Rating: 
Summary: Could have been cut down by a few hundred pages
Review: I would like to first say that I loved this series, along with most of Tad's work. But this novel was for lack of a better word, boring. For 3/4 of the novel the main characters are stuck in a gray landscape with nothing around them. It did not make for very exciting reading. Only in the last 200 pages or so did the novel pick up. Bad conclusion to a great series.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh my God!
Review: This is simply a fantastic book. True, the series does not exactly add up. As another reviewer said, the previous novels lead one to expect a lot more than even this one can offer. But since I have to rate the book and not the series I must say I enjoyed it *immensely*. In fact, I might start it all over again and if I'm willing to do that with 1200 page monster of a novel, then it must be worth something.
If you liked any of the other Otherland books even a little bit, you will love this one.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful conclusion to a must read series!
Review: After finishing all four books (think dictionary ) I can say the Otherland series is the most imaginative, nail-biting series. Period. I am a fan of Dean Koontz and was not the biggest fantasy fan. However after reading the Otherland series I am still not a huge fantasy fan, but Tad Williams is now engraved as a very influential author within my mind. This series is a must read. Warning: Begin at book 1 and go from there. Book 4 is not the place to start. Also, this series is highly addictive and needs a witty nickname such as "evercrack" (everquest) except pertaining to the Otherland universe.
Rating:
Summary: Finale almost lives up to the hype.
Review: The first of the 4 Otherland novels was published when I was a freshman in Highschool back in 1996. The whole series was something that I grew up with in a way. Each book better than the last, each book I read faster than the last (this one took me about 16 hours counting sleep.) In SoSL, Williams brings the book to a close by tying up lose ends. The only complaint is about the fate of one of the youngest of the major "good guys" and I think you will know what I mean when you read it. Other than that, Williams brings Otherland to a conclusion that lacks only because outside of Otherland, the consequences are realistic if a bit depressing.
Rating:
Summary: Otherland--Sad to See it Go
Review: The fourth book of the Otherland series did not disappoint. After book three, I was distraught at the lack of conclusion and book four definately gave me what I wanted. Tad Williams is a master of weaving myth, popular culture, balancing characters, and keeping the action moving at a steady and fulfilling pace. Anyone who is interested in Science Fiction/Fantasy or the world of the internet would do well to pick up this series. Written cleverly by mixing adult language with a new slang of the street, Williams immerses his readers in a classic quest story while raising some interesting issues about our technologically advanced society. On top of that, the characters he creates will make you laugh, cry, and see them as more than just words on a page. The fourth book ends on a bittersweet note that made me want a fifth book, just to follow the characters, but I realize that the story ended where it needed to.
Rating: 
Summary: A surprising end to a good but flawed series
Review: I gave Mountain of Black Glass (Williams's third volume in the Otherland tetralogy) fours stars. After all, it started out in the same meandering vein as the second volume, the disappointing and rather superfluous River of Blue Fire, but after a while Williams re-focuses and the themes of the first and excellent novel (City of Golden Light) are again brought to the fore. Things were all set for an interesting conclusion, so it seemed. Well, that conclusion - Sea of Silver Light - certainly is interesting. It is also, like the rest of the series, well written, ambitious and intelligent. But I'm still giving it "only" four stars. The reasons can be summed up very simply: Williams has ended up finishing another story than the one he started out writing. Taken as a whole, the Otherland books don't really add up. The many plots and subplots so elaborately portrayed throughout the preceding volumes turn out, for the main part, to be almost inconsequential at the end. The best example of this is the plight of the children, suddenly succumbing to a mysterious coma at the beginning of "Golden Light". Their syndrome is the very reason for the series' protagonists (Williams's "Fellowship", if you like) going online into the virtual worlds of the "Grail Network" in the first place. At the end of "Silver Light", however, their plight proves merely incidental. Renie does not, for example, find or rescue her brother, Stephen.
Other examples abound: Paul's search for his Angel, Ava; the more recent subplots concerning the detective Calliope and Dulcie Anwin... Take your pick: once you start thinking about it, there's very little that went on during the first three volumes that is actually important to the series' conclusion. So why is this? Well, it's because "Silver Light" is primarily about the Other. It's about who or what he is, what happens to him, and why. And as things turn out, these issues don't have very much to do with the children, with Ava, or with anything else. This is by no means a bad book; we're lucky to have a writer like Williams. Otherland proves what we already knew: here is a writer of considerable talent and expertise. Next time round, though, I wouldn't mind if, firstly, he tried cutting down on the length of his books (Otherland is a trilogy at most) and, secondly, thought out the entire story and decided upon what it was really about before starting to publish it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, if a bit long
Review: I found this series to be excellent, well plotted and exciting, if a little bit long. Sea of Silver Light is an brilliant ending to the otherworld series and I would recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Wading through worlds
Review: I read it. And finished it. Happily. Glad that Williams had the integrity to wrap up a series when it's done. In this fourth book of what's turned out to be a substantial series, I found that I had retained enough sympathy for most of the characters to stay interested in their fate and the outcome of the story. That my mind was ready to wrap itself around the complexities of the VR world again. Williams succeeds in twisting us unexpectedly around-glimpses into Jongleur's character, the Other's need and powerlessness, and Dulcie's awakening to Dread's true nature, are believably done. But there were times when I caught myself scanning quickly along through internal monologues and descriptions of mass manglings of virtual reality worlds, eager to move forward with the plot line. Less mesmerized by the plethora of imaginable virtual worlds; certainly less compelled than the author seems to be by Dread's inventiveness when it comes to torture. The storyline--somewhat muddied in the third book by an endless procession of net worlds-was what drew me on to the end. The book does live up to the promises made in the first book, finding a conclusion that deals honestly with the preceding material, that feels like the same story we began with years ago.
Rating:
Summary: And now it's all over...
Review: I thouroughly enjoyed this series - as with all of TW's books - and recommend them to anyone with a Fantasy/SF interest or a wild imagination! Like some, I was dissapointed with the second volume which to me didn't advance the plot and seemed to be more a collection of ideas for new virtual worlds that the characters could explore. 1,3 and 4 are the good ones and stories of this nature beg to be long and detailed. It is interesting that Tad had decided this would be a 4 volume rather than a trilogy pretty early on in the series and I'm still not convinced this was the best move.
I have a couple of minor issues with SOSL - we do get the 'been there, done that' feeling occassionally: characters arrive in another incredibly inhospitable place and just manage to escape (again!). Second the last few chapters reminded me a bit of the final 10 minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, as everything accelerates and becomes slightly incomprehensible.
I also loved the 'Netfeed' intros to each paragraph - just how many potential novel(lla)s are there in his head?
Rating:
Summary: I hate to say it but it's an A.
Review: As much as it pains me to say it this is an A book. It's as long as his other three, perhaps longer, it goes on and on like the other three but it wraps up the series and for that alone I'd be happy but it does it well.
I don't know for sure if it was the writing or the desire to finally get to the end, I suspect it had more to do with writing then wanting to finish the series. I enjoyed the ending. It wrapped up what was going on effectively and more than most it is a satisfying ending that doesn't leave you wondering what happens to the characters yet does let the characters continue on in their universe just as in the real world.
My advice for anyone who hasn't read this series is to read the first book and the last one and skip the middle two. You won't miss much and it's all pretty much covered in the synopsis at the front of the last book anyway.
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