Details
Synopsis
After Renie Sulaweyo's brother lapses into a coma after visiting the internet, she learns that other children have experienced the same fate. She soon discovers that they have stumbled into a fantasy land where the wealthy and powerful act as Egyptian gods., In the alternate reality of Otherworld, our heroes continue their individual quests as they battle the Grail Brotherhood. This is the third book of a series., The second volume in the "Otherland" series. The virtual-reality world of Otherland--controlled by the shadowy cabal known as the Grail Brotherhood and comprised of some of the planet's most sinister figures--has been breached by a group of individuals seeking the truth behind the Brotherhood. Unfortunately, the group becomes separated and spread across the multiple realms encompassed by Otherland. Their only chance of escape is to follow the River of Blue Fire that links the realms, but the group soon finds that the Brotherhood has taken steps to ensure that they never leave.
| Details | | Series: | Daw Book Collectors, No. 1045 |
| Size | | Length: | 770 pages | | Height: | 9.8 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 2.5 in | | Weight: | 41.6 oz |
Industry Reviews
The first book in a planned tetralogy features Renie Sulaweyo, a black South African professor; her Bushman student; and dozens of other characters enmeshed in the intricately plotted international adventure and suspense thriller set in the near future in which the seductiveness of the net and virtual reality can be extremely dangerous. An exciting addition to the growing virtual reality literature from the author of Caliban's Hour (LJ 11/15/94). Highly recommended for sf collections.
Ives
When Renie Sulaweyo's younger brother, Stephen, returns from the Net after visiting Mister J's, a virtual reality equivalent of the Hellfire Club, she's worried about him. When his next Net trip leaves him in a coma, Renie is terrified and angry. Soon she discovers evidence that other children have lapsed into comas under similar circumstances. A professor of computer science and an adept user of the Net, Renie retraces Stephen's trail and enters Mister J's but barely escapes with her own mind intact. After her adventure, she discovers that someone has downloaded into her computer the impossibly complex image of a fantastic golden city. Then her apartment is fire-bombed, she loses her job and another professor whom she has recruited to help her decipher the mystery is murdered. It's clear that Renie has angered someone with almost unlimited power, but she remains determined to save her brother. In the first book in what is projected to be, in effect, a single, enormous four-volume novel, Williams (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn) proves himself as adept at writing science fiction as he is at writing fantasy. His 21st-century South Africa, where blacks run the government and pursue careers but where whites control most economic power, rings true. His version of the Net, although obviously indebted to Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash and other novels, is detailed and fascinating. Best of all, however, are Williams's well-drawn, sympathetic characters, including Renie and her family, her student !Xabbu, the mysterious invalid Mister Sellars and a host of other folk, all of whom hope to solve the mystery of the terrifying VR environment called Otherland. (Nov.)
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