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A review by mcsspitfire
City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams
3.0
I think Renie's quote from the middle of the book sums up my feelings entirely:
"...We still don't have any answers or any way to bring my brother back, and the search just seems to get more complicated and more vague. If this were a detective story, you'd have a body and some bloodstains and footprints in the garden - it's definitely a murder, and you've definitely got clues. But all we have here are things that seem a little strange, bits of information that might mean something. The more I think, the less sense it makes." She pushed at her temples with her fingers. "It's like when you say a word too many times, and suddenly it doesn't mean anything anymore. It's just...a word. That's how I'm feeling."
Reminder: That's just halfway through the book.
The first volume of the Otherland series had an incredible concept, but a slow execution. This mammoth of a novel could have done away with many unnecessary descriptions. If it had been condensed down by at least a fourth of its page count, I would have loved it. The epic physical size has a tendency to outshine what lies within. However, I would like to read the rest of the series to see what fate has in store for the protagonists. The characters were the best part and I found them far more engaging than their world(s) at several points in the story. I would rather see those two factors hand in hand though. The Matrix aside, I'd be intrigued to see a film adaptation of this. Good luck to the screenwriter though. They'll need lots of it.
"...We still don't have any answers or any way to bring my brother back, and the search just seems to get more complicated and more vague. If this were a detective story, you'd have a body and some bloodstains and footprints in the garden - it's definitely a murder, and you've definitely got clues. But all we have here are things that seem a little strange, bits of information that might mean something. The more I think, the less sense it makes." She pushed at her temples with her fingers. "It's like when you say a word too many times, and suddenly it doesn't mean anything anymore. It's just...a word. That's how I'm feeling."
Reminder: That's just halfway through the book.
The first volume of the Otherland series had an incredible concept, but a slow execution. This mammoth of a novel could have done away with many unnecessary descriptions. If it had been condensed down by at least a fourth of its page count, I would have loved it. The epic physical size has a tendency to outshine what lies within. However, I would like to read the rest of the series to see what fate has in store for the protagonists. The characters were the best part and I found them far more engaging than their world(s) at several points in the story. I would rather see those two factors hand in hand though. The Matrix aside, I'd be intrigued to see a film adaptation of this. Good luck to the screenwriter though. They'll need lots of it.