City of Golden Shadows

River of Blue Fire

Mountain of Black Glass

Sea of Silver Light

It seems that Tad Williams is incapable of writing a short work. (Not really, I've read Caliban's Hour, which was rather brief.) Once again he hit the market with a Very Large Novel ( A VLN, which is not mine, incidentally, I stole it.) I have two reactions to VLN's; 1) I absolutely detest them and cannot bring myself to finish them (Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, for example), or 2) I adore them and cannot get them fast enough. So far, Mr. williams falls deeply and solidly in to the latter category.

I read Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, Mr. Williams' epic fantasy way back when I was young, single and good-looking (none of which still apply). I say this because for a young man to set aside the hours it takes to read through a VLN, it would have to be truly AWESOME. Well, it was. So, I naturally was interested in this tale. Fortunately, I didn't acquire Otherland in one fell swoop as I did Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, so I was able to read it as one rather large novel at a time.

I was delighted to discover that Otherland is NOT fantasy, per ce. It is, as fate would have it, epic science fiction. To be truthful, it is very excellent fantasy wrapped beautifully in science-fiction wrapping, but that makes it science fiction. And, it is extraordinary science at that!

Otherland opens with people around the world who know absolutely nothing about each other, suddenly discovering that they have something in common. Their children have all fallen into coma-like states after "hacking" into a new highly questionable gaming/social virtual private network. One of these people is the younger step-brother to a young South African woman who just happens to be attending university seeking a Master's degree in computer science; she has a student that is a native tribesman with a different way of seeing reality without the assistance of a VR rig; another is a soldier, he thinks, that wakes up in a world that's almost recognizable, and follows a floating feather that came off the wing of an angel he thinks he recognizes; one is a woman who lost her only son years ago, and spends her maternal instincts on virtual children's entertainment.

Then there are the others. There is a secret society of unbelievably wealthy men, computer experts, business men, tycoons, and their servants and guards. These people are the Grail Brotherhood, and nobody knows how they are connected to the children or what they are doing, just that there is a connection. And the only way to find out how to save the children is to enter the Grail Brotherhood's world...in VR.

It was absolutely gripping, and I am amazed at the pure imaginational ability of the author. The descriptions of the various virtual settings is stunning in its description and visualization. The characters are vulnerable and accessible. You simply have to read it to understand. There are probably 50 settings in different virtual realities that change as the story progresses, and not just a little bit, each setting is conceptually unique. The entrance to this virtual world is through The City of Golden Shadow, which shares its name with the title of the first book. To get from one reality to the next, one must navigate The River of Blue Fire, which shares its existence in all frames. The Mountain of Black Glass is the skeleton of reality that's not quite complete, and The Sea of Silver Light isn't virtual, its real and in Louisiana.

Gentlemen, next time you have a few lonely nights in a hotel room or, rather the next few times, take along one of these books. Ladies, these books go extraordinarily well with chocolate and ice cream, trust me. Its going to take a commitment to read these books, but I promise the pay-off is worth that commitment. This is William Gibson meets Lord Byron, with a little M. C. Escher and Pat Conroy thrown in the mix. It is truly, truly a fabulously told tale of grand and epic proportions, and it is simply a must read. Period.

Williams is one of the best writers out there. You see, taste, feel and hear all that the characters experience. Its like you are entering these strange and unbelievable worlds with them. Its a journey you'll never forget. Bon voyage!