Otherland: City Of Golden Shadows (review) by Tad Williams
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- Опубліковано 10 жов 2024
- This book series is one I have been meaning to start for a while and I was so surprised by how much I liked it. It's weird, quirky and filled with wonderful ideas. Let me know if you have read it or plan to read it below!
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Tad Williams is one of my all time favorites. Otherland is one of his finest works. I highly recommend 'The War of the Flowers'. It's a modern masterpiece.
+BronzDano I'll have to add that to my list! Thanks :)
I can't recommend it highly enough, I'm currently reading it again for the third time. It's a stand alone story, so there are no cliffhangers. The only problem is understanding the finality upon finishing the book.
So the books are recommended. I saw it has a 3.93 score on Goodreads.
I've been a Tad Williams fan for a long time. Started out with the Memory, Sorrow & Thorn series, and when I first picked up City of Golden Shadows, I was a bit surprised that it was so very different. As you said, it's a Sci-Fi/Fantasy blend, but set - at least initially - in the "real" world several decades from now. Without going into too much detail or spoiling things, I loved the book, and love the rest of the series. They have a prime position in hardback on my shelves to this day. Don't know that I'd consider them in my top 5, but probably top 10. As a matter of fact, I ended up watching you from a search for reactions/reviews of the Otherland series, and I did that search because I was watching something completely unrelated, and a character name came to mind from this series. Minor character you haven't encountered yet in your reading (well, as of the time this was posted, late as I am to the party), and no particular reason for the name to come to mind. But that's an indication of how deep and immersive this series can get. Keep reading!
I loved this series so much. I would love to have some artwork inspired by the series. I really liked the land where it was like a grocery store and the characters from the labels came to life.
Great review, this is going to the top of my tbr
I think you are right about Ready Player One being inspired by Otherland. I'm looking for a source on that. Love how you describe it as being more fleshed out. Pretty much every point you described I agree with. I love how Christabel's chapters are written from a child's perspective so that the reader can't fully grasp what the adults are doing. She lives in childhood ignorance and I loved that the book portrayed her genuinely that way. The Wicked Tribe! Yes...oh I love them. OMG THE OTHER!!!!!! The diverse cast and Orlando...I love Orlando, Long Joseph, and so many more. The good guys, the bad guys. They're all so distinctive.
Williams writes the same was as Sanderson where the language is easy to comprehend but lets the immediacy of the world and events wash over you. Because of that Paul, Renie and !Xabbu are characters that breathe through the page.. They were so real. I love Pau'ls Journey because he goes through so much confusion and loneliness. It's hard not to feel for him with every step. The real and unreal elements, the mashup of cultures and ideas. It was a juicy meal of a book. It's hard to mix a genuine reality with over the top fantastical happenings. The surprises, the mysteries, the answers to some when they are revealed. I'm reminded a bit of the show Lost but with a lot more satisfaction.
The End was a perfect place for an "act break" at the start of what is essentially one massive book published in four parts. With where each person was left, even minor characters, I was so ready to find out what happens to them next.
Do they pronounce her name Renie like WREN-AY in the audio book? That's how I say it when I read though I've head some folks say Wren-EEE. I've always wondered how others would pronounce it.
I'm so excited and relieved that you liked it. May the next books be enjoyable.
Code Delphi. End Here.
+Let's Read!! I'm loved the second one too! Just finished it up and I was so happy with the way everything progressed that I gave it a 5*s. I totally think this series is going to fast become a firm favourite of mine!
The audiobook actually pronounces it as REE-NEE which I think is okay but in my head she was Wren-AY hence how I said it. I'll probably just end up going back and forth with the pronunciation :)
It's becuase of you I initially picked the first one up, so I am very, very glad to have done so.
It would be really interesting to see if Cline did get inspired by this becuase to me this is basically the same but bigger, better and much more vibrant. I am so excited for book #3 to arrive tomorrow so I can dive into that. I'm sad there's only 4 in the series, but at least he has a ton of other stuff published too!!
+Kitty G It's short for Irene. Hence the Ree-nee.
drekfletch Ah yes.
Great binge choice! Tad's been a long time fave. Started with Tailchaser's song and then MS&T... both great. I also recommend War of the Flowers (a charmingly rare fantasy singleton) and Shadowmarch. I enjoyed Otherland very much but did find it a 'tad' bloated in parts. The Bobby Dollar series starts out fresh but peters off a bit. Haven't got to the Osten Ard sequel series yet but I am salivatingly waiting for the final volume first.
Having been watching a series of videos rigorously exploring/playing a very strange, large, and abandoned MMO adaptation of this novel (by Josh Strife Hayes if interested) - it's really intriguing to hear how lovely the source material sounds! I might check it out =)
Thanks the review. About to start the journey now!
Looking up a conversation wirth Tad Williams should show you a good deal about Tad Williams and the influences on this series I stumbled across it when I first found the series some years ago, and it made me honestly love the series even more. Great review, and glad you enjoyed it.
