Rating: 
Summary: Slow start to a great and imaginite series!
Review: Yes, I thought the story starts out slow, but the depth the story has and the wonder of what Mr. Willams would have happen next made me read on and on. I had just finished reading this book again. And now I under stand more of the relationship in the story about what has happened to the children, and what put them in the mysterious coma. This book will be long and drawn out and slow. But its nessisary for the set up for the rest of the books in the "Otherland" story.
Rating:
Summary: Tad Williams Otherland
Review: Otherland is a long complicated journey through the minds of man. The journey is full of surprises. Tad throws in lots of interesting references and ideas throughout the four books and keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting for the final chapter.
Rating: 
Summary: Cool cyberspace concepts, flat characters
Review: Williams evolves the cyberspace genre nicely in this first novel in the series. From the first scene, the depth of his world demands that you enter it. You won't find here the neon Tokyo of Gibson, or the jouvenile toys of Stephenson. The cyberspace environment, and the stories played out within it have a more considered, grown-up texture. That said, I found the villains far more interesting than the heros. Williams over-compartmentalized the personality traits of his heros, and they lack depth and an intangible degree of internal inconsistencies which make characters more believable. In fairness the villains probably suffer the same type of development. It is easier to forgive this of the villains, though, as we more often expect the bad guys to be mysteriously faceless. Overall it is an entertaining read, with characters that leave you a bit wanting.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting start to a good series
Review: The first, and most important thing to realize about this book is that it is in no ways a stand-alone novel. The four-book Otherworld series is one continuous story; if you don't plan on reading all of its nearly 4000 pages over the four volumes you better not start at all. It is, however, a good, solid, story, with a large cast of intersting characters - but still not so large as to be unmanangable - and a consistent plot. City of Golden Shadow itself is devoted mostly to exposition and to getting the characters into the mess that they later have to get themselves out of. A such, it is the least interesting of the books - partly because a lot happens, but very little is explained (this is left for the later books), and partly because a lot of what, at this point, is surprising to the characters is very obvious to the readers (after all, if everything that the characters are taking for granted early on was true, then they wouldn't be much point for a story about them). Nevertheless, City of Golden Shadows does manage to grab the reader's interest with its huge scope and likeable and competant characters. It is a succesful start to a series that goes on to improve in the later volumes, and as such I definitely recommend it to anyone that can spare the time to read the whole thing.
Rating: 
Summary: First in a spectacular series
Review: With Otherland, Tad Williams has created a believable, and in fact highly likely future of the internet. A future in which we will experience everything on the net not while looking at a screen, but while being in a completely virtual world. The only thing unrealistic I would point out is that Williams envisions this to happen some 50 or more years in the future, while it might well be reality only 20 years from now. On this virtual & highly sophisticated net the very rich have created their own private virtual worlds, in which they hope to achieve immortality. With one little snag: they need childrens' lives to keep them going. Obviously there are people trying to uncover this secret & so their hunt for what is known, or rather not known, as the Grail Brotherhood is pretty much what the story is about.The basic idea gives Williams endless possibilities for merging SF, fantasy & classic (childrens) tales into one amazing story. Trying to figure out each time in which old story you have arrived is only one of the attractions in each chapter. Each chapter is also headed by a 'snapshot' from the real world, sometimes giving an unexpected interconnection with the story. And then there are the people in the real world helping or obstructing the protagonists in the Otherland network. Enough storylines to keep your mind working, certainly because the connections between certain characters are at first totally unclear. Williams is a master of cliffhangers, but even more: a master storyteller. I would have given this one five stars, except volume two gets even better & I needed the extra star to rate that.
