Written by Tad Williams Indulge in 704 pages Rated 4.0/5.0, based on 104 reviews. Buy from Amazon: New price: $3.98 Used price: $0.50

Pretty bad compared to the others
Rating: 4/5
As a person who is in the middle of reading book three I can say that this is the weakest of them. This may sound strange, but I really recommend to only skim over any chapter that involves Orlando and Fredricks on the river with the Chief (trying to keep it vague to prevent spoilers). It's 4 or 5 chapters worth of absolutely boring content. I can't really even remember what it was about. All of it but the last chapter of the story line you should skip because it's a lot like Huckleberry Finn, but they never leave the boat and nothing interesting happens.

I almost lost hope and almost never went onto number three. I'd give the other books 5/5. This one really gets a three and a half, but there's no option.

Possibly the most interesting of the Otherland Books
Rating: 4/5
In this book we finally get to see the Otherland network in some significant detail. I felt like many of the characters and themes were developed interestingly, and the worlds within the network at compelling. At the same time, it was a little frustrating because by the end of this volume I still had very little idea of what exactly was going on. Williams was very stingy with clues in this book, so while the story progresses, don't expect to have any better understanding of what's going on behind the scenes. You can only guess (and probably incorrectly) at the connections between the various themes and characters. Nevertheless, some of the best adventures and most interesting worlds (Bug World, Oz, the Kitchen, Abydos, London, Xanadu, Aerodromia, Venice...) appear hear.

Otherland....Greatest Sci-Fi Series of All Time!
Rating: 5/5
I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed reading the Otherland series. In my opinion, it is the greatest epic novel ever written, even better than Lord of the Rings. I particularly liked that it was a book that was relevant to our times; I think a lot of what Tad Williams wrote may come true in the not to distant future. I simply could not put it down. Although some have complained here that he bounced around too much from story line to story line or that he could have wrapped it up in just one or two novels, I think those readers are just lazy or are part of the "I want it now" generation. I really could have cared less if he ever ended the series; I enjoyed it that much.

I have been a fan of Stephen King, Tolkien, and Asimov, and have read almost all the books they wrote. However, Tolkien and Asimov are dead and King seems to have got tired of writing the kinds of books we all loved. Anyway, I was looking for someone to fill the void and ran across the Otherland series. Thanks to Tad Williams for filling the void!

Enjoy the variety of many different VR simulations in an exciting tale!
Rating: 5/5
In this second installment in the Otherland series (which is meant to read as one LONG single novel) the plot is uncovered to some degree through the travels of the characters through the Otherland Network, which they are starting to understand in bits and pieces. While some people seem to be bored by the characters adventures through numerous and wildly varying simulations and seem to just want resolution to the story, I enjoy all the different lands and experiences the travelers go through and believe that Williams is the kind of writer that does not include a lot of frivolous things in his stories. Even parts of the story such as the giant kitchen land with humanesque utensils and foods helps to shed some light on the workings of the network as well as lead up to important steps toward resolution (remember the freezer).

Basically, you've got to read these books for the right reasons. They were authored and sold as works to shine a light on what might be possible in the not too distant future with virtual reality becoming more and more a part of our lives. These books are so popular because people are intrigued by the possiblities of VR and so it is not surprising that Williams includes a lot of different circumstances for the reader to appreciate what would be possible in a future such as this. Dont complain that you have to read through another chapter in another simulation, enjoy it!!

Highly recommended.