River of Blue Fire (Otherland, Volume 2) [Import] [Hardcover]

Tad Williams (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 654 pages
• Publisher: Orbit; 1st edition (1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857235991
• ISBN-13: 978-1857235999
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,277,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Former singer, shoe-seller, radio show host, and inventor of interactive sci-fi television, Tad Williams is now a full-time writer. His 'Memory, Sorrow and Thorn' series established him as an internationally bestselling fantasy author. The series that followed, 'Otherland', is now a multi-million-dollar MMO launching in 2012 from dtp/realU/Gamigo. Tad is also the author of the fantasy series, the 'Shadowmarch' books; the stand-alone Faerie epic, 'The War of the Flowers'; two collections of short stories ('Rite' and 'A Stark and Wormy Knight'), the Shakespearian fantasy 'Caliban's Hour' and, with his partner & collaborator Deborah Beale, the childrens'/all-ages fantasy series, the 'Ordinary Farm' novels. Coming in September 2012 are the Bobby Dollar novels, fantasy thrillers set again the backdrop of the monstrously ancient cold war between Heaven and Hell: the first is 'The Dirty Streets of Heaven.'

Tad is also the author of 'Tailchaser's Song': his first novel spawned the subgenre of cats and fantasy that we see widely today. 'Tailchaser's Song' is currently in preproduction as an animated film from Animetropolis/IDA.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Difficulty buying into some of these other reviews, June 6, 2005

By 

efg "efg" (LV, NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: River of Blue Fire (Otherland, Volume 2) (Hardcover)

I don't tend to rate extremes very often. It's pretty rare to see ones and fives. In my opinion this series is worth reading and I am disappointed by other reviews. So here's mine...

I'll keep it short, simple and to the point. This series has been the surprise of the spring for me. I bought it and sat on it for several months before breaking down in a moment of desperation while looking for new reading material.

You will enjoy these books if the following characteristics are descriptive of yourself:

a) You like tech and futures...think Cyber Punk, Gibson, Sterling, Snow Crash, Diamond Age, etc.

b) You're willing to work a little for a good story. This series is long (4 deep) and the books are long too.

I'm into technology and think a lot about the world of tomorrow with tech as a very real and visceral part of it. The series sometimes (as criticized) tends to meander. At the end of the day, the story has been worth it. Be prepared for some slow points. They are there, but if you can make it up that trail the views are worth the effort.

I've enjoyed it immensely. Book II is almost done and books III and IV have been purchased.

Happy Trails!

efg

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Without a doubt..., July 5, 1998

By 

Ian Vance (pagosa springs CO.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: River of Blue Fire (Otherland, Volume 2) (Hardcover)

Tad Williams is, simply, one of the greatest (if not the greatest) among the writers currently toiling in the genre of fantasy/science fiction. In fact, I am hesitant to even think of the OTHERLAND books as part of the genre; in no way can it be compared to the usual tripe: Eddings, Goodkind, or the run of the mill Dragonlance filler. Having this opinion, I approached River of Blue Fire with some hesitancy, remembering what I disliked most about his previous series Memory, Sorrow and Thorn--while the first volumn was captivating, the pace and structural backbone of the following two books slowed to a crawl and became, at times, needlessly complicated. Happily, the second volumn of OTHERLAND does not suffer these (small) fallicies; in fact, though enormous and complex, the above review by Kirkus is astonishing. I found my time and attention consumed by this book--at times I forgoed sustience and rest to explore deeper the bewitching qualities and hidden beauties burried within. One scene I will use for an example is where Dread finds the 'dreamtime.' Though the actions are horrific, Tad portrays the charicters psyche so well that I found myself in collaberation with this sick serial killer, lusting, feeling, tingling with the rush of ardrenilene... This book is a marvel, full of vivid imagination and clever prose. On the surface River of Blue Fire is a deliciously overwhelming adventure that is threaded with the subtle themes of humankind, of how we interact with the world around us and winthin us; themes interwoven in any great novel. At completion I wondered how Tad planed to finish this monster in simply four books...

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too much story, February 24, 2005

By 

Hugh Bird (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: River of Blue Fire (Otherland, Volume 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have nearly finished the third book in this series and I must say I have found it hard going. I really enjoyed the first book and I'm quite sure the last book will be good. But there is one book too many in this series. Volumes 2 and 3 should have been edited down to one volume as there are just too many environments the characters, and therefore the readers, are taken through, and as a result I feel the story bogs down. Limited to three volumes this would have been a much better paced story. But I suppose the publishers are getting richer making us buy an extra book.