Rating: 
Summary: I cannot express how good this series is ...
Review: I am an ardent reader, but I am very cautious and selective when approaching sci-fi/fantasy works. I've often found it too cumbersome to suspend my disbelief or that some of the books are poorly written and cheesy (although the Dune and Hyperion books are among my all-time favorites).The "Otherland" series in phenomenal. I've never experienced a story which had appealed to me on so many levels. It is a huge and spawling work; the product of an imagination which I cannot comprehend. It involves a series of characters who, for various reasons, become entrapped in a series of alternate worlds which exist in a cyberspace. These virtual places, unlike conventional internet sites, are somehow able to completely invade the participant's sensorium and leave the corporeal bodies in a trance, to which many children across the world are mysteriously falling victim. You follow a series of characters who just glow with warmth and tangibilty; you feel their breath and pulses throbbing through the pages and either absolutely love or hate them. They flow through the "real" world and the Otherland network while you, the reader, cling anxiously to their sides while biting your nails. The worlds themselves are no less incredible; from "War of the Worlds" era London, to anciet Greece and Egypt, and a dozens of other highly imaginative settings. And, I'm telling you, it's NOT cheesy or silly; it's wonderful! All the while, the text laced with a vast, mutlilayered complex of fascinating and seemingly unrelated mysteries which pull the reader helplessly along. Add to this an equally cryptic but vast and omnipresent dark force throbbing throughout the story. I challenge you to read less than 100 pages at a sitting! The most impressive part, though, is that absolutely every mystery and storyline intertwines and they come together perfectly in the end, where all questions are answered (which is where Hyperion, regrettably, seemed to fall short). This "Otherland" series represents the perfection of fiction and provides an unmatched outlet for pure escapism and pleasure. (I'm considering getting brainwashed just so I can read them again for the first time)
Rating: 
Summary: Wow, but some issues.
Review: First off this is the first time I have heard of Williams, it is safe to say then that it wasn't the name that drew me to the book (and the rest of the volumes), it was the cover. It is also the first time I have ever encountered a book written in such a mannor. The book doesn't just revolve around the central characters at the same time, it is written much like a comic book or soap opera. By this I mean that many things are happening at the same time, Once and event happens to one set of characters, the read is taken all the way back to the very begining of the event but from a completely different set of characters. This helps bring all of the characters to a central point in the plot later on, and can make the book hard to put down, because you see how characters actons effect the paths of others. On the otherhand it can be quite cumbersome at times, and the plot just drags because the reader has already been through the event, for this reason I found my self enjoying certain character groups point of veiws than others. All and All an OK read, and will mostlikely continue with the second volume.
Rating: 
Summary: How bloody boring!
Review: I have to admit that I have never read another of Williams works before, but this is horrible! There is no action, no plot to hold the characters together. Occasionally, Williams stumbles across something that could be worthy of a story, but not with these characters. My advice: Don't waste your time, if you want a good read try the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.
Rating:
Summary: This is Good Stuff
Review: Let me start out the review by saying that Tad Williams is one the best writers in the genre. This book (volume 1 from the Otherland series) is just great. In what has become a fairly common procedure in Sci Fi/ Fantasy books, Williams presents the story from several different perspectives. Usually when authors try this method of storytelling I end up with one or two "favorite" storylines. I tend to burn through the parts I like less, looking forward to the sections with "my" characters. Here's the thing, when I was reading this book (Actually, most of the tetralogy) I was looking forward to every section. That's not a line, it's not like I'm selling these books, and I don't get paid to spout off my opinions. I'm on a personal crusade to get more people to read Williams. He deserves to be spoken of the same way people talk about Orson Scott Card and George Martin. (He's done wonders in Sci Fi AND Fantasy. see also The Dragonbone Chair) The only problem that you may have with Otherland is that you are probably reading the book after seeing (or hearing about) The Matrix. Let me make sure I write this correctly, Don't NOT read this book just because you saw The Matrix. The Matrix is great, this is true; however, Otherland has a very different story...it's as much a mystery as Sci Fi. Also, check the date, City of Golden Shadow predates a certain movie starring Keanu Reaves by several years. Wrapping this up, give the Otherland series a shot. You may find a series of books that demonstrate the abilities of one of the best writers in the Sci Fi / Fantasy field. At the least you'll....I don't know...have...have...a very large book...I guess.
Rating:
Summary: Introduction to an Incredible Vision
Review: Just finished this, the first of four volumes of the Otherland series, and I am quite impressed with Mr. Williams' amazing ability to write such easily-flowing prose and set up such an intricate plot. The story practically tells itself, and one can hardly detect the author's presence anywhere in the narrative. Each chapter is a world onto itself, and I for one do not consider reading fiction this good a waste of time! A tour de force of the imagination - thanks, Mr. Williams.
Rating: 
Summary: otherland series
Review: The otherland series is excellent. I would recomned them to everyone who is a fan of fantasy books. There are many plot twists and exciting events. There are many different things happening going on and then they all come together just to go there seperate ways again. Read these books!
Rating:
Summary: Something different
Review: When I read this book I purposely looked for a long one. I hate short stories and this is definately not one. This is definately a change of pace for me. A science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, and psycological thriller all rolled into one (or should I say four?). The characters are like-able and easy to relate with. The story line is a little slow at first with character introduction but once that is done the fun really starts. This is the classic, one million different groups, all trying to get some time on the page. By the time your tired reading about the love birds it switches to the bad guys then to some person you never read about before. In all I give this book a 4 because it is good it keeps your intrest and the characters are believable.
