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the_pale_woman's review
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
4.0
If I were to rate this book separately from its companions, I'd say it might be about a 3. However, when reflecting on this series as a whole, I see that it is more than the sum of its parts. No one book is carrying the weight of this story. Yes, you get all the answers by the end. But those satisfying answers are not where the true magic of this story lives.
I'm generally not one to quote, but I think this one bit really brings the whole idea into focus.
"After all, is it not the way we humans shape the universe, shape time itself? Do we not take the raw stuff of chaos and impose a beginning, middle, and end on it, like the simplest and most profound of folktales, to reflect the shapes of our own tiny lives? And if the physicists are right, that the physical world changes as it is observed, and we are its only known observers, then might we not be bending the entire chaotic universe, the eternal, ever-active Now, to fit that familiar form?
"If so, the universe, from the finest quantum dust to the widest vacuum spaces, does indeed have a shape. It begins 'Once upon a time.'
"And if it is true, then only we humans, poor, naked semi-apes crouching in the thin light of our single star, marooned on the rim of a minor galaxy, can determine whether there will be a 'Happily ever after.'"
The forces that shape the story of Otherland are multidimensional. Then add in the concept that by observing it, you shape it. I don't just mean you as the reader but the characters as well. It almost makes me want to read it again. To see what I wasn't seeing when I was just experiencing it. I like to think it might be some quasi meta masterpiece. But the sad fact is that it was slow. Added depth might not compensate.
While in the end I found a lot of food for thought here, I'm not fully confident you will too. I might recommend this series, but I don't think you would thank me for it. This is basically a 4000-page book. There is no, read one book now and pick up the next later. I think your only chance of enjoying it is plowing through. It's a little slow at times and mysterious to frustration. But there are bits of gold too. Plus, some sci-fi predictions that might be a little too close for comfort.
subgirl's review against another edition
1.0
I really really really really hated these. It was so overwrought and idiotic and ugh. But I have a thing where if I start a series, I finish it, but this was pure agony. I nearly didn't but was sort of interested in how bad it could get. It got REALLY BAD.
erikars's review
This is the last book in the Otherland series. Because everything has to be wrapped up, this books moves along more quickly than the first three books. In this book we see that the diverse threads wound throughout the rest of the books do all come together for a satisfying ending. Williams did an admirable job of building a well thought out, complex, and interesting story. That said, I still think it was too long. I am glad I read it, and I did enjoy it, but I will not likely be reading the series again in the foreseeable future.
yak_attak's review against another edition
2.5
Tad opened us off with a shaky but incredibly promising start, with City of Golden Shadow - a strange, slow, but captivating story that flickered between sci-fi, fantasy, and a present day mystery. Multiple PoVs, intermixed and developing into a... somewhat unsatisfying conclusion, but one that promised more to come. Then the second book just hung there. Then the third book just hung there some more... until the end, where it mixes things up. Finally - finally I thought, this time I'm going to kick that football...
As much as I've struggled to get to this book, I've still believed the entire time that Tad could pull it off, bring it all together and keep things satisfactory. But it just doesn't happen. The changes wrought in the finale of book 3 are to very little end, and instead of reckoning with having the narrative be different, our characters are again split up for no reason, and we go through a similar series of adventures through an intricate (and very inventive) world. There's a lot of awesome, bizarre, confusing and magical imagery here, but that's about all there is to sell it - at the end of the road, it's the same as books 2 and 3.
So why does this rate even less than those? Well, it's just a damn stab in the back when the entire last quarter of the book is a single character expositing at length, going on and on all about the questions you had the entire series, which were all magically kept from you, none of it revealed naturally, none of it scattered throughout. There's absolutely enough here for a gradual, slow build - a big reveal at the end of every book. No, Tad saves everything for the very, very, very end of all 4000 pages. And it's just... boring at that point. Tick all the boxes, reveal all the clues. With the rapid fire ending, you don't get time to sit with one before the next one happens, so it becomes "Hey, X happened! Oh, I like that," "Oh, but Y is involved then... that sucks. What's next."
I dunno. Tad has such a marvelous idea and world and characters, and it just doesn't work in practice. Maybe a 2-book cut of Otherland would really work for me. Maybe it just needs to go back to the beginning. I love what he tried here, but it's going to be one of the more disappointing series I've ever read, unfortunately.... yet still maybe worth a try? I wouldn't turn anyone away, at least. Give the first book a shot, and if you're not convinced, then don't continue, because that's what you're getting. Over and over again.
As much as I've struggled to get to this book, I've still believed the entire time that Tad could pull it off, bring it all together and keep things satisfactory. But it just doesn't happen. The changes wrought in the finale of book 3 are to very little end, and instead of reckoning with having the narrative be different, our characters are again split up for no reason, and we go through a similar series of adventures through an intricate (and very inventive) world. There's a lot of awesome, bizarre, confusing and magical imagery here, but that's about all there is to sell it - at the end of the road, it's the same as books 2 and 3.
So why does this rate even less than those? Well, it's just a damn stab in the back when the entire last quarter of the book is a single character expositing at length, going on and on all about the questions you had the entire series, which were all magically kept from you, none of it revealed naturally, none of it scattered throughout. There's absolutely enough here for a gradual, slow build - a big reveal at the end of every book. No, Tad saves everything for the very, very, very end of all 4000 pages. And it's just... boring at that point. Tick all the boxes, reveal all the clues. With the rapid fire ending, you don't get time to sit with one before the next one happens, so it becomes "Hey, X happened! Oh, I like that," "Oh, but Y is involved then... that sucks. What's next."
I dunno. Tad has such a marvelous idea and world and characters, and it just doesn't work in practice. Maybe a 2-book cut of Otherland would really work for me. Maybe it just needs to go back to the beginning. I love what he tried here, but it's going to be one of the more disappointing series I've ever read, unfortunately.... yet still maybe worth a try? I wouldn't turn anyone away, at least. Give the first book a shot, and if you're not convinced, then don't continue, because that's what you're getting. Over and over again.
ainsleym's review
4.0
Great ending. Definitely a series worth reading. Books two and three can be skimmed without consequence. One and four are fantastic. Personally I found some of the fantastical elements (Dread’s twist and the Other’s telepathy ) to be too far out for the otherwise pretty solidly sci-fi world. Overall found this concluding volume to be emotionally satisfying as well as tying up all of the storylines and character arcs.
chocolatereader's review against another edition
4.0
It took a long while to get there but it was a great ending to the series. I’m glad I didn’t give up on the series.
belgatherial's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Creative, imaginative, surprising, spectacular, epic, brilliant.
Seriously. Read these books.
Seriously. Read these books.
jimmypat's review
2.0
Otherland: bloated, over-written, meandering, characters that I grew to dislike greatly (looking at you Renie).