Rating: 
Summary: "River of Blue Fire" is a fantastic continutation.
Review: "River of Blue Fire" picks right up where "City of Golden Shadow" left off...which is to say, on the edge of your seat! It submerses us in a world which we don't want to leave. It does not have the lagging plot of a middle-of-a-trilogy novel, and I can't wait for the remaining chapters. This is already a true classic-level read...highly recommended and well worth the hard-cover price.
Rating: 
Summary: Greatest Fantasy Author since Tolkien
Review: There is no doubt that Mr. Williams is one of the greatest fantasy authors of his time. What is striking however, is his amazing ability to seduce the reader to the degree that he/she doesn't want to leave his stories. We want to stay there. We like it there. It's so much more interesting than where we really are. He does this remarkably well by creating empathy and a sense of identity with his characters. He makes wonderful use of human flaws -- flaws in each of us -- to develop these feelings of empathy and reddiness. His talent is one that will be admired for generations to come. It is comforting to know that we have a modern Tolkien amongst us, and that not all of the world's greatest writers have already walked the Earth. This particular book only further develops an intricate and intriguing web of events woven from the 'City of Golden Shadow'. I can't wait for the third and fourth volumes.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Review: Couldn't put this down after I started reading it. Perhaps not as good as the first book. A hard goal to live up to though.. that was one of the best books I have read in a long while. In places the plot sometimes gets carried away with the possibilities that the virtual world provides.. loosing the characters. However, these are just minor quibbles, it is still an excellent read. Well worth the hardcover price! If you like William Gibson/Bruce Sterling.. I think you'll love this.
Rating:
Summary: Good book-Many pages
Review: Why does this book get a nine? It is a good book. The problem comes that you must plunge into a 600+ page book. And you already had you already had to read an even bigger book. If you liked the first book, read this one...if you liked it but didn't love it, try this book, it's better then the first.
Rating: 
Summary: Get on with it already
Review: Having read Mr Williams' Memory, Sorrow & Thorn trilogy, I knew I was in for a slow start to this series (though Mr. Williams politely reminds the reader to think of Otherland as one continuous book in four volumes). After being quite satisfied with the first installment, I was looking forward to him picking up the pace in the second. Unfortunately, Mr. Williams just seems to use this installment to show off the size of his (ahem) imagination. Detail freaks will love this book.On the up side, Mr. Williams' writing has a terrific page-turning quality to it (even when it seems like you're going nowhere), his characters are well developed, and his vision of the future seems spookily plausible. I still look forward to volumes 3&4, I just hope he puts a little more "pep" in his delivery.
Rating:
Summary: Too much story
Review: I have nearly finished the third book in this series and I must say I have found it hard going. I really enjoyed the first book and I'm quite sure the last book will be good. But there is one book too many in this series. Volumes 2 and 3 should have been edited down to one volume as there are just too many environments the characters, and therefore the readers, are taken through, and as a result I feel the story bogs down. Limited to three volumes this would have been a much better paced story. But I suppose the publishers are getting richer making us buy an extra book.
Rating: 
Summary: Ponderous... but not Putrid...
Review: River of Blue Fire, volume 2 in the Otherland series, presents me, a true Tad Williams fan, with a solid quandry: do I continue with book 3 or end the pain now?
First, for the story, and it's review (summarized in one sentence (possible spoiler)): The main characters split into three groups: renie & !xabbu; orlando and pithlit/fredericks; florimel, martine, et al. They go from simulation to simulation and become progressively more frustrated at their inability to do... anything with regards to their for being on the net: either (a) rejoining Sellars or (b) finding their loved ones (aka Renie's brother).... OH wait, Paul Jonas, "Dread", Felix Jongleur have occassional intercessionals as well. There is sporadic dialogue... And tremendous amounts of description.