Read this around 20 years ago and it is still my fav Sci-fi book... such great characters... Orlando and Fredericks were my fav. I mostly liked the 1st and 4th books in the series though... they spent too much time in the virtual world in books two and three IMO.
I DID want more from Ready Player One! I've never heard of this author - it's going straight on my wishlist, great review - thanks for the recommendation.
+SwirlyGirlyReads If you liked that one then this is definitely similar!! I hope you like it :)
I really enjoyed this series ! I have them in both paperback and hardcover... Paperback is for loans and hardcover for keeps.
Peace people
l loved Otherland but I would describe it rather than a series, as all the books as just a giant book! this was a great review.
+Jo Reads I think it is definitely one long book and I see that now I'm reading the third one :-)
+Jo Reads I think it is definitely one long book and I see that now I'm reading the third one :-)
I've heard about Tad Williams and want to try him, and probably this, at some point. Good review.
+FinalBlowJoe :) I hope whenever you do get to this you enjoy it. I'd say it's a good start point as this is where I began :)
Tad Williams is my favourite author.
I recommend Memory, Sorrow And Thorn, my all time favourite series. Then Otherland. Then standalone novel The War Of The Flowers, then his debut Tailchasers Song.
I have yet to read the Bobby Dollar books, and I would say proceed with caution in regards to Shadowmarch. He attempted another fantasy epic like Memory, Sorrow And Thorn but it felt like a weak retread, or like a rather talented author out his depth trying to write like Tad Williams.
Literally knew you loved this but before I was done watching I went and bought book one ;) I cannot wait for something very like Ready Player One :) I will for sure be talking to you guys...
+Wil H :-) Enjoy!!!
Any thoughts on Memory Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams? Currently reading The Dragonbone Chair, and I'm loving it so far! I see many parallels to George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, and he's said it inspired him to write it. I'm amazed how few people are aware of Tad Williams, even on BookTube.
Ken Gillespie Yes, it is excellent. Tad is a long time favourite. MSandT is his best!
I actually just started reading this series and it's so so so so good! My first fantasy novel!
I discovered Tad Williams only last year, but I have yet to read Otherland. It sounds fantastic, thanks for reviewing! (Actually I wanted to read this since it first appeared in our bookstores! There is absolutely no reason behind my not reading it!)
+Sam yay!
I read this book way back in the late 90s, as well as the second one, but couldn't get the last 2 books for various reasons, so they're on my current to read list! I think this is pretty much the precursor of all those VR immersion stories we have now, I didn't hear of any others at the time. I bought the first 2 Otherland books because I had already read and loved Tailchaser's song and the Memory, sorrow and thorn trilogy (which is on my to re-read list, since Tad Williams is working on a new series set in the same universe) and I found them both great. So glad someone mentions this author's works sometimes, most booktubers I've found so far seem to totally ignore him :(
I also read the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series back when they came out, so I recognized the author name when I saw this book. Just read this book, finished today. Found it at a thrift store, fifty cents for the hardcover, lol! And I just now got the remaining three on Ebay for about $3.65 each. So they're not hard to find. Enjoy!
@@IronheadOfScroteus Thanks. Indeed they're not hard to find. My problem was that, for family reasons, I moved to Venezuela and while I lived there, there was no way for me to buy those books, due to a restriction on foreign currencies and no options for buying such books locally. By the time I managed to get a credit card, the maximum amount legally available (and thus not overburdening an already way to low wage) was 400$/year, and those were used for more pressing items than books. So I spent years unable to acquire any of the books I wanted, and now I'm stuck with a huge backlog of interesting reading material, including the Otherland series and the new Ostenard series which makes a re-read of Memory, sorrow and thorn a must :)
I remember reading about Mr Js.I ended up making a connection to the song Mr.Bojangles by Sammy Davis jr.The old man that was with the little girl christabel had something to do with it
Killobyte by Piers Anthony was my first taste in VR fiction, Otherland was my second, Sword Art Online was my third, and Ready Player One was my fourth. Out of all of them, Otherland really shines the brightest. There are 4 books, plus two or three short stories based around Orlando. I've read the actual books and have listened to the audiobooks as well - there are two versions of the audiobooks, both are done well, though I prefer the older version myself.
I know I'm a few years late but I loved these books. My only criticism of this review is that you listened to the audio book and still called her Renee (the french pronunciation) rather than Renie (The English pronunciation which is canonical and said in the audio version :P )
Being a Sc-Fi and fantasy fan. I read half of otherland and i usually Finnish books.Dune on the other hand i found a master story teller at work with Frank Herbert.
Dune was incredible . Did you read the whole thing?
Are these books recommended? They seem really large.
Second comment. You nention Ready Player One. I have never read that, but loved this one so would Ready Player One be a reverse recommendation?
+Jo Reads if you want a video game VR focus which is much more fast paced but still hugely fun then go for it. I love RPO and this so I think you can for sure like both :-)
+Jo Reads if you want a video game VR focus which is much more fast paced but still hugely fun then go for it. I love RPO and this so I think you can for sure like both :-)