River of Blue Fire

Otherland Book 2

By: Tad Williams

Narrated by: George Newbern

Length: 24 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Otherland. In many ways it is humankind's most stunning achievement: a private, multidimensional universe built over two generations by the greatest minds of the 21st century. But this most exclusive of places is also one of the world's best kept secrets, created and controlled by an organization made up of the world's most powerful and ruthless individuals, a private cartel known - to those who know of their existence at all - as The Grail Brotherhood. Though their purpose in creating Otherland is still a mystery, it may not remain so for long. For they have exacted a terrible price from humanity in the process, and even their highly organized global conspiracy cannot hide the nature of their crimes forever. And now a small band of adventurers has penetrated the veil of secrecy that prevents the uninitiated from entering Otherland.

But having broken into the amazing worlds within worlds that make up this universe, they are trapped, unable to escape back to their own flesh-and-blood bodies in the real world. And as dangers and circumstances split their party into small, widely scattered groups, their only hope of reuniting lies in returning again and again to the River that flows - in one form or another - through all the worlds. But the odds seem to be completely against them as they - and the one outsider with whom they might join forces - become hopelessly lost in realms where an Ice Age tribe's fears can only be quenched in blood - where insects are as large and deadly as dinosaurs - where they are caught in the war between a man made of straw and one made of tin - where cartoon ads take on a life of their own - where humans strive to survive in the aftermath of an alien invasion - and where one among their party is actually The Grail Brotherhood's most terrifying weapon - a sociopathic killer who has never failed and whose current mission is to make certain that not even one member of this little invasion force lives long enough to reveal the truth about Otherland to the people of Earth.

©1998 Tad Williams (P)2014 Penguin Audio

Sailing on

This is the second Otherland book.

You need to have read or listened to the previous book in the series, City of Golden Shadow before starting this book, or you will not understand most of it.

Aside from that, it is difficult to know how to characterize this book. The characters who were gathered by the disruptive Sellars in City of Golden Shadow get separated again into three smaller groups, and each of these groups winds up transported into a different sim-world, where they have some dangerous but at the same time tedious adventures. We discover that the dangerous operative Dred (or Dread, or whatever his name is) has infiltrated one of the sims in Martine’s party, but it isn’t clear, even at the end, which one.

The Otherland network appears to be breaking down, even though it is still in the process of going live. The adventurers all get into some dangerous situations and uncover some confusing but possibly useful pieces of the puzzle. Renie and !Xabu are finally reunited with Martine’s group, but some of the members of their party appear to die at about the same time.

We also spend considerably more time with Paul Jonas in this book, traveling with him to the London of War of the Worlds, Renaissance Venice, and finally the Ithaca of The Odyssey, among other places.

In the end, things look serious for some of our characters, but we can’t tell how close they are to a resolution of anything. We still need to go on to the next book.

great story, great performance

worst part of the whole thing is that it ended at all :) great story, great performance!!

a hot mess

Interesting. I'm still thinking about it months later. But it could have used an editor to tighten it up.

Great book! Slightly frustrating audiobook

So lemme start by saying the book is wonderful. I almost enjoyed it more than the first book just because having read the first one there were a lot of things I understood better about the world and technology and whatnot. My only issue with the audiobook is that the reader almost never pauses or provides a slight break before starting new sections or chapters. Since this book follows many different characters, not having that slight break before changing stories can be INCREDIBLY CONFUSING at times. Especially if your listening to this audiobook while doing other things.

A must listen.

I loved it! Great series. I can't wait to listen to his next book in this series.

I Love this Series

So far I love this series. It's really interesting and well read. The characters are great and I can't wait to see how the whole thing ends. Very Fun.

Good Read

keeps me wondering what will happen next. Good story, great narrator andit's long enough to make me think I am getting my money's worth.

Such a great series! The narration is great too!

Great book series. I wish more people would read it so I have others to talk with about the book. Unfortunately, I rarely find people who have read it, let alone talk with about it.

This series of books is amazing.

This is a great follow up to City of Golden Shadow. Even though there are two more books left the ending to this book is a very satisfying choice.

less than expected

The naration was superb just like the previous book.
Story wise, the first half of the book was a strugle.But the end has me wanting more.