Rating:
Summary: And then I decided to watch some paint dry
Review: I ventured into this "Otherland" hoping that I would find another talented author whose books I would adore. I find after reading this first book that I would rather have my eyes plucked from my head then have to labor through the 2nd volume. It took approximately 443 pages of mind numbing, teeth grating rubbish to get to the meat of the novel. Williams jumps from character to character through long and vague chapters that do nothing to endear the reader. They could have cut about 450 pages out of this book and you would still come out on the end feeling the same way, but not feeling as if you had just wasted a huge amount of time. By the time you finish the first novel, you do like the characters and you would like to find out what happens to the bunch of them. The thought of enduring another long-winded, fuzzy, dreadfully wearisome narrative, however, is far too strenuous to consider. If you enjoyed Heinlen's "Time Enough for Love" or some of Stephen King's wordier novels where you find yourself screaming "C'MON ALREADY!!" Then you will love this book. If you more enjoy quick reads that keep you on your toes, skip this brain-frying nightmare and invest your money somewhere else.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: If you're going to pick up the first book of a mammoth quadrology, you want to know that the time invested will be worth it in the end. Accordingly, this is a capsule review of the Otherland series as a whole, rather than this single work. The short answer: it depends on if you like Tad Williams' narrative style so much that you can overlook the flaws. Fans of the author are likely to love Otherland. It contains well-drawn, generally sympathetic characters swept up in an epic story that draws on established cyperpunk themes, but with Williams' characteristic focus on the internal thoughts and feelings of the protagonists rather than on the action. The VR settings are interesting, the story is epic in both scope and length, and Williams does manage to bring most (not all) of the strands of the story together fairly convincingly in the last book. The problems? First and foremost, the books are too long. The series could be chopped down by two-thirds without losing any of the important plot elements. Fans of cyberpunk as a genre, where the pacing is usually frenetic, will be exasperated by seemingly interminable scenes that, while prettily drawn, do little or nothing to advance the overall story. Second, the characters are too static. By early in book two you've learned all you need to know about how most of the numerous central characters. While their relationships to one another evolve (albeit very slowly) the characters themselves reveal no new facets to surprise or entertain the reader. Renie is always lovably stubborn, Orlando always stoically perservering in spite his medical condition, etc. etc. Third, the metaplot is unoriginal. While Williams has an interesting take on VR, the 'epic story' driving the books is essentially a rehash of the big themes in Neuromancer, William Gibson's seminal work from 1983. Told in a very different fashion, but the same basic ideas nonetheless. Fourth, and most damning IMHO, the way the 'secrets' of Otherland are revealed can only be described as [bad]. Williams has serveral *thousand* pages to expose you to his imaginary world, yet when it all comes down to the cruch he resorts to the cheap expedient of having one of the major characters explain to all the other characters 'what is really going on' in a scene more appropriate to the climax of a 1940s murder mystery than an SF novel. Having the characters discover the deepest secrets of Otherland piece by piece as they travel would have been fun. If Williams had borrowed another convention of mystery fiction and given the reader just enough clues to allow them to, if they were very clever, put it all together, then the tell-all speeches at the end would at least have the redeeming quality of letting you know if you'd guessed right. Sadly, Williams keeps key pieces of the backstory from you until the end, and the trip around Otherland is more of 'An Extended Tour of Virtual Reality as Imagined by Tad Williams' than it is plot exposition. I'm sure the author wanted to save some ideas to maximise their emotional impact, but, for me, the manner in which he finally reveals them made the Big Secrets seemed hackneyed and trite rather than "oh, wow!" Fourth, the capture of the main villain of the piece was pure Hollywood, and I do not mean that as a complement. That part of the ending was so blatantly predictable (if you have watched any horror movies at all) and so obviously designed to set up a sequel, that I found myself wondering if Williams wrote it specifically to appeal to people who might want to buy the film rights. Blech. Enough carping. All in all, for me Otherland was an entertaining, though not gripping, story. I enjoyed much of it, liked several of the characters enough to care about them, and although I was disappointed in the way the ending was handled, I have to give the author credit for keeping me interested through four very lengthy books. Is it good enough to read again? Not for me. Do I recommend it to others? As I said at the top, it depends on whether or not they like Tad Williams' books in general. If you do, go for it.
Rating:
Summary: Slow Start..Suspensfull Ending
Review: This first in a four part series of books is hard to get into of the bat. it took me three times and one year to finally wade far enough into the book to be caught up in the story. it starts off with us being introduced to Paul Jonas a soldier in a war.. it details his life there and the stench of dying and his need to get out of the war.. And then we are wisked into a world that is a near future to us. One in which VR has become the norm. it is here that we are introduced to Renie one of our primary characters.. Then after a jaunt in her life for some time we are wisked away into a mid-evil world in which our third main character is introduced a mr. Orlando Gardner and his friends.. And then once again we are wisked away into another life.. the life of a little girl and her secret. Now wrap all those story lines together in one book and combine them with a mysterious plague that seems to be connected to a co called J Corp.. YOu may get lost in all these plots and sub-plots but, take the time to read it through once and then go back and read it again before moving on to the next in the series.
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