City of Golden Shadow

Williams’ “Otherland” is one of my absolute favorite sci-fi epics. But it has to be said–this is not, in any strict genre definition of the word, a novel. This is the first installment in a prose epic of stunning scope and narrative/intertextual skill, but many of its greatest payoffs don’t come to fruition until the end of the final volume. So perhaps not the best choice for slow readers or readers who don’t enjoy extreme long-format storytelling. However, Williams remains one of the best prose stylists in traditional epic fantasy/science fantasy, his characters are compelling, and the plot and worldbuilding pack a bone-chilling punch.

No talking cats here folks. In true Gibsonian Cyberpunk fashion, rich the obscenely rich are not very human anymore. Williams builds a highly detailed world in the not too distant future. A massive read encompassing a dozens of characters…this is the first volume of a massive saga. Easy to read for its size. I won’t say more as it woul spoil the story.
NOTE: Kindle version is just rancid with typos.

I don’t mind reading lengthy novels if the story is moving forward or the conversations/information has a point to it (I only had issues with one of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series where nothing truly happened), however, these four novels have a ridiculous amount of filler/nonsense to them. EVERY random thought/observation/action is quickly followed up by a metaphor of some kind or some character’s introspection. The story is overly confusing and not in a good “aha, so that’s what all that meant” kind of way. Most of the content/banter/information is truly nonsense and unnecessary. During the fourth book I had to literally force myself to continue to the end as I grew so tired of the author’s writing style of dragging things painfully out. Good novels will make you want to go re-read them after a time and enjoy the journey all over again, you couldn’t pay me to read these novels again. I’m all about world/character building but by the end I was literally saying out loud “get to the point already”. Do yourself a favor and read ANYTHING else.

First of all, I have read hundreds of Kindle books. I love Kindle books. I read books because I want to be entertained. You would think an author would write with that in mind. But when I trudge halfway through the book and still cannot figure out what the heck is going on, that’s not entertaining. That may be some weird idea of artistry, but if so, offer the work in an art gallery; not a bookstore. I rarely give up on a book, but I gave up on this one. I won’t be buying any more of this artists work.

I have enjoyed this “series” of books, however, calling it a series is a bit misleading. None of the first three books has an ending that is in any way satisfying. They’re not seperate stories, it’s one long saga. It’s well written, but VERY busy. Each book feels like you’ve read 3 or 4 separate books. I counted in the middle of book two, and there were 14 separate individual story lines going all at once, back and forth, and then even more get added. It’s a bit much, like the author couldn’t decide what he wanted to write about, so wrote about everything. Each book is more like 20-30 short stories, with all the short stories having the same 20 cast member, and tied together in a way that, 3/4 of the way thru book 3, still isn’t entirely clear. And yet, I’ve kept reading, so there’s definitely something there.

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