Otherland
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Otherland is a four-volume science fiction epic by Tad Williams. The story is set in the mid-to-late 21st century (Some hints to a character's age shows that the story takes place in the 2070's) where technology has advanced somewhat from the modern day. The most notable advancement has been the development of the ability for people to attach themselves fully to a computer via a nerve interface in order to experience an online world, called simply “the net”, as virtually real. Tad Williams weaves an intricate plot spanning four thick volumes and creates a picture of a future society where virtual worlds are fully integrated into everyday life.
His proposed ability to immerse oneself fully in a simulation gives him a great deal of artistic freedom, and the story winds through alternate interpretations of many classical literary works such as Through the Looking Glass, The Odyssey and The Wizard of Oz, which are in the book available as entertainment simulations.
Contents |
[edit] Books
- Book 1 - City of Golden Shadow (Hardcover 1996, Paperback 1998)
- Book 2 - River of Blue Fire (Hardcover 1998, Paperback 1999)
- Book 3 - Mountain of Black Glass (Hardcover 1999, Paperback 2000)
- Book 4 - Sea of Silver Light (Hardcover 2001, Paperback 2002)
The story begins when young Stephen Sulaweyo, a boy living in the South African city of Durban falls into a coma while on the net. His older sister Irene (nicknamed Renie) investigates what has happened and starts discovering strange goings-on in the net, among them the constant reappearance of a mysterious golden city. With the help of her bushman technology student !Xabbu, Martine Desroubins, a French woman she meets over the net at the advice of her mentor, Dr. Susan van Bleeck, and the last surviving technician who created Otherland, Singh, she breaks into the Otherland network to reach the city. Once inside, she meets several other people all gathered together by a man named Sellars, who says he has called them together, but before he can tell the group everything he means to say, the golden city is attacked and all of the characters are forced to flee into the network—and discover that they can no longer unplug themselves to exit the net.
[edit] Short stories
- The Happiest Dead Boy in the World (published in Legends II by 'Del Rey', Hardcover 2003)
[edit] Major characters
- Irene (Renie) Sulaweyo - a college teacher in South Africa whose brother falls into a coma, sending her on a desperate search for answers.
- !Xabbu - a Kalahari bushman, and a friend of Renie.
- Mr. Sellars - a mysterious man with many secrets who aides the adventurers in Otherland.
- Paul Jonas - a man trapped in Otherland as an experiment by The Grail Brotherhood, and former private tutor to Avialle.
- Johnny "Dread" Wulgaru - an Australian psychopath employed as an assassin by the Grail Brotherhood.
- The Other - the strange being that is the secret and backbone of Otherland.
- Orlando Gardiner - a young boy suffering from progeria who is drawn to Otherland while playing a virtual Reality RPG called Middle Country, in which he is the Barbarian hero Thargor.
- Félix Jongleur (Osiris)- the wealthy head of the Grail Brotherhood, a powerful organization that employs assassins in order to guard its secrecy. The goal of the Grail Brotherhood is to gain eternal life in the virtual Otherland paradise.
- Salome (Sam) Fredericks - Orlando's best friend met over the Net. She gets a kick out of pretending to be a guy on the Net. She is also Orlando's partner in the Middle Country World were she goes under the alias of Pithlit, a thief.
- Martine Desroubins - a blind French researcher who holds a special connection with the Other.
- Olga Pirofsky - An actor on the interactive net-show Uncle Jingle.
- Dulcinea (Dulcie) Anwin- an associate of Dread's, drawn into the conspiracy.
- Calliope Skouros- a lesbian detective tracking a murder committed by Dread years earlier.
- Christabel Sorenson- a little girl who is the only one who knows the secret whereabouts of Mr. Sellars.
- Long Joseph Sulaweyo - Renie's father, alcohol-addict and terribly incapable of managing his life.
- Singh - The only surviving member of the group of technicians that designed Otherland.
- Florimel, Sweet William, Quan Li and T4b – The four other people called to the golden city by Mr. Sellars unconnected to Renie and Orlando
- Avialle, the only surviving descendant of Felix Jongleur. She has grown up with barely any human contact, and has a mysterious relationship with the Other.
