Otherland Vol. 3 - Mountain of Black Glass

Tad Williams

Average Rating 6/10 (1 Review)

Otherland is a realm of the imagination where anything can happen, a triumph of technology, a virtual world of enormous complexity and possibility. But Otherland is owned and controlled by a secret cartel,The Grail Brotherhood. And the sinister Brotherhood's motives in funding and developing this electronic wonderland are not at all straightforward.

Trapped in frighteningly real and dangerous scenarios, a small group of people is struggling to survive and to uncover the true nature of the conspiracy. Their quest running perilously short of time, they will have to suffer the ferocity of the siege of Troy and battle against the might of the Egyptian gods - and find their way to the Mountain of Black Glass. But even there, the danger will not be over...

In the Otherland series, Tad Williams' extraordinary imagination and storytelling skills have combined to create a rich, powerful and utterly compelling tale. It is one of the most remarkable works in the history of genre fiction.

Review by Chrissi (310701) Rating (6/10)

Review by Chrissi
Rating 6/10
When I received this book I thought that it was the last part of the series, until it dawned on me that it was not, and I was really quite disappointed.

The story of Renie, !Xabbu and their friends trapped within the Otherland network continues, they still stumble from disaster to peril without any control. All of the other characters seem to remain on the same treadmill. The climax to the volume is when they reach the Mountain of Black Glass in the title. You think that because they are all getting to the same destination, that this will allow them to pool their resources and fight against the Grail Brotherhood. But the climax is when Jongleur's hired assassin, Dread subjugates the operating system, the Other using his special ability, his "twist" and takes over, effectively shutting out the control of the system from the original masters. This cannot be good for our heroes, and leads to some very strange alliances.

I have to say that I got quite annoyed with Mr Williams, he just keeps his characters going from one situation to another, most of them lead them no further forwards towards any form of enlightenment. I felt the same way, totally powerless, with a growing sense of disillusionment.

This was compounded by the death of Orlando which seemed rather unfair, although we knew he was ill, it still seemed rather pointless but he still remains a main character through Fredricks.

I think that it is probably very telling that it took me quite a while to finish this book, because I could not muster the enthusiasm to really get into it, then to realise that the saga would not finish... well, you can imagine.
Chrissi (31st July 2001)