- Hardcover: 1 pages
- Publisher: Orbit (July 2 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1857235991
- ISBN-13: 978-1857235999
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.8 x 5.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 980 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (95 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,454,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Tad Williams began his Otherland series with the massive City of Golden Shadow and continues it with the equally hefty River of Blue Fire. Williams says it will require four (big) books to tell his complex, multithreaded tale, and at the rate that the plot of this second novel moves, readers will see what he means. Not that the book is a slow read; in fact, River is as much a suspenseful page-turner as the first book.
As River opens, we join up again with the ragtag bunch of searchers trapped in an astoundingly detailed and frightfully dangerous virtual world known as Otherland. Lurking in disguise among the group is the brutally vicious serial killer Dread, trying to find information that will help him overthrow his Grail Brotherhood masters. The group follows a ubiquitous river through world after world, unable to go offline, and subject to the increasingly terrifying certainty that things in this supposedly virtual place are all too real. Meanwhile, Paul Jonas, an amnesic (but somehow pivotal) character fleeing from two sinister beings, finds more and more of his memory as he does his own Huck Finn river trip. As in the first novel, each new world that the characters enter, from Paleolithic Ice Age to something suspiciously like Oz, is fully realized and completely unpredictable.
Williams is a master at parceling out information to the reader in dribs and drabs, which is frustrating yet tantalizing, like a particularly good computer game. When the group is split up and the adventure divides further, the reader senses the author as a puppet master, following some incredibly complex flows of information. The best course is just to hang on and enjoy Williams's deft characterizations, lush descriptions, and wildly divergent plot. If you've ever been white-water rafting, you'll recognize the feeling. --Therese Littleton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
In his first work of SF, Otherland: City of Golden Shadow (1997), bestselling fantasist Williams (To Green Angel Tower) introduced one of the most impressive virtual-reality landscapes ever created. Otherland, a gigantic realm consisting of untold numbers of virtual universes, is the creation of the mysterious and evil Grail Brotherhood, a cabal of billionaire capitalists, ruthless gangsters and corrupt government officials. Bent on discovering the secret of eternal life, they will stop at nothing to achieve their goal, even the deaths of hundreds of children whose minds have been trapped on the Net. City of Golden Shadow told the story of a small band of virtual explorers who dared to enter Otherland without permission, some for adventure, others to save the children ensnared on the Net. In this second volume of a projected four-book series, the quest continues. As often happens with middle entries in a series, there are a few problems. Despite a six-page summary, readers unfamiliar with City of Golden Shadow may have trouble figuring out the complex backstory. Further, with little to tie the various plot threads together at either end, the book lacks an obvious structure. Still, Williams is an exciting and endlessly inventive writer whose character development is particularly strong, and his fans should roundly enjoy this volume while looking forward to the remaining installments. Editors: Betsy Wollheim and Sheila Gilbert.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Okkk,
By
This review is from: Williams Tadotherland #2 River Of Blue Fire (Mass Market Paperback)
Hmm for some reason this book doesn't capture me as much as the first one did... maybe it drags on too much? Still good and neat ideas in it, but only halfway through it and can't seem to read more than 3 or 4 pages a night..
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just doesn't get any better...,
By Aeronomer "Aeronomer" (Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Williams Tadotherland #2 River Of Blue Fire (Mass Market Paperback)
...than this. One of the best series of books ever. Can't remember being bored for a single page in all 4 books.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but not on the level of CoGS,
By Empty (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Williams Tadotherland #2 River Of Blue Fire (Mass Market Paperback)
After blazing right through City of Golden Shadow, I immediately started on River of Blue Fire. After the cliffhanger that was CoGS ending, I went right through the first few chapters of RoBF, but unfortunately, this second volume just does not have the momentum that CoGS did. It's in this book that we actually see the nature of the Brotherhood's vast conspiracy, but since it's only in glimpses and hints this book will put you in the dark more than its predecessor.The main problem with this title is that it really tends to dwell. Once they enter "Oz" the story really slows down and the characters just kind of sit around and stew in the situation rather than trying to do something about it. Even though it's the second part of a series, I think RoBF is just as introductory as CoGS. It does have its problems but I definitely recommend it.
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