Customer Reviews

River of Blue Fire (Otherland, Volume 2)

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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

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...

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.

River of Blue Fire is as much about character development and ambiance as City of Golden Shadow was about introducing the characters and establishing the plot. Williams had the wisdom to make the virtual worlds of Otherland utterly disturbing - something to keep a jaded reader interested as he wades through a post-apocalyptic Oz, a titanic kitchen populated by condiments, and London after the Martians won the War of the Worlds.

The plotlines go as follows (no major spoilers): online, our heroes are split up and are forced to go through simulation after simulation looking for their comrades; Martine and company receive cryptic hints from someone involved with the project; Paul Jonas continues his journey, having finally remembered his identity, and clued in as to where he is; and, as you may remember from the end of the first book, Dread has sabotaged and occupied one of our heroes' sims. Offline, a pair of Australian cops follow the luke-warm trail of a sadistic murderer (Dread), and Sam's and Orlando's parents hire an investigator to look in to their odd case and whether it has any connection with a certain large megacorporation.

This second volume moves far slower than the first, but this didn't prevent it from being a page turner for me. I hope you enjoy it.

The much criticised "cliffhanger" ending from Volume One serves as a springboard which launches the increasingly fragmented group into a wild variety of different interactive worlds. Dread, the warped and treacherous minion of the Grail Brotherhood has betrayed his masters and assumed the guise of one of the invaders. This volume offers a spectacular insight into his gruesome, sadistic mindset as well as the haunted and increasingly unhinged mind of his rich-as-creusus master. Previously, Tad Williams has made little effort to explore the personalities of his evil characters, but this novel changes all that.

The wild adventures among the simworlds are perhaps a little predictably akin to cartoon adventures in which characters are always saved from dire fates by flukish luck or the last gasp entrance of another "good guy", but perhaps Tad intended this and is sending up this genre from within as it were. Whichever it is the repetition of this "last gasp escape from danger" theme becomes a little tiresome.

Again, information as to the nature and motivation of the grail project is passed out strategically, and yes!, dammit, slowly. But don't be in a hurry. Enjoy the wealth of imagination and the beautiful writing and just let the book swing you around from world to world. Underlying the wild adventurers and imaginative passages is a slow building feeling of imminent disaster and the darkness which underlies the whole project. This was a Great Book, a spectacular combination of the technological, the fantastic and the insane. Awesome stuff.

River of Blue Fire, volume 2 in the Otherland series, presents me, a true Tad Williams fan, with a solid quandry: do I continue with book 3 or end the pain now?

First, for the story, and it's review (summarized in one sentence (possible spoiler)): The main characters split into three groups: renie & !xabbu; orlando and pithlit/fredericks; florimel, martine, et al. They go from simulation to simulation and become progressively more frustrated at their inability to do... anything with regards to their for being on the net: either (a) rejoining Sellars or (b) finding their loved ones (aka Renie's brother).... OH wait, Paul Jonas, "Dread", Felix Jongleur have occassional intercessionals as well. There is sporadic dialogue... And tremendous amounts of description.

Of course, I gloss over some really important points: Orlando and Fredericks, as well as Paul, to me, are the character highlights. I empathize with them. Orlando: doomed with progeria (RL), meeting up with Fredericks a girl "simming" as boy; Paul, lost, banished (presumably a former Grail colleague, but no evidence to the point).

Renie and !Xabbu? About as interesting as a dinner of green peas. Let me clarify: It's not that their characters coudn't be interesting, it's that the specific scenarios the author utilizes them are... blaise...

Martine/Florimel/Quan Li/Sweet William/etc: An interesting plot

Again, though, I do give credit for Tad Williams for one major point (worth 1 star of the 2 I credit this title): an exquisite plot that was before it's time: use of an advanced internet; items that were "utilized" in the Matrix (which followed these titles); some elements of traditional suspense (detectives investigating Dread) and sci-fantasy...

Bottom line: for Williams' fans only... or those anticipating a long-convelescent period only.

The plot grows thicker and more convoluted in this book. I love the realistic and straightforward way in which Tad Williams writes and much appreciate the depth of his characters. He writes with an eye for detail, and portrays a depth of emotion which is not easy to find in literature. This series brings up interesting ideas regarding the power of outside influences over the human mind. In my opinion it takes virtual reality further than it has ever gone before in SF. On the other hand I found the abrupt transitions from world to world within the virtual reality rather confusing, as though the characters found themselves in an adult version of a Lewis Carrol fantasy. Although the bug world was very well portrayed, I didn't like the rather jaded ideas of the Wizard of Oz world or the cartoon kitchen. Maybe I'm missing some crucial points here, that I'll find out about later on in the series, but I'm not sure.

I enjoyed the first book more, but this one was quite good considering that it's a sequel. In my experience, it's difficult to find sequels that meet the standards of the initial book of a series.

With the massive introduction and explanation of the world the Otherland novels taken care of in "City of Golden Shadow" it's time to get down to some serious business (and the actual action part of the plot) with the second volume in the series, "River of Blue Fire."

Where we last left them Renie (the virtual reality professor)!Xabbu (her one time student who happens to be one of the last surviving bushmen), Orlando (a dying fourteen year old boy), Fredericks (Orlando's best friend, just revealed as a girl), Martine (a French virtual expert who is blind and processes data in a whole new way) T4b (an apparent adolescent in gaming body armor), Sweet William (a gothic clown with a chip on his shoulder) Florimel (a mysterious supposed woman who doesn't want to share information) and Quan Li (the grandmother of a child affected by the same mysterious unknown illness striking down child net users all around the world-including Renie's brother Stephen) had just managed to follow the bread crumbs that the seemingly benevolent Mr. Sellers left to the Otherland network-only to be abandoned as an attack in the real world left them stranded in the virtual land-where things may not be real but can kill them just the same.

