fluid and enjoyable enough - there's just far too much of it. Similar may be said of the characters; a third of them could be ditched without either the story or its themes suffering unduly. The exploration of the true nature of the Other is fascinating, but again, the same meditations could have been condensed without losing anything of value. There is a huge and wonderful imagination at work here, and the near-future world Williams has created retains the power to enthral and amuse (the 'Netfeed' snippets at the top of each chapter remain one of the best bits of the book, especially the one for the final chapter). But compelling as it is, I can't help but feel that the promise of the astonishing first book, _City of Golden Shadow_ has been squandered somewhere along the line, as Williams got caught up in his own inventiveness. The first volume contained real tension, mystery and wonder; here, though, the denouement is unforgivably talky and longwinded, and even introduces certain new and wholly unnecessary elements. Worst still, there is little sense of the price of victory, with virtually all the good guys emerging (mostly) intact. There are few real casualties in this war. An uneven conclusion to what should have been a great fantasy achievement.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: I could not sleep while I read this book. It was hard to put down! A must read!
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