otherland series completed

Oh well, this was some kind of a reading weekend I guess … after finishing the vampire clan novel series yesterday (13 books), I just read the last page of the fourth book of the Otherland series:

• Otherland I: City of Golden Shadow (1996)
• Otherland II: River of Blue Fire (1998)
• Otherland III: Mountain of Black Glass (1999)
• Otherland IV: Sea of Silver Light (2001).

Finished. Finally. Took me from February 2007 till today, actually.

Phew …

Content:
Umm … 4000+ pages of content, I’m actually skipping that part, I think. Let’s see what wikipedia has to say …

Otherland is a series of four science fiction (cyberpunk) novels written by Tad Williams. The story is set in the mid-to-late 21st century (Some hints to a character’s age shows that the story takes place in the 2070s) where technology has advanced somewhat from the modern day. The most notable advancement has been the development of the ability for people to attach themselves fully to a computer via a nerve interface in order to experience an online world, called simply “the net”, as virtually real. Tad Williams weaves an intricate plot spanning four thick volumes and creates a picture of a future society where virtual worlds are fully integrated into everyday life.
His proposed ability to immerse oneself fully in a simulation gives him a great deal of artistic freedom, and the story winds through alternate interpretations of many classical literary works such as Through the Looking Glass, The Odyssey, The War of the Worlds, and The Wizard of Oz, which are in the book available as entertainment simulations.

Style:
A lot of different plots and characters. The first book is rather a mess, in the second book it gets rather clear how the stories are intertwined – what the characters have to do with each other – but only the end of the fourth book really gives the broad picture.
The whole idea, and the way the future is depicted, is very creative and smart – I like it. Especially if you’re into “realistic” Sci-Fi or even Cyberpunk settings, if you like movies like the Matrix series, or just think about the future of the internet and scientific progress a lot, the Otherland series will be something for you.
But then again, you do need some patience for it :) …

Rating:
1-2