Of course, I gloss over some really important points: Orlando and Fredericks, as well as Paul, to me, are the character highlights. I empathize with them. Orlando: doomed with progeria (RL), meeting up with Fredericks a girl "simming" as boy; Paul, lost, banished (presumably a former Grail colleague, but no evidence to the point).
Renie and !Xabbu? About as interesting as a dinner of green peas. Let me clarify: It's not that their characters coudn't be interesting, it's that the specific scenarios the author utilizes them are... blaise...
Martine/Florimel/Quan Li/Sweet William/etc: An interesting plot
Again, though, I do give credit for Tad Williams for one major point (worth 1 star of the 2 I credit this title): an exquisite plot that was before it's time: use of an advanced internet; items that were "utilized" in the Matrix (which followed these titles); some elements of traditional suspense (detectives investigating Dread) and sci-fantasy...
Bottom line: for Williams' fans only... or those anticipating a long-convelescent period only.
Rating:
Summary: Way too long
Review: (this review encompasses all four books)
Otherland will have its fans. However, its mechanical endings, its ridiculous length, and similar themes having been better executed by superior authors will make its influence and popularity extremely short-lived. Yet a lot of people like Williams... it's because he's not a bad author and if you have the stamina to get through him you'll find bits and pieces worthwhile. But bits and pieces are not a genre-shaping event nor will they exert much influence on other authors.
WHO SHOULD READ THIS:
Williams writes convincingly and well; his works, while mechanical, do not lack a sort of charm. Fans of Williams' other works should indulge themselves in Otherland. They're prepared for the absurdly long. Similarly, those particularly impressed with cyberspace and its future applications will find large sections very appealing-but read Snow Crash first.
WHO SHOULD PASS:
Unless you are one of those die-hard Williams fans or a complete techno-geek, read something else. Life is too short to read such a long work that has such little reward. Our site is built so that you can avoid such wastes of your time when you get can equal or better satisfaction with other, shorter books.
READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW AT INCHOATUS.COM
Rating:
Summary: Slower than the first.
Review: This time around The Otherland Series made plot turns that to me actually slowed the story down. In an attempt to make the story more complex, Williams splits the group of travelers up into different simulations. Some of the simulations were useless and very difficult to get through. For example , the whole vegetable and kitchen utensile battle seemed contrived and told the reader absolutely nothing about the story. Renie and Xabbu were also split up from the group but yet they really didn't learn anything more than What Orlando and Fredricks did. On the other hand Paul Jonas's Character became more and more interesting while he regained his memory. Also the villians were developed in a much more intricate way as we learn more about what the whole mystery is about.
Overall the story is still one of the most original and interesting sci-fi novels I've read but would've had a quicker pace if it left out the different simualtions.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to set aside
Review: Years ago, I read the first book in this series, but I didn?t rush out to get the second one, although I couldn?t say why. Recently, I re-read the first novel, and I got 3/4ths of the way through this one. I haven?t really abandoned it; its just set aside indefinitely. I?ve decided that there are several reasons for my ambivalence about this novel. First, the main plot moves at a glacial pace. Second, like so many fantasy novels, the story jumps repeatedly from one character or group of characters to another. For an author, this is a useful page-turning device. But as more characters split up or are introduced, it takes a while to recall what?s going on at the start of each new chapter. Another problem is that the prime antagonists are stereotypes. The character, ?Dread,? is especially stereotypical. You could replace him with the psychopathic professional killer seen in any number of books or movies.
What ultimately makes the novel so easy to set aside is its vignette-like structure. The main characters enter a series of computer ?worlds? that were created (or neglected) for different reasons. They include 1930's adventure story Mars, a cartoon world, a land of giant bugs, Oz gone mad, and ancient Egypt. Each world is well-described, and it is interesting to see how the characters overcome obstacles in each world. But then they stumble into the next world and the whole thing starts over again. That?s when I can set the novel aside. New world, new adventure; the main plot still isn?t going anywhere. It will be an easy novel to pick up six months from now.
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