The Otherland Series

[kasuta]

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum and love what I've seen so far.

I was just wondering what people think of Tad Williams's Otherland series. I read this series a year or so ago and remember at the time I liked it. However when I go back and think about it now, there were some really memorable, really cool things that have stuck with me. I do remember getting bogged down, I think it was the end of the third/beginning of the fourth book, but when I can look back and remember something so vividly and enjoyably, I know it must have been good.

I remember reading mixed reviews on the series, just wondering if I could spark some discussion.

 

[Litany]

Otherland is one of those books that I just don't get. It was so very long and so very dull. If all four books were whittled down into one book of about 600 pages in length then maybe I'd like it. But all the constant rambling and digressions really annoyed me.


'I have something really important to tell you that's crucial to our survival. It's absolutely vital you hear it as soon as possible. Listen to every thing I say, our lives may depend on it...But first let me just tell you this really dull story about baboons that really has nothing to do with our current situation.'

'Well ok, but while you're telling me I'll be constantly interrupting you so as to make your story go far more slowly than necessary and then I'll probably have to take at least another page or so out of the book so I can make an in depth analysis of the subtle nuances of your eyebrows.'

'Hmm, maybe this is the wrong time to say anything. Yes. I shall wait until much later in the book to tell you this vital thing. In fact when I do get round to telling you it will probably turn out to be either too late, or not really that important at all. If it is at all important, then I'll most likely be dead before I get to tell you. But don't worry, I shall leave you a ridiculously cryptic clue that once deciphered won't tell you anything at all, but you'll finally figure out what I meant after someone else has taken a really long time to tell you it themselves. Yes. That is what I'll do.'


I know there are an awful lot of people that like these books, but I can't help but feel that they're in dire need of some brutal editing. One of the most painful and annoying books I have ever read.

 

[M&O]

Otherland

I really liked these books, although I can still agree with Litany's assessment that some editing and whittling it down a bit would have made it better. I read them all back-to-back, so I remember feeling a little burnt-out on them, but I didn't want to wait too long in between because I was afraid I'd forget some point in the complex plot.

I think it may have been easy, as an author, to get caught up in creating different worlds. A little too easy, perhaps? However, I still think that they are some of the better-written sci-fi/fantasy books out there.

 

[Litany]

I read them all back-to-back, so I remember feeling a little burnt-out on them, but I didn't want to wait too long in between because I was afraid I'd forget some point in the complex plot.

Jinkies! That must have taken you years.

 

[kasuta]

Hah! Yes Litany, they did have that sort of keep-you-waiting-for-no-reason feel to them. They definitely could have been compressed down without losing anything. In fact a friend who was reading them right after me, got bogged down and was going to stop reading them--I told him to skip ahead and he wouldn't really miss anything, he ended up skipping a fair portion of the third book. I do remember at the time feeling like it was too drawn out and long-winded. However, looking back on them, they definitely left a lasting impression and I have many memorable scenes from the books. I think as time goes by, my brain automatically filters out the junk and I really only remember the interesting core of the story.

 

[rune]

I found the first book in this series OK, a bit complex and difficult to keep track of each characters storyline. But generally quite interesting. When I started the 2nd book I found I couldnt cope anymore with the complex plot and stopped reading.

 

[Sentinel]

I heard it hailed somewhere as the "Lord of the Rings of Science Fiction" and decided to gibe it a go. Read book one and got hooked once I got over the initial puzzlement of the opening. I read all four volumes as close to back-2-back as possible, considering I started when Vol 4 just got released as Hardcover and I wanted it in Paperback...

I really enjoyed the story, I didn't mind most of the digressions (while I still maintain that the opening is NOT made to capture unsuspecting readers) that much and I have now replaced my original paperbacks with UK first edition Hardcovers .1 for the Display-Value in my Shelf (a value I myself like, it's not about showing off) and 2 for the sheer ingenuity of the multi tiered story that makes a re-read inevitable.

Great fiction!
Can't wait for the release of Shadowmarch...