City of Golden Shadow

Let me just start by saying this the first time I finished this series, I immediately went back and started reading it again I can t think of any other series that I ve done that with.This is one of Tad Williams economy sized manuscripts, similar to his fantasy classic Memory, Sorrow and Thorn Similar in size and scope, anyway four giant tomes chock full of all things awesome It s a series of grand scope, amazing scale and great imagination, well worthy of your time Seriously, top shelf stuff he [...]

Robert Jordan level wordulency, plus SF internet idea outdated before its publication date, minus appealing writing style, divided by Michael Springer s mid semester attention span,times 90 bunjillion pages in four volumes,equals FUCK YOU, TAD WILLIAMS, YOU GO TO HELL YOU GO TO HELL AND YOU DIE YOU FUCKIN DIE WHAT THE FUCK Throws book against the wall, then walks over and urinates on it Okay, so I actually just took it back to Half Price Books Whatever.

Tad Williams has been one of those authors I d never really gotten around to even though he s a pillar of fantasy literature Technically, I did read his story contained in Songs of the Dying Earth which was excellent , but never one of his mainstays such as Otherland and his epic, Memory, Sorry, and Thorn series.Apparently that day has come and I ve officially read Tad Williams And what did I think I hate to say this, but mostly meh.That s not to say I didn t enjoy City of Golden Shadow, but for [...]

I m giving this book a 3.5 rating which seems a little harsh to me becuase I genuinely really really enjoyed it Honestly, the only reason it s not quite scooping the 4 s is becuase although I really enjoyed it, it s a 900 page book and it s only just starting the overall plot by the time you reach the end.This is probably one of the most surprising books I have read in a while as it s a slightly older fantasy sci fi crossover pre 2000s and so I kind of assumed it would be a classic style It is a [...]

I think Renie s quote from the middle of the book sums up my feelings entirely We still don t have any answers or any way to bring my brother back, and the search just seems to get complicated and vague If this were a detective story, you d have a body and some bloodstains and footprints in the garden it s definitely a murder, and you ve definitely got clues But all we have here are things that seem a little strange, bits of information that might mean something The I think, the less sense it [...]

Executive Summary Slow in places, but this story really works for me Interesting world building and decent characters has me looking forward to the continuing on this series.Audio book George Newbern does an excellent job with this book Good inflections and emotion, as well as a variety of accents He is definitely a narrator that adds extra enjoyment to the book.Full ReviewMy only experiance with Tad Williams prior to this book was his urban fantasy book The Dirty Streets of Heaven I was not muc [...]

I don t know what to think of this book I liked it, but I was confused, so I looked up some reviews on , and then decided that I didn t like it based on what people said, but then I kept reading, and then I liked it a lot and made my peace with it being just the first part of a four book series, and then I was totally into it, and then they spent too much time on the villains and their complicated pseudo Egyptian mythology simulation, and I am sick of completely evil antagonists who are cruel an [...]

I love this series I read it years ago, picking it up only because of the cool cover It s not the type of book I usually read I m not a fan of cyberpunk lit But then again, Otherland is far from typical Heck the main characters are black South Africans unlike in District 9, Tad s rendering is realistic and free of prejudice Smile , little did I know that years later, my novel would be bought by the very editor who worked on this awesome series.I m on page 268 and I m enjoying it in the same way [...]

When I picked up this book I initially thought it was fantasy and for some reason to do with faerie it really isn t Well, not very much Otherland is a story about a virtual world where people can shop, meet up, have businesses, play games, or anything you really want to do Think if you will of the evolution of the internet It actually sort of reminds me of OZ in the anime Summer Wars.Something has gone wrong and children are falling into comas and having seizures, and some people are discovering [...]

I picked this book up on a whim, not realizing that it was just the beginning of four very long books with a myriad of characters and challenges Fortunately, the book and the series are both amazing.The Otherland series takes place in the near future where the Internet has become fully interactive with rich people literally able to plug themselves into the net and others using less effective virtual reality equipment In this world, a varied group of people stumble upon a secret plot put in motio [...]

Let me just start by saying this the first time I finished this series, I immediately went back and started reading it again I can t think of any other series that I ve done that with.This is one of Tad Williams economy sized manuscripts, similar to his fantasy classic Memory, Sorrow and Thorn Similar in size and scope, anyway four giant tomes chock full of all things awesome It s a series of grand scope, amazing scale and great imagination, well worthy of your time It s a complex, interweaving [...]

Cyberpunk but with the emphasis on non punk elements.Full review on my podcast, SFBRP episode 281 Really.

Audiobook from Penguin AudioNarrated by George NewbernLength 28.75 hoursI hate to admit this, but I judged this book by the cover at first I knew nothing about the book when I started listening, I hadn t even read the blurb in the description I saw a fantastical looking image on the cover and, knowing that Tad Williams typically writes fantasy novels series, I just assumed it was a fantasy novel I was wrong This is actually a cyberpunk book, a quite good one at that There was only one downside t [...]

I got to p76 Otherland by Tad Williams starts with assorted quilt squares I didn t have the patience to wait for assembly WW1 mud soaked Paul explodes, climbs a cloud high tree stem to a trapped bird woman, chased by a Giant to awaken back in the trenches South African college tutor Renie guides bushman Xabbu through basic virtual reality scenarios, rescues her 11 year old brother from a dangerous sim club, then loses him to a coma, three weeks after her drunk father kicks the boy out to live wi [...]

