Rating: 
Summary: No "sequel shock" here. . .
Review: "River of Blue Fire" is a fine addition to the extended novel that began with "City of Golden Shadow". As the next part of the same whole, it continues to deliver and to hold my interest. The plots are advanced, and several new twists evolve. We are exposed to more members of the mysterious "Circle" and we begin to get a glimpse of the power of the dread "Other". We are given more insight into the characters, which is something that I need in a novel to consider it to be truly great. I particularly enjoyed the deepening of the relationship between Orlando and Fredericks and the cracking of Martine's shell. I must also admit the identity of the mole in the group surprised me. . . It was not who I expected it to be. The hunt for the murderer in Australia is also a nice touch, and I look forward to seeing where that goes in the future books. And, who exactly is Azador? But what I enjoyed the most are the quirky new sim worlds to which we are taken - Oz, Xanadu, Renaissance Venice, a 40's vintage cartoon, and an insect world that almost smacks of Jurassic Park. The Grail Brotherhood may smack of evil, but they have some style!! The fact that Mr. Williams has to know that some of this is camp yet charges there anyway convinces me that he has a rather eclectic sense of humor, another trait that I personally admire. This book is definitely not a stand-alone. You must read "City of Golden Shadow" to get here, and you must be willing to go on to the next two. The upside is that having read this installment, I have no hesitation in charging on to number 3, "Mountain of Black Glass".
Rating:
Summary: Inexpressibly wonderful!
Review: I'd be the first to admit that while good, City of Golden Shadow was a little ponderous and confusing at times. No such problems with River of Blue Fire. Something about the entire concept seems hauntingly familiar-not in an idea-stealing sort of way, but in an author's intuitive sense kind of way. The character of Paul Jonas is more developed and also clarified. I'm not sure if in volume 1 you knew he was not actually a WWI soldier who'd found himself somewhere odd, but now you understand what happened (I won't tell you). Briefly gathering all but a few of the characters to one place sorted things out. When they split up again, it's with new knowledge that makes book two easier to understand. We see the return of Renie, Xabbu, Martine, Orlando and Fredericks, among others. ROBF also introduces some new characters, including a fun police duo, surprising high-up figures, and an unlikely net actor for a star character. The comraderie and unique relationship between Renie and Xabbu, in particular, undergoes an interesting growth. River of Blue Fire also paints its varying scenes quite well. Williams' language and metaphoric efforts are well-appreciated in this story. His uses of other familiar fantasy worlds tend to fascinate the reader as she constructs the interactions of the characters with their surroundings. I enjoyed all of them, including a very different Oz, and a post War of the Worlds England, as well as Renaissance Venice and the Kitchen. Williams uses secondary characters with skill, wielding them like tools with skill in addition to developing them as persons. He builds mystery and suspense in a tolerable yet urgent manner. His sense of balance and creativity make the book a new sort of daring experience. This book is not only an intelligent, intellectually stimulating work, it is an enjoyable read, and that combination is sadly lacking in today's fiction. READ IT, IT'S GREAT!
Rating: 
Summary: Boring...ouch my head hurts
Review: I started reading the Otherland series because of all the rave reviews here on Amazon. Plus Williams previous series "Memory Sorrow...." was superb. If the 1st book was "mildly" boring, then this is a huge bore. The book picks up whenever !Xabbu & Rene are involved or Fredricks & Orlando. Reading Martines "diary" gives me huge headache. Oh I'm sure I'll read books 3 & 4 some day. For now, I got much better books to read. Maybe in six months from now I'll come back to this series.
Rating:
Summary: A must read!!!!!
Review: This book is a real page turner. The characters go from one amazing simulation another. From a world of giant bugs to the world of Oz in disaray. From a million year old civilization of neanderthals to H.G. Wells's England in War of the Worlds. This book answers many different questions and brings up so many others that you are forced to read the next one in the series. This book is a real work of genius. You HAVE to read the first of this series first, but you must read this one too! i strongly suggest you get started right away and that you do NOT stop until you have read all the books in this series. Periosnally, i can't wait to read the next book, to find the answers to the questions the last one contains...
