Download Your Copy River Of Blue Fire (Otherland, #2) Created By Tad Williams Formatted As EPub
the second book of the series Tad Williams continues to impress as he has added more characters than the previous book, more worlds and much more incredible ideas combining them all into a complex, and weirder, story where only himself could have made.
The story continues right where the previous one left of with Williams expanding his worldbuilding, making it even greater than what he showed in the first book, and with the protagonists going through incredible, and unbelievable, adventures while in the meantime some revelations start coming about the plans of their enemies and what theyre, ultimately, after.
Of course the book
has also some problems, though small, as I felt that the story drags a bit more than it needed mostly in the middle of the book, but as it goes on it becomes more and more better and with the ending having a really good cliffhanger while Williams leaves a lot of promises for the next books.
Overall I can say that, besides its few flaws, Im quite pleased of how this book turned out in the end, as also with Williams' writing that Im starting to believe that he actually fits better with SciFi stories.
Otherland. In many ways it is humankind's most stunning achievement: a private, multidimensional universe built over two generations by the greatest minds of the twentyfirst century.
But this most exclusive of places is also one of the world's best kept secrets, created and controlled by an organization made up of the world's most powerful and ruthless individuals, a private cartel knownto those who know of their existence at allas The Grail Brotherhood.
Though their purpose in creating Otherland is still a mystery, it may not remain so for long, For they have exacted a terrible price from humanity in the process, and even their highly organized global conspiracy cannot hide the nature of their crimes forever.
And now a small band of adventurers has penetrated the veil of secrecy that prevents the uninitiated from entering Otherland, But having broken into the amazing worlds within worlds that make up this universe, they are trapped, unable to escape back to their own fleshandblood bodies in the real world.
And as dangers and circumstances split their party into small, widely scattered groups, their only hope of reuniting lies in returning again and again to the River that flowsin one form or anotherthrough all the worlds.
But the odds seem to be completely against them as theyand the one outsider with whom they might join forcesbecome hopelessly lost in realms where an Ice Age tribe's fears can only be quenched in blood.
. . where insects are as large and deadly as dinosaurs, . . where they are caught in the war between a man made of straw and one made of tin, . . where cartoon ads take on a life of their own, . . where humans strive to survive in the aftermath of an alien invasion, . . and where one among their party is actually The Grail Brotherhood's most terrifying weapona sociopathic killer who has never failed and whose current mission is to make certain that not even one member of this little invasion force lives long enough to reveal the truth about Otherland to the people of Earth.
. . This is a great series and the second book does not disappoint, I can't recommend this series highly enough, Sort of a love/hate relationship with this one to be totally honest, It's longer than it has any right to be, really and a lot of the plot is wandering around different VR worlds and somehow escaping at the last minute.
However, it's Tad Williams and there's beautiful writing and he's very good at what he does, even though sometimes he needs to move on to the next thing.
There's also really cool ideas being explored and still very ambitious, Feels a bit like a middle book because it definitely is, although there's some cool revelations and character moments, but the tension isn't kept up throughout the book, the stakes are high but the characters sort of go on an adventure and usually totally fine by the end of that "episode".
Hoping that the next book is an improvement, I thought the first book was better balanced, still interested to see how things develop in later books.
There's really cool and interesting scifi concepts being explored and interesting mysteries yet to unfold, Filler.
The first novel was long, but it was unraveling a mystery, This is just the main characters being herded through sim after sim, with a few character in the real world having enough screen time to be reminded that they exist.
It gets old, because it's not necessary to the plot,
. A character Paul Jonas or team of them Rennie, !Xabbu land in a sim word reminding us of something, sometimes blatantly,
. They get captured or chased,
. They leave to the next,
This is the bulk of the book, What's left is:
, Plot events that don't have any real resolution,
. Introducing even more characters, like a police detective hunting Dread, or a virtual actor,
. A very tiny amount of plot events that set up real difficulties,
The problem with this is that there are three more books in the series, If this were setting up the last volume, it could be forgiven, But this is just a middle, filler novel, and is souring me on the series, It's still very well written, to the point where each sim could be its own novel, There are times when some great moments peek through, !Xabbu as always is a wonderful character, and each character is different enough not to blur together,
Still, the sheer amount of running in place is frustrating, and the fact that this wont be neatly tied up in a third volume reduces the rating I give.