Really enjoyed this, lots of different worlds and good characters No resolution at the end though, will just have to get the second book in the series to find out what happens next.

8.5 10This is the second series that I m reading from Tad Williams and I have to say that I m really impressed of how different it is compared to his most famous series, Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, although personally I quite liked it even if it s not outstanding.In this series Tad Williams changes his style and goes to Science Fiction but he also raises his skill level as he has mixed Cyberpunk, lots of mystery and a touch of Fantasy that, I believe, makes all the difference The story is set most [...]

Alle begeisterten Rezensionen stimmen Dieses SF Epos, und so kann man es wirklich nennen mit seinen 1000 Seiten a 4 B nde ist atemberaubend und eine Achterbahnfahrt der Fantasie.Perfekt ist eine zuk nftige eigentlich nicht mehr ferne Welt konzipiert, in der sich die Menschen sowohl im Realen Leben RL als auch in virtuellen Realit ten VR bewegen Mit einer Schnittstelle am Kopf als User Interface, kann man in den k nstlichen Welten auch f hlen, riechen schmecken und manche finden auch nicht mehr h [...]

I read the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series and loved it I read it twice and have autographed copies to save I enjoy epics I enjoy detail I enjoy science fiction, computers, virtual reality, anthropology, history, sociology, political intrigue and all the other individual elements of this series Unfortunetly, I really disliked this book.I liked the little girl who got messages through her computer, and I liked the sick boy who created a virtual reality that was easier to live in Other than those [...]

In the first installment of Tad Williams Otherworld series the reader is introduced to a future where the net and virtual reality are readily available to anyone with enough credits A virtual reality professor at a South African University, Renie Sulaweyo, becomes good friends with her student, Xabbu, one of the last remaining African Bushmen Renie and Xabbu become entangled in a conspiracy involving the most powerful and dangerous men in the world The scope of what needs to be done is than Ren [...]

Williams near future sci fi epic is a compelling exploration of the social psychological costs and benefits posed by the advent of true virtual reality A disparate cast of heroes find themselves trapped in an array of artificially constructed realities where death is an all too real possibility Williams pedigree as an epic fantasy author is evident in the scope of the narrative and the presence of a dark lord of sorts lurking at the heart of this web of invented worlds Reading the whole series i [...]

Impressive worldbuilding and interesting characters.

City of Golden Shadow is the first book in the Otherland series and is a look at a future, though fairly near future, world where the internet has continued to evolve into a VR network that people use to go about their daily tasks and for entertainment D The title Otherland refers to a quasi secret part of these virtual worlds that has been put in place by a rich grouping of people known as the Grail Brotherhood and it is around this that some of the story revolves as our main characters come to [...]

Whole story All four volumes This is, without a doubt, the best series novel I have ever read Multiple plot lines in a fantastic world that slowly twist and turn until they eventually merge A simple beginning, children falling into comas for no apparent reason, leads to an epic quest typical of fantasy but applied to science fiction, the historical novel, Victorian children s literature, detective fiction, myth and much, much A large cast of unforgettable characters, written beautifully by Tad [...]

This novel, to me, is 780 pages of nothing With five main characters, there is a lot of running around, random descriptions that seem to me are pretty uneccessary, and a LOT of confusion When a new chapter starts, there is a tendency of character switching, so you are left with a few pages just trying to figure out which character you are focusing on If Williams only focused on Renie and Xabbu, I would have been content with this novel, considering that s where most of the focus is on, anyways.P [...]

The Matrix has them and they can t escape If you die in the Matrix do you die in real life They don t know yet and they don t want to find out I haven t read The Neuromancer, but I assume this book was greatly influenced by it I was hooked right from the beginning though some of the middle was quite repetitive at times with the what could be happening.who could be behind this questions but still a page turner You re left hanging at the end so it s another a bit to thick and heavy to read in bed [...]

Grossartiges H rspiel, das ich alle paar Jahre gerne wieder h re

I just finished re reading Tad Williams four book Otherland saga This series is everything The Matrix films should have been, and better It s just a stunningly awesome tale It s deep on many levels It s about the nature of reality, the nature of religion, the way humans perceive things, the nuances of the human psyche, all wrapped in a shell of epic science fiction with romance, adventure, and overtones of fantasy It blows my mind that so few people have enjoyed this series, or even know what I [...]

Something has interfered with that child s brain A physical effect in the real world from something that happened online How could something on the net cause an injury, send a young child into a sleep from which he will not wake You, Stephen and Soki were going to places you shouldn t go Maybe you ve found something illegal that has these terrible side effects il primo libro di una tetralogia fantascientifica che non mai stata tradotta in italiano La storia composta da 6 plot inizialmente ben se [...]

I ve read lots of Williams before and thought he was excellent, though I remember specifically avoiding this one because it s sci fi, not fantasy I was quite disappointed when it came out, actually, that he switched genres like that when I d eagerly awaited new installments of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn before this came out.It s good that I waited It came out in 1996, in the very early days of the WWW and, I belive, very few MMORPGs beyond MUDDs Hehlots of acronyms there But about 75% of this boo [...]

For me,this is a book that is very difficult to review I loved certain aspects of it, and disliked some To make it easier to pinpoint, I am separating them to the one that affected my enjoyment the most while reading it.The Bad The story develops in a very slow pace A lot of unnecessary details I found myself skimming most of Paul Jonas early stories, and skimming most of the story inside The Brotherhood organization My God, the ending was terrible Some books cliffhangers were subtle, this book [...]