Our group of adventures doesn't stay together for long though. First Renie and !Xabbu and then Orlando and Fredericks are separated from the larger group and left to fend for themselves in increasingly bizarre simulations ranging for a twisted OZ to a cartoon kitchen. And there's a larger problem. None of the group or others who are the normal inhabitants of the Otherland can get offline. Making the dangers that would normally just bounce you offline now probable fatalities.

Before they lost connection with Sellers the whole group was told to follow the river that makes its way in some way or another through all of the simulations-and to find a man named Paul Jonas- who it seems Sellers himself helped escape from the Grail Brotherhood and represents something of great importance to those in power-especially the leader of the TGB.

Jonas himself is still being bounced around, though he has regained much of his early memory he still has no idea what's happening to him or why the era he's in keep changing. Pursued through multiple simulations by programs designed to catch him and detain him he finally starts to catch on to the fact that some of the places he's been visiting are fictional.

And at the same time, unknown to the rest of the virtual party, the insane serial killer who calls himself Dread and normally works for the head of the brotherhood has discovered the network by accident and taken over one of the traveling parties Sims for his own sick purposes-an impediment that can only make the all important task the travelers must accomplish that much harder.

To top it all off the Otherland network is experiencing odd failures-and the oh-so mysterious operating system that runs it (which only one man seems to know anything about) is degrading and warping the virtual environment in weird and dangerous ways.

And a strange winged woman in multiple forms is appearing to our travelers to give cryptic advice in almost every simulation.

Meanwhile in the real world one of the actors who plays the all popular Uncle Jingle on the Net is suffering debilitating headaches-which only occur when she's doing her job. Things take a more drastic turn when an attorney hired to represent Fredericks' and Orlando's parents seeks her out for information on what could have possibly happened to the teens.

And a pair of detectives in Australia are tracking down an old cold case-a case that leads them to a boy who supposedly died years ago-a boy who called himself Dread...

Like its predecessor this book has a ton going on. There is far more immediate action in this novel because most of the background has been covered already. But the way Williams writes is so beautiful-so very true to what people would feel like in such a situation. Instead of taking our brave group of explorers and making them constantly optimistic and fairly powerful, the author does an excellent job illustrating how hopeless these few little people feel coming up against the most sophisticated piece of technology in the world that happens to be owned by the richest and most powerful people in the world.

Every bit as excellent as the first I recommend that if you even slightly liked reading "City of Golden Shadow" that you go on to this book. And if like me, you are non-tech savvy enough to routinely forget which of the four buttons on your Ipod turns it off, then have no fear. The tech in this is simplified enough for a luddite and the frequent funny moments make up for anything hard to understand.

Five stars. I'm on to the next book.

River of Blue Fire (Otherland, Volume 2) is an excellent follow up to A City of Golden Shadow. This book absorbs you into a new world with its own culture and people. Tad Williams does not disappoint when it comes to description or world building. The book takes virtual reality and fantasy and makes them believable.

The book follows the characters and the plot is derived from them, who are many and varied. Characters are well thought out and perfectly made. You won't be wondering why the made stupid decisions or thinking stupid things. The book goes at a slow pace and fast pace, all when necessary, but generally, you will be mystified about what will happen next, and where things are heading. Some people find the vagueness infuriating, but the suspense is strong and you will be totally absorbed by the storytelling.

Tad does not lack for imagination. The main concept of the book's virtual reality is common, but his implementation of it and description of its use is downright believable and perfect. You will follow the characters through so many difficulties and experiences, it will feel like a mental roller coaster. This book will feed your imaginative side, if you have the patience.

Many people could find this book boring, and read it skeptically. The book is much less enjoyable when read this way. You really need to be able to fall into the character's experiences to fully enjoy the book, and some people read books with a detached attitude. Readers like this or who crave action-action-action will not find the book enjoyable. I recommend this book to anyone with an imaginative side that needs feeding. This story will not dissapoint.

Years ago, I read the first book in this series, but I didn't rush out to get the second one, although I couldn't say why. Recently, I re-read the first novel, and I got 3/4ths of the way through this one. I haven't really abandoned it; its just set aside indefinitely. I've decided that there are several reasons for my ambivalence about this novel. First, the main plot moves at a glacial pace. Second, like so many fantasy novels, the story jumps repeatedly from one character or group of characters to another. For an author, this is a useful page-turning device. But as more characters split up or are introduced, it takes a while to recall what's going on at the start of each new chapter. Another problem is that the prime antagonists are stereotypes. The character, "Dread," is especially stereotypical. You could replace him with the psychopathic professional killer seen in any number of books or movies.

What ultimately makes the novel so easy to set aside is its vignette-like structure. The main characters enter a series of computer "worlds" that were created (or neglected) for different reasons. They include 1930's adventure-story Mars, a cartoon world, a land of giant bugs, Oz gone mad, and ancient Egypt. Each world is well-described, and it is interesting to see how the characters overcome obstacles in each world. But then they stumble into the next world and the whole thing starts over again. That's when I can set the novel aside. New world, new adventure; the main plot still isn't going anywhere. It will be an easy novel to pick up six months from now.