Rating: 
Summary: My problem w/ the book-
Review: I really enjoyed the first volume, and eagerly anticipated the second. The whole premise behind the series is excellent, and TW explores it well. The problem I had is that the book goes too long with the descriptions of these different worlds. Obviously, none of them really exist, and I was a lot more interested in what was going on behind the scenes, than learning about all the little details of each VR area. The different areas can be fascinating when you know about their owners, and how these VR worlds are a representation of their psyches. But taken by themselves, they were just not that interesting (to me at least!)
Rating:
Summary: A great second volume
Review: To those of you who have read the first book in this series, brace yourself for a sequel that is every bit as good as the first, if not better. The characters continue to be well written and deep, but more than that they are growing and changing. The scenes continue to display the amazing breadth of William's imagination, and drive this large book at a break-neck pace. For those of you who haven't read "Otherland: City of Golden Shadow" William's has created a world in the relatively near future where the web has become an utterly immersive virtual reality. He uses this technology to create believable, yet completely fantastic worlds, where our band of heroes finds themselves fighting for their lives. He has truly combined the best elements of fantasy and science fiction into one work. In short, if you've read Vol. 1, read Vol. 2, if you haven't, do yourself a favor and read both. Either way, you'll be glad you did.
Rating: 
Summary: It's not a sequel - it's only part two of a huge novel
Review: River of Blue Fire is as much about character development and ambiance as City of Golden Shadow was about introducing the characters and establishing the plot. Williams had the wisdom to make the virtual worlds of Otherland utterly disturbing - something to keep a jaded reader interested as he wades through a post-apocalyptic Oz, a titanic kitchen populated by condiments, and London after the Martians won the War of the Worlds. The plotlines go as follows (no major spoilers): online, our heroes are split up and are forced to go through simulation after simulation looking for their comrades; Martine and company receive cryptic hints from someone involved with the project; Paul Jonas continues his journey, having finally remembered his identity, and clued in as to where he is; and, as you may remember from the end of the first book, Dread has sabotaged and occupied one of our heroes' sims. Offline, a pair of Australian cops follow the luke-warm trail of a sadistic murderer (Dread), and Sam's and Orlando's parents hire an investigator to look in to their odd case and whether it has any connection with a certain large megacorporation. This second volume moves far slower than the first, but this didn't prevent it from being a page turner for me. I hope you enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Seen it all before
Review: I read this one because I was going to be on an airplane for 5 hours. Travelling down a river through gates... hmmm... Hyperion/Endymion did it better. And visiting all sorts of wonderful fictional universes because if somebody can think it up, then it can exist? Number of the Beast might not be Heinlein's best work, but he beat this one out by a few decades. The difference between those books and this one is that those had a complete plot. I found it entertaining primarily in the "Now I know these characters and I want to see what happens to them" way. I'll buy the third one because I know the characters and have gotten used to them, not because I expect to see any great literature.
Rating:
Summary: How come....?
Review: ...modern sci-fi and fantasy writers think that they need to give us massive works that go on longer than War and Peace and Les Miserables put together? How about PLOT DEVELOPMENT! Unfortunately, Williams feels the need to wow us with how clever he is at creating alternate worlds, but suffers from the same problem Robert Jordan does...the plot grinds to a halt for hundreds of pages, until the poor reader needs to scream..."Get on with it, already!". Frankly, after wading thru better than 1200 pages of the first two volumes, I hope I never encounter these characters again. So, if you are at all cruious about this series, wait for Book IV to be released in paperback, read the opening synopsis of the first three, and go on from there. Two stars (and the second one is merely because the fundamental idea is so good, but the execution ...I mean of the story, not necessarily the reader ! )
Rating:
Summary: Trudge
Review: Thats a good word to describe this book, in comparison to the first one. The first one was great, a quick, fastpaced story with surprises and mystery throughout. This one, the characters are travelling on pointless 'adventures' through world after boring world. Zzzz. So, I had to trudge through this one. Barely anything important happens in this book, plotwise. If you don't have alot of time to waste reading detailed histories of Tad's one-stop fantasy-worlds, then just skip to the third book. Seriously, read the little blurb on what happens, and you will be no worse off. I found myself skimming through the pages to find something interesting. Not a good sign. Quite a disappointment after the marvelous first book. The cover art is quite nice, at least.
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