Book Review: Otherland: The City of Golden Shadows

Author Tad Williams

Genre:  Fantasy

Verdict: Very Cool!

I think it’s been forever since I started seeing Williams’ tomes eating up shelf space at the library and at book stores.  He’s not an author often mentioned in the same circles as Martin, Weeks, Lawrence, Rothfuss, Sanderson, Erikson, and Hobb.  He’s not a favorite of the in-crowd, and I’ve always wondered why? What’s different, if anything, about his work?  It isn’t that he isn’t popular. There’s another crowd that likes him or his books wouldn’t take up the precious shelf space that they do.  But why aren’t his books recommended more often than they are?  Too many self-generated questions that I needed answers to, so I dove in.

Now that I’ve finished book 1 of his first series (a tetralogy), what I still don’t know is why his books aren’t recommended more often.  But what I now know is how much I liked it.  I enjoyed it so much that, once finished, I immediately started reading book 2, something I have only done with Erikson and his Malazan, Book of the Fallen series.  The others?  As much as I enjoyed them, their sequels could wait. This might have something to do with Williams writing one huge book, and the publisher breaking it into four or five.  I don't blame the publisher, I couldn’t lift the thing if it weren’t spread across several books.

So what’s Otherland about, and why did I like it so much?  It's rich in character and world building with a great mystery that needs unraveling. Think The Matrix and Inception with a fairy tale or two, some legends, and a bit of Agatha Christie thrown in. The time is late 21st century, and real life (RL) is a mess.  Everyone, especially the young and academics, escapes to Virtual Life (VL).  VL has progressed to the point where one can live in almost any world one wants whiling away the hours in sheer merriment seeking adventure or thrills or resting and relaxaing on a beach on that most perfect Caribbean island.  Everyone is happy, except the parents who have to work in RL.  

Then, suddenly, more and more children don’t return from VL. Their bodies lie in coma, there minds somewhere else.  The somewhere else is Otherland, a separate VR created by the Grail Brotherhood, a group of very wealthy businessmen and financiers who pretty much control the world.  No one knows why the Brotherhood has created Otherland or to what end, but, since they already control the world, the reason why must be pretty important and possibly life changing.  What makes Otherland exceptional and different and separates it from regular old 21st century run of the mill VL is the quality of the VL; it can’t be distinguished from RL, and you can die there.  Oh, and the operating system may have its own ideas about how Otherland is to be used.  

The first book is mostly an introduction to the characters and story setup.  Some of the most interesting characters are

Renie— a South African with Zulu roots, and a teacher of VL at the university. Her younger brother is one of the comatose children, and she’s determined to save him. 

!Xabbu — An African Bushman who has come to university to learn VL so that he can create a Bushman VL world to preserve his dying culture -- a kind of immersive museum in motion.  He assists Renie in her quest.  !Xabbu likes to tell Renie and others the legends and myths of his people.  He may be the heart or soul of the questors.

Orlando (Thoragor, a barbarian hero not unlike Conan) — a teenage boy suffering from Progeria (early aging and death). For Orlando, life is much richer and enjoyable in VL, but he can't escape knowing he'll soon die in RL.

Sam Fredericks (Pithlit the thief) — Though they have never met, Sam is Orlando's best and only friend and Thoragor’s sidekick.  Sam's secret is she’s really a girl the same age as Orlando.

Long Joseph — Renie’s dad -- A broken man.  He's worked hard all his life for his family, but losing his wife and son has turned him to alcohol, his version of VL.  

Mr. Sellars — a very mysterious man and VL manipulator.  We don’t know his story, but he manipulates the others into fighting the Brotherhood.  He seems like a good guy willing to help his questors, but also willing, regretfully, to risk their lives to stop the Grail.  We know none of his history, but he appears to be imprisoned in his home on a military base.

Paul Jonas — His memories wiped clean or repressed, he is imprisoned in Otherland by the Brotherhood for unknown reasons.  He either knows or has something of great importance to the Brotherhood or they would kill him, as they have many others, instead of wasting precious resources imprisoning him. Sellars sets Jonas free to roam Otherland.  This causes great consternation among the Brotherhood.

Through Sellars manipulations, these characters and others join forces, and thus begins a great quest.