These are not slender books at all, sitelink wordpress. com/ Tad Williams has a great imagination
You have a bizarro version of the Lion, tin man and scarecow , we have layers and layers of twisted programming , men to baboon Girl to Boy, environment with transition to nightmare!!! Lions and tigers and bears , oh my
Take what you know in your life turn it upside down and then invert it !!!
Heres a example:
None were complete in themselves, but although they were partial and ephemeral, they were also as individual as snowflakes.
They seem far more than just a trick of programming each phantom, its moments of Quintessence , Seemed somehow undeniable real to me, I already find it difficult to distinguish between the realism of my companions and the realism of the networks simulated people, but these phenomena were even more complex.
Its such Richness can be engendered purely by mechanical means, even buy a system as magical capable as Otherland, then I have much to consider.
Enjoyable, but takes its time, . .
The second installment of the Otherland series by Tad Williams picks up where the last leaves off, The "heroes" gathered by Mr, Sellers at the Golden City narrowly escape into another simulation, one that seems perfectly normal except that they are now/th their real size.
Gigantic insects and birds populate the world, going about their natural activities, but those are hazardous when you're the size of the next meal.
Soon, events beyond their control shatter the small company and each remnant must find its own way through the increasingly disturbing simulations.
Renie and !Xabbu find themselves in Oz gone wrong where they meet a mysterious man who can overcome the rules of the simulation and a naive young girl named Emily who needs rescuing.
Meanwhile, Orlando and Fredericks find themselves in the kitchen sink of a cartoon simulation, Soon, they are drawn into a quest to save a baby match yes, a match called Little Spark from evildoers who have kidnapped him for nefarious reasons.
The river becomes a stream of spilled water where Orlando, Fredericks and Chief Strike Anywhere's the match's father lives are threatened by ravenous salad tongs that call the river home.
Shortly after Orlando and Fredericks are swept away, the others find themselves in a world where the river takes on the form of a jet stream, where flight is as natural as walking.
Martine becomes the voice of this segment of the group, keeping a log of what's happening and to whom, The mystery of "who is Dread" takes hold as several of her log entries note anomalous behavior by various members, a mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end.
Finally, Paul Jonas continues his quest for the mysterious winged woman who haunts his dreams, Plagued by the tireless Twins, once known as Finch and Mullet, he runs from simulation to simulation, some quite horrifying, Gally, a kid who is neither puppet part of the program or citizen human guest makes another appearance but fails to recognize Paul from before.
In the "real world", the family and friends of those trapped play out their own dramas, Jeremiah is dismayed with Long Joseph abandons him to see his son who is still in the hospital, Christabel worries for her friend, Mr, Sellers, who has taken ChoCho, a scary street boy as his assistant, Catur Ramsey, a lawyer representing the Gardinar and Fredericks families, tracks down leads, including the skittish agent, Beezle Bug, who seems to want to help but cannot do so without his comatose master's permission, and one of the of a popular kids show on the net.
And in Australia, a detective takes a closed case as a personal challenge and begins to unravel a mystery that may reveal the earliest conquest of a serial killer.
A common theme throughout is the feeling of hopelessness, despair, and perhaps even boredom of both those trapped in Otherland and those in the real world.
It's difficult at times to believe that things will get better,
The River of Blue Fire is complex, vivid, and at times scary, The action is intense and hard to predict, which is something I like in a story, and the characters are welldeveloped and interesting.
On the other hand, this book reminds me of The Two Towers, by J, R. R. Tolkien, in that it's a continuation of a story in progress, sort of like a bridge, There is no true beginning or ending, though certain plot elements are resolved along the way, Like Tolkien, the story isn't rushed and in some places seems to linger just a bit too long, The length of the book and the pace may be daunting to those who are unprepared for it, If you have trouble finishing The Lord of the Rings or Battlefield Earth, you might have trouble finishing The Otherland series,
Overall, however, I really liked this story, I would recommend it to anyone who likes epic fantasy, epic sci fi, or the idea of living in a fantastic, yet unpredictable, virtual world.
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