Otherland

Brian G Turner

Brian G Turner

Fantasist & Futurist
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Everytime I think about the time I spent reading all 4 volumes of Tad William's "Otherland" series, all I can think is:

"Give me back my life!"

I seriously feel the story was an over-bloated waste of my time.

Sure, it's very well written, and very imaginative - but somehow the entire story as I remember it is essentially irrelevant - no one really achieves anything, what does happen is ad hoc, and characters you were introduced to as important from the beginning fail to really be.

I always remember this series as 6000+ pages of the following:

"They went somewhere different, everyone was tired, and some of them cried".

Give me back my life, Tad Williams!!

:)
 
Make a good thread that, Brian - sum up an entire book or series in 25 words or less, without giving away any crucial plotlines!:)
 
I said:
Everytime I think about the time I spend reading all 4 volumes of Tad William's "Otherland" series, all I can think is:

"Give me back my life!"

I seriously feel the story was an over-bloated waste of my time.

Sure, it's very well written, and very imaginative - but somehow the entire story as I remember it is essentially irrelevant - no one really achieves anything, what does happen is ad hoc, and characters you were introduced to as important from the beginning fail to really be.

I always remember this series as 6000+ pages of the following:

"They went somewhere different, everyone was tired, and some of them cried".

Give me back my life, Tad Williams!!

:)
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I don't understand how you managed to read all 4 volumes and only then come to this conclusion. It seems to me if you feel this way about this story now, then you should have been able to see that after, at the most, the 2nd book, yes?
 
Rahl Windsong said:
I don't understand how you managed to read all 4 volumes and only then come to this conclusion. It seems to me if you feel this way about this story now, then you should have been able to see that after, at the most, the 2nd book, yes?
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It was generally well-written, so the presumption was that at least the ending would at least have some degree of competence. :)
 
Well I have only read the first book in the Otherland series and I thought it was ok, however I will say for the record that I like Tad's fantasy efforts much better then this sci-fi story. The thing that intrigues me about this story is the fact that we see online games so popular today, is this the beginning of something like Otherland in mankinds future? Stories are the things that inspire inventors and possibly a story like Otherland could be the catalyst to see it happen for real.
 
I bought the 1st book because the theme was interesting.

But at the end I decided to give: I don't like the style nor the story. Maybe because it was not translated well from english to french - cause yes I'm french.

For example in the story I don't understand the link between the soldier at the beginning of the book and the rest of the story: can someone tell me so that I won't die totally idiot !
 
Captain, interesting how you put that. I'm 30 and from the midwest of the US. I think that does matter. I thought the fantasy books were far below Otherland.
 
CaptainFlam said:
For example in the story I don't understand the link between the soldier at the beginning of the book and the rest of the story: can someone tell me so that I won't die totally idiot !
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Well, he has a role in the story in that we follow him around, and gets involved in events.

However, if he were cut out entirely, it would take nothing from the story. :)
 
I've only read the Otherland series, and I can say that although it is long and windy (in some places) I thought that it was a good set of books. The ideas written there made sense, there was some intrigue in the form of what "the other" was and also how everything related. It left a really decent impression on me.
 
I admit that it was long in a few places and sometimes I found myself getting irritated with Williams and his overly detailed descriptions. However, my overall opinion of this series is pretty high. I really enjoyed the characters, especially Orlando, and I loved the mystery behind the "other" and a few other details.
 
Im in the middle of reading the series and I think it's quite good but then I did think Jordan's tWoT was good until I read all the criticisms of it on this website which pointed out all its flaws
 
I honestly don't know what everyone is talking about. I thought Otherland was on of the more unique SF stories I have read and I have read a lot. I really liked the characters (especially !Xabbu and Orlando, I also liked the little girl, even though I can't remember her name. Christabel or something like that) and I thought the story was well written.

As to you (I, Brian) saying "Sure, it's very well written, and very imaginative - but somehow the entire story as I remember it is essentially irrelevant - no one really achieves anything" shows that you didn't really get past the details (which make a story by the way).

People seem to forget, there was no big fantasy epic to this story. The reason for the story was to find Rene's brother and to help him and all the other children to recover from their coma's caused by cold hearted rich people and their quest for immortality. You know the classic David and Goliath story, but set in the virtual reality world. This was a great story and for those who didn't make it to the last book, missed a good story. I've re-read these books every year since I first purchased them and will continue to do so. The story is that good. I also did enjoy MS&T as well.
 
I'm currently reading MS&T, but totally agree with you about OTHERLAND. It really is a uniquely imaginative and original story, expertly written and delievered in the size and scope of a fantasy epic, even though that's not what it is at all.

Your David and Goliath comparison is a good one, and I don't think the idea was lost on Williams either, especially since in the very first chapter (or couple of chapters) of the entire series, Paul Jonas finds himself in a Jack And The Beanstalk situation, which could be drawn as a metaphor for what the characters in the story are up against.

I consider OTHERLAND amond my favorite SF series, along with Dan Simmons' HYPERION CANTOS and OSC's ENDER'S GAME books.

Although now that I'm going back to read his fantasy series, I can't be sure which is better until I'm finished. But more than halfway through STONE OF FAREWELL I am totally loving it.

I can say with certainty that Tad Williams is consistently a superb writer, and a talented and gifted storyteller to the highest degree. I have nothing but high praise for the books I've read by him.
 
I loved Otherland. It's appeal for me was that it is so unique. Very rarely has an author created something which is so...ambiguous. The virtue of Otherland is not that it has some over-arcing epic story or is a journey through the soul of humanity(well it is in some ways), but that it brings to light the very thin veil between the real and the unreal. Which in our world is getting thinner and thinner all the time. I liked it. :D
 
He has stated that personally he liked Otherland the best because it represents himself in some ways. Ironic, no?

The significance of Otherland is not its face-value like so much fantasy, but the symbols and motifs within the work.
 
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