River of Blue Fire (Otherland: 2)

by Tad Williams
(1998 | 675 p)

Otherland, a massive virtual reality network, is composed of an unknown number of worlds. It's funded by a mysterious group of the wealthy and powerful who call themselves Grail Brotherhood; and, though nothing is clear, the primary purpose of the Brotherhood seems to be the maintenance of their own long lives... even at the expense of countless other. Across the globe children are going into medically inexplicable comas, including Renie Sulaweyo's little brother Stephen. Renie suspects that Stephen's strange illness is somehow connected to Otherland. Renie and her friend, a South African bushman named !Xabbu, sneak into the Otherland network in hopes of saving Stephen. Once in they find they are not alone in their search, nor is the Otherland network all that it appears to be.

Tad Williams has created an elaborate virtual reality landscape in this, his second installment of the Otherland series. I'm enjoying these stories as a delightful mix of fantasy and science fiction, two of my favorite genres. Most of the story occurs on a virtual reality network, yet each of the "worlds" (or VR servers) are as whimsical and imaginative as any fantasy novel.

Warning: This book is not for the easily distracted. At one point I counted as many as nine (yes, NINE) separate storylines. I enjoy an overly complex plot as much as the next sci-fi/fantasy nerd, but even I found myself unsettled by all the jumping around.

Still, with that caveat, I'm really looking forward to book three.