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Tad Williams

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Faegir

New Member
Hello, I've recently finished "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" by Williams and I found it excellent.

Looking at "Otherland" however, I've seen it described as "cyberpunk" and with a lot of sci-fi in it. Any opinions on how it compares to "Memory,..." ?
 
Hi Faegir,

haven't read "Otherland" yet, but it is definitely more sci-fi and - I think - not really comparable to "Memory, Thorn and Sorrow".

But if you liked Tad Williams fantasy, you might try "The War of the Flowers", which is a standalone fantasy novel. It's about a guy that discovers a manuscript written by his great uncle. At first, this manuscript seems like a fairy tale, since there are a lot of fantastic creatures decribed in there, but when a horrifying monster tries to kill him and a short-tempered, red-haired sprite abruptly appears to save him, he realizes that this fairy realm actually exists. The novel is a real fun read and you will love Appelcore, the sprite!!

If you prefer epic fantasy in the style of MST, you will have to wait until part one of Williams' new trilogy "Shadowmarch" comes out in November.
 
Faegir said:
Looking at "Otherland" however, I've seen it described as "cyberpunk" and with a lot of sci-fi in it. Any opinions on how it compares to "Memory,..." ?
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I've never read Memory but i have read the two books in Otherland. Otherland is a strange mix of sci/fi and fantasy. I say strange, not because of what is mixed together, but because of how it's mixed together. It's mostly sci/fi for the first 3/4 of the first book. Williams then uses computers to make it more fantasy like. It's very interesting and worth reading. At least... I think it is.
 
Weren't there four books in Otherland? It's been a while since I've read it but I'm pretty sure it was.


Otherland is a mix of sci-fi and 'fantasy'. like the previous poster said, the first book is a lot of futuristic sci-fi drama type stuff. The 'fantasy' parts of the story though might not be what you're thinking. There isn't any sword-and-sorcery type stuff, the fantasy consists of the characters being thrown into various situations usually based on fictional stories. There are parts of it that really drag for a long time, but looking back over the series I really did enjoy most of it. I think your characterization of 'cyberpunk' fits fairly well.
 
I think The War of the Flowers was one of this best recent books and of course it's a stand alone too :D
 
HEY! Thanks for reminding me about that book! :)

I was wanting to get that one but waiting till it come out in paper back. This was long time ago and I just forgot all about it, unitl now. I assume it's in paper back now :rolleyes:

OK, one more for the "to buy list"
 
Great, thanks everyone, I'm really more for traditional fantasy, Feist, Eddings,... so I'm gonna wait with "Otherland". Seems like something for when I feel "experimental" ;)

Tamora, I couldn't find "The War of the Flowers" at our library, I'll have to look for it elsewhere, but I've picked up "The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan, so that should keep me busy until "Shadowmarch" comes out. Hmm, comes out in November you said and I counted at least eight books by Jordan, better start reading then !
 
Faegir said:
I've picked up "The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan, so that should keep me busy until "Shadowmarch" comes out. Hmm, comes out in November you said and I counted at least eight books by Jordan, better start reading then !
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You really should....
if I remember correctly there are currently 10 volumes of "The Wheel of Time" out there waiting to be picked up by you ;) hopefully you don't have any plans for October yet...
 
I can't compare because I haven't read MST yet, but Otherland was excellent. Even if you don't pick it up immediately, put it on your list. My biggest problem with that was that I read all four thick books one after the other; I would recommend a break in between. I think of "cyberpunk" as more like Neal Stephenson; I don't think I'd put Otherland in that category. More "cyber" than "punk."
 
I haven't read MST yet, either. But the Otherland books (at least the first two) are amazing, so far. The story starts a little slowly but quickly picks up pace and then you can't put them down anymore!
But it's really not very traditional fantasy, much more sci-fi. But the characters are thrown into all these fantasy worlds - which makes the genre classification for these books a little hard (and Tad Williams even more popular to me - I've never like the distinction in fantasy and science fiction!) ;)
 
Linguana said:
I haven't read MST yet, either. But the Otherland books (at least the first two) are amazing, so far. The story starts a little slowly but quickly picks up pace and then you can't put them down anymore!
But it's really not very traditional fantasy, much more sci-fi. But the characters are thrown into all these fantasy worlds - which makes the genre classification for these books a little hard (and Tad Williams even more popular to me - I've never like the distinction in fantasy and science fiction!) ;)
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That was my favorite part of the Otherland series was all the different fantasy worlds in it. It was like many stories in one :)

My husband just sent me War of the Flowers, to read.
 
Well it took me awhile to get to it but I finished War of the Flowers and it was good, I liked the characters and the story. Sometimes I got a bit tired of the book and put it aside for a day or two, it was long. I think I liked Otherland a bit better but I will definitely read more by Tad Williams. I have the Dragonbone Chair and hope to start it soon.
 
Wabbit said:
HEY! Thanks for reminding me about that book! :)

I was wanting to get that one but waiting till it come out in paper back. This was long time ago and I just forgot all about it, unitl now. I assume it's in paper back now :rolleyes:

OK, one more for the "to buy list"
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:) Yes, it's out in paperback! And it's really good! That list just keeps on growing...
 
I have just read 'War Of the Flowers' and i thought it was one of the best fantasy books I have had the pleasure to read. Tad Williams provides an insight into the main characters mind better than a first person author and his characters are imaginative, I loved Applecore, her first 'line' was the last thing I expected a fairy to say, I chuckled at that for a while.
 
Fistandantilus said:
I loved Applecore, her first 'line' was the last thing I expected a fairy to say, I chuckled at that for a while.
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Me too!
And that was the only fault in the book: that she wasn't in it so much in the latter half!
 
I did enjoy this book but one of the negative things about it was the unlikeability of the main character. I guess this did improve as the book went on but by then it was a bit too late.
 
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