[.ca] Otherland 03 Mountain Of Black Glass (ISBN 0886779065)

From Amazon.com:
Otherland, the quartet of which Mountain of Black Glass is the powerful third part, combines some terrifying speculation on the future of virtual reality with adventures no less terrifying because they are technologized dreaming. These are dreams the adventurers cannot awaken from and in which, if they die, they are really dead. An epidemic of comatose children has led Renie and her San friend !Xabbu into the net and to a series of dream worlds created as palaces by the corrupt aspiring immortals, the Grail Brotherhood. Two of those children, Orlando and Fredericks, have become adventurers in their own right, while their parents' lawyer Ramsey follows real-world money and lesbian cop Calliope tracks a serial killer with serious ambitions to become an angry god. In this volume, adventures take place in a mythic ancient Egypt and a rambling Gormenghastlike house before all the virtual adventurers meet where they were always destined to, before the walls of Troy. "All around, death. It was not a quiet presence during the long day--not a pale-faced maiden bringing surcease from pain, not a skillful reaper with a scalpel-sharp blade.... Death on the Trojan plain was a crazed beast that roared and clawed and smashed, which was everywhere at once, and which in its unending fury showed that even armored men were terribly frail things." Tad Williams takes the gameworld and turns it on its head, passionately; how do we know that what bleeds does not feel pain? He writes a classic of cyberspace adventure that has a sorrowful heart. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk

VR has never been so suspensfull:
This the third book in Mr Williams Otherland series is awesome!! Unlike the other two books this one moves fast and starts to answer some of the questions that where developed in the other books. We still find our heroes locked in the VR world known as otherland but, now they have a clear goal and a way that maybe they can get out of this horrible world.. Will they? You will just have to read the book to find out.. Unfortunatly though like the other two books the plots and subplots divide again and form even more unanswered questions.. That have us going WHAT NOW?? I can not wait to delve into the fourth and final book to find out what happens to our heroes and there families..

To the Mountain:
This is the slowest of the series so far, but the last section of the novel is worth getting to, and the ending is far from what I expected. I am more intrigued than ever and long to finish the fourth and final volume so that I can discover the answers to all of the mysteries that the author has created. I especially love the Wicked Tribe and the introductions to each chapter which shed light on what is happening in the future Earth culture in which the story is set. Look for a reference to the essay "A Modest Proposal" in a book full of such references. Otherland continues to hypnotize me.

Slow, Slower, Slowest:
I started reading this series a couple of years ago. The first book, and to a lesser extent, the second, held me entranced. The lovely worlds that Tad Williams created were so interesting in the freshness and creativity. However, in this third volume, the mammoth series begins to sag under its own weight. I put the book down. I just didn't have the energy needed to keep going with it. Now, about a year later, I have picked it up again and carried on. It is a slow read.

Scanny!:
As the third book in a series, Mountain of Black Glass serves its purpose. The plot moves forward much more quickly than the previous two novels, which were excellent! After finishing book two, River of Blue Fire, I had to run out to get book 3. As a series, the Otherland books are outstanding. However, I chose to give Book 3 four stars instead of five because it took me quite a bit longer to get through than books 1 & 2, but I enjoyed every minute of it. If you're up to the challenge of reading a 4,000 page series, Otherland is the one to read. The series has its highs and lows, some parts are more exciting and interesting than others, and Mountain of Black Glass was one of the lower points for me. I was disappointed that the characters seemed to stay in one simulation for most of the book. I had really enjoyed journeying from simulation to simulation in book 2, but book 3 did get more into what was really going on and answered some of the questions brought up in books 1 & 2. The last part of Mountain of Black Glass really had me going, so much so that I couldn't put it down, and when I finished the last page, (again, not what I intended to do because I thought I'd take a break from the series to read other books) I ran out and bought Sea of Silver Light - book 4. If you've already started the Otherland series, don't stop. By the time you finish the fourth book, you will be rewarded. It is definitely worth your time.

Better and better...:
Each book is better than the last. The more I read, the more I cared about every character. Everytime I thought Williams had exhausted the potential to blow my mind with his 'virtual' universe, he smacks me down again. Couldn't wait to turn the next page. Never a dull moment. So many places, so many great characters, so much plot. Can't believe the amount of enjoyment I got for the price (I bought all the hardcovers). I feel like I ripped Tad off. Sometimes someone writes something so good you're just left feeling grateful and fortunate...