Otherland

Sea of Silver Light paperback cover.

Otherland is a four-book science fiction epic by Tad Williams. The story is set in the not too distant future in which many technologies have developed, like the ability for people to attach themselves fully to a computer via a nerve interface in order to experience an online world as being practically real. Tad Williams weaves an intricate plot spanning four thick volumes, that paints a realistic picture of what our society may look like in the near future, with technologies that are only emerging now fully integrated into everyday life. His proposed ability to immerse oneself fully in a simulation gives Tad Williams a lot of artistic freedom, and the story winds through many classical literary works, such as Through the Looking Glass, The Odyssey or The Wizard of Oz, which are in the book available as entertainment simulations.

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 book starts with the little brother of one of the main characters suddenly falling into a mysterious coma. His older sister Renie investigates what happened and starts discovering some strange goings on in the Internet, where she discovers the world of Otherland. Once inside she meets several other people all gathered together by a man named Sellars. After a while they discover that they are no longer able to disconnect themselves from this world and they are stuck.

Short Stories

• The Happiest Dead Boy in the World (published in Legends II by 'Del Rey', Hardcover 2003)

Major Characters

• Renie Sulaweyo - a college teacher in Africa whose brother falls into a coma, sending her on a desperate search for answers.
• !Xabbu - a 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.
• John "Dread" Wulgaru - a 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.
• Sam(Salome) 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 woman who holds a special connection with the Other.
• Olga Pirofsky - An actor on the interactive net-show Uncle Jingle.
• Dulcinea Anwin- an associate of Dread's, drawn into the conspiracy.
• Calliope Skouros- a lesbian detective tracking a murder commited 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 uncapable of managing his life.

See also

• Virtual reality
• Mind transfer
• transhumanism