Rating:
Summary: ummmmmmmmm, hmmmmmmmm
Review: Lets see, how to explain Otherland? Well, it isn't exactly fantasy, and it isn't exactly sci-fi either. it's set in the not so distant future, in a world too close to our own (well the begining and parts of the end are set in the futuristic earth). all of the VR worlds the characters visit in this book are just a begining to all the VR worlds that are visited eventually. the story is like nothing i have read before. each event raises questions, and each answer raises more questions. i got the first one and could not put it down. then at the end (which isn't really an end at all) i just had to get the second one. all the characters are so interesting and i really felt for them. i sympothized with Sam so much, and i pityed Sam. I could relate to Sam's delema very well, i'm so bad on that scale as to want to do what she did, but i feel the pain Sam felt on how Sam was treated. (it's been quite a long time sense i read the first book so i don't member when the secret is revealed or if it is even a secret at all to the reader). Orlando Gardner is facing a life threatening desease. he and Sam are good net buddies. Orlando proves to be brave. Dread, the psycopath killer, is exactly that. i felt myself scared of him. whenever my thoughts would drift toward Dread i'd try to revert them. also, i though it amazing how well Tad describes him, and extreamly frightening how much Tad can think up. The master of the Grail Brotherhood (i can not remember how to spell his name) is also a bit psycopathic. he is a horrible man who does not care about anyone but himself. he is possible the most secrative of all, and almost as little is known about him as about Paul. Paul Jones is in a horrible position, he is in a confusing world and can not remember who or where he is. in the end of the last book all questions are answered about him so do not grieve if you can not figure out anything about him until then. the first book only raises the questions about Paul, and very little is answered. Rennie and !Xabbo are just what they are, they're purpose and identity are not questions but facts. there are many other characters, including a blind woman, a teenage kid, a few cops, the other Grail Brotherhood members, a woman with her dying child, and many more that you must follow! i say that u must read it! it is imparitive that you do! if you don't, then you are missing out on one of the greatist books writen! oh and you have to check out Terry Brooks' books if u can, they are awsome too, especially his Word and Void series! well, i've blah blah blahed enough, so just go get the book! :)
Rating:
Summary: Complete series now available!
Review: The movie "The Matrix" has everyone living on the net - why would we do such a thing? Otherland is the answer. No more hum drum lives to lead; adventure and vr are better than reality. But there are problems, naturally. Now that we have the whole series to enjoy, no more waiting to see what happens. A thought provoking fantasy that is coming, easily in the next fifty to seventy-five years. Many characters are gathered to solve the problems that a few wealthy people have created. Myriads of questions go unanswered until the final book, but the answers are wonderful and pretty perfect.
Rating: 
Summary: Way too long and slow
Review: This book had so many characters and subplots that it became very bogged down. It took me over a month to read the whole thing, and that's only because I was stubborn to finish it. Plot had promise, but the characters were very uninteresting.
Rating:
Summary: A long, long journey into.... somewhere.... I think...
Review: I won't bother with a critique of this particular volume, but will instead talk about the series, as that's what you're really buying into here... I'm in the midst of the last book in this series, and have read them all. I think I just feel obliged at this point, because of all the time I've invested. The story is okay, but it drags on and on, and there are all kinds of open questions -- which are only partially answered at the very end of each book, it seems. So every 1000 pages, you get let in on a few of the secrets in one bombshell chapter. Gee, thanks. The way-too-large cast of characters tend to be one-dimensional, and some of the devices - like future "slang" get old very quickly. The point of the quest isn't really revisited, so over the course of thousands of pages, the story just kind of meanders, and you forget about why you should care about the whole thing. And you forget about why you should want the bad guys to lose, and the good guys to prevail. The story's environments, while numerous, are occasionally intriguing, but more often than not, they're sterile and lacking of any "gritty" details. (These rich guys are omnipotent "gods" in this virtual environment, and they choose to spend all their time in kingdoms of giant bugs, or in a re-creation of Egypt. Really.) True story: my bookmark fell out of my book (the final one). I picked it up, and started back in, unsure of exactly where I had left off. I read something like 70 pages before realizing that I had already read it. That's how unmemorable a lot of it is. Lots of introspection and weary travelers forging ahead against all odds, nothing in the way of plot development. I'm sure there are many patient readers who dig this series, but for me, it's too much boring filler, and not enough meat.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining SCIFI!!!
Review: When I finally discovered Tad Williams' books, I was pleasantly surprised. I thought I had exhausted what I found to be "good scifi" a list which includes books like Ender's Game. I was entertained immensely by the author's intelligent handling of a subject that could have quickly become overwhelmed with "tech" details. He takes a human approach to an inhuman subject, earning this book a right to be referred to more as "futurism" than as old-fashioned sci-fi. I find the friendship between !Xabbu and Renie to be a little bit mystifying, in that !Xabbu (from what I know only from the first volume) seems a little to good to be true as far as people go. He seems almost inhuman. However, I suspect there is a reason for this treatment of a character by Williams, who otherwise developes and maintains his characters masterfully. It is a quick easy read and will maintain the avid reader's attention as well as it will help the odd airplane-only variety of reader pass the time. Thumbs up as far as a good sci fi goes. However, keep in mind that volume 1 ends seemingly in the middle of the story. A good technique. I just bought the second volume.
|
