Sea of Silver Light (Otherland, Volume 4) (Hardcover)

by Tad Williams (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
With Sea of Silver Light, Tad Williams completes his massive Otherland quartet, one of SF's more intriguing explorations of the eroding boundaries of the human and the nonhuman, the living and the dead. Otherland is a sequence that contains many secrets, and Williams plays fair by unpacking all of them in the final book. A group of adventurers searching for a cure for comatose children find themselves trapped in a sequence of virtual worlds, the only opponents of a conspiracy of the rich to live forever in a dream. Now, they are forced to make an uneasy alliance with their only surviving former enemy against his treacherous sidekick Johnny Wulgaru, a serial killer with a chance to play God forever.

Williams manages a vast cast of emotionally involving characters with considerable panache, but the real strength of the book is its endlessly questing intelligence; it is, among other things, an enquiry into the nature of storytelling as a way for human beings to give structure to their perceptions of the universe around them. It is as story that Sea of Silver Light ultimately works so well--involving us in the grueling descent of a vast mountain, the siege of an underground fortress, gun battles in a nightmare Wild West. Williams never neglects to tell us how things feel. He efficiently ties up every plot strand and convincingly reveals every secret in this large, complex plot. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk

From Publishers Weekly
This stunning finale to the gigantic Otherland tetralogy (City of Golden Shadow, etc.), a brilliant fusion of quest fantasy and technological SF, is sure to please Williams's many fans. Otherland, a complete universe co-existent with the real world, incorporates elements of the Arabian Nights, the Alice and Oz books, the Neanderthal Age, the Trojan War, rewritten Roman history (Hannibal returns three centuries after his death to crush Rome, without elephants), as well as numerous nursery rhymes and fables. An enormous cast of courageous humans confronts monstrous insects, unimaginable dangers and all the appurtenances of fantastic adventure. At nearly 700 pages this is a mighty mouthful to swallow, but a well-crafted if convoluted plot sustains interest through the lengthy climax, which explains the inexplicable. Those scenes grounded in a recognizable world are the most compelling. Individuals may live in both worlds, despite Otherland being only made of "light and numbers." Characters dead in real life can still be alive in the virtual world, as in the poignant plight of a young woman, whose dress and manners are 18th century, who's in love with a young man snatched, apparently, from the trenches of WWI. Are they real or "sims" (simulations)? Generously, the author supplies two master villains: one for whom we may begrudge some respect; for the other, no mercy. The Otherland books are a major accomplishment. Agent, Matt Bialer. (Apr. 10)Forecast: Williams should enjoy another run up the genre bestseller lists with this strong concluding volume.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 922 pages
• Publisher: DAW Hardcover; First Edition edition (April 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0886779774
• ISBN-13: 978-0886779771
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #599,926 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 4 in The Otherland Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What an ending!, April 17, 2001

By	J. N. Mohlman (Barrington, RI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A lot of times, you'll come to the end of a series, and you'll be let down. It's almost inevitable; series like Williams' "Otherland", are so detailed, and involve so many characters, any satisfying resolution seems to exceed the author's grasp. Not so in this case.

"Sea of Silver Light", wraps everything up nicely, but not hurriedly, and not without enough twists to keep you guessing right up until the end. In my case, a few of my pet hunches panned out, but many others were way off the mark, and in most instances, I didn't even hazard a guess. That's the beauty of this series, since Williams' operates outside of the world as we know it, the only constraint is his imagination, which is top notch. I would go on, but the risk of spoliers is just to great.

Furthermore, his writing has just gotten better and better as the series has progressed. His character development is light-years beyond where it was at the beginning of the series, let alone his earlier works; and it was pretty good then.

For those of you who have stumbled across this book, find "Otherland: City of Golden Shadow" and order it now! The whole series is predicated on a virtual reality network so realistic that it is seemless with the real world, to the point where if you die on the network, you die in real life. As you might guess, this network contains a near infinite number of "worlds", each populated by a host of bizarre, fun, frightening characters. Furthermore, William's pays tribute to many of his own literary influences by borrowing from Tolkien, Wells and Burroughs, to name a few.

At the same time, he carries on a subtle debate about what "life" really is. Not only is this a well written, original adventure, but it's also a serious consideration of where technology is taking us as a species.

Jake Mohlman

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars *Whew!*, July 9, 2001

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

My, my...after 2100+ pages of virtual madness, we come at last to the final volume of Tad William's 'Otherland' epic. And, true to form, William has made the climatic/concluding volume a massive 900 page monster explicitly designed to devour time and oh yes lest I forget answer those hundred or so plot-threads and plot-questions introduced in the first three volumes.

Sigh.

To be perfectly honest, I enjoyed this book, frustrating experience though it was. Tad has a penchant for overstatement and he never met a simile he didn't love (or try to wriggle in an otherwise clean and stylish sentence), but he _is_ a talented author with an extremely fertile imagination. Some would say that is the best part about him, others claim it the worst. I straddle the fence on this one. One thing that cannot be disputed: as proven in his past series 'Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn,' Tad knows how to write a dramatic climax. _Sea of Silver Light_ cements this reputation--the last 400 pages are a marvel, and I read them all in two sittings, unable to put the text down.

There are some problems, however:

Character development. Expecting insight into the "lesser" POV's like Florimel and T4b? Sorry. These (and others) remain cardboard cutouts, used primarily for info-dump and emotional melodrama.

The first half of the book drags along rather slowly--you can *feel* the climax starting to coalese, but it takes 500 pages to initiate it! And like _MoBG_, parts of this book feel padded, with Williams creating situations simply to keep some of his characters busy while he struggles to bring it all together (Dodge City in particular evoked "been there, done that" feelings).

With it all said and done, I find myself with those who state that Tad should have condensed Otherland into three volumes. Perhaps not as much money for the author in the long run, but a strong editing rinse would certainly have made this more palatable and enjoyable. But hey, at least he didn't pull a 'Robert Jordan' (*knock on wood*)!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally Satisfying Conclusion To A Fantastic Epic . . ., April 28, 2001

By	michael b sachs "[e-mail]" (chicago, il United States) - See all my reviews

I had a terrific time reading SOSL, the last book in Tad Williams' "Otherland" fantasy epic! The last 100 pages of the third book -- Mountain of Black Glass -- were gripping and powerful, and I spent the last eighteen months waiting anxiously for the arrival of this book. When I started reading three weeks ago, I had my doubts on whether Williams could really come through with a conclusion that this series deserved, but he completely delivered on all levels.

The most telling sign of how much I liked this final book was the number of chapters in the last 250 pages for which I found myself stunned and surprised by new developments or sudden revelations. I also found myself smiling at the end of the 922-page epic, knowing that I'd read something that I would remember for a long time and recommend strongly to friends and family.

I agree with most of the other reviewers -- I was a little sad that I had finally reached the end because I wanted to know more about these characters and what will happen to them next. I also look forward to waiting a few years and then rereading this series from start to finish again. Those are the marks of a great writer and a great series.

I'll stop right here because I don't want to accidentally spoil anything. Just get yourself a copy of "City of Golden Shadow," the first book in the series, and belt yourself in for a long, great ride. You'll love it!