Reviews

Mountain of Black Glass by Tad Williams

the_pale_woman's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

4.0

I found this book to be more enjoyable than the first two books in the series. It benefited from more structure and a tighter focus. This whole series revolves around a VR world called Otherland, but that setting wasn't utilized to its potential, in my opinion, until this book. The second book takes you to many worlds, but it feels too predictable and too chaotic all at the same time. It even acknowledges its use of old ideas, so that particular story aesthetic was very much intentional. While I understood and gained insight with that intent, it failed to add any enjoyment to that sequence of worlds and events. 

This third book felt much more imaginative even though it only visited a few worlds. The use of existing worlds was more satisfying as well. You might even enjoy it more than me if you're more knowledgeable about the Odyssey and the Iliad. Beyond that, this book felt more rounded, more thought out, and more substantial. It has me excited to continue and conclude this beast of a sci-fi series. 

kingkat's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

kordidarling's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

laileanah's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was just OK on reread.
Doesn't really pick up significantly until the towards the end.

subgirl's review against another edition

2.0

I really really really really hated these. It was so overwrought and idiotic and ugh. But I have a thing where if I start a series, I finish it, but this was pure agony. I nearly didn't but was sort of interested in how bad it could get.

erikars's review against another edition

This is the third book in the massive story that is Otherland. This was my favorite of the three books. Unlike the first two books, this book had a plot that felt like it was going somewhere and then got there. However, it was still frustrating at times. It is amusing but true that the longer a book is, the more frustrating it is when the author goes off on useless tangents. I enjoy the contemplations on reality within a realistic network and on how alive the simulated people can be considered to be, but I really do not need to have Williams go on about it for pages and pages each time the characters enter a new world. I also dislike the number of plotlines the author has going. I am sure they will all weave together in the end, but 3000 pages is a long time to wait for all these diverse threads to come together. At least, in this book they start coming together. Despite all this, Williams does an excellent job of painting his worlds, and I look forward to the reading the last book.

yak_attak's review against another edition

3.5

At this point, you know what you're in for - Tad's sprawling virtual world story continues apace - a vast array of characters, scenes, all in impressive scenarios. His imagination is still on fine display here as we travel to some of the most fun Otherland worlds yet. But again, the plot progresses at a snail's pace - we flit between such a large cast that important characters end up with 2 or 3 chapters across the entire thousand page novel. It's so large and dense it just feels like it's hard for any type of consistent momentum to carry through.

That does fall away a bit once we finally get to the promised Siege of Ilium, and knowing much of anything about that story makes things particularly worrying for our characters... It's hard to really *love* them, but I was still holding on tightly. Things ramping up make this easily the most exciting ending and thus book in the series to date - but it still is dependent at its core of the rambling sprawl, that if it's not something you're enjoying this entry is definitely not going to change your mind.

heather_g's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

3.5

3rd in a 4 part book series.
I'm quite impressed with the world the characters are caught in.  There just seems to be a lot of characters to keep track of!  Fortunately in this book, the main characters finally found each other so less jumping around & trying to remember where everyone was.
Our heroes have met and apparently defeated the majority of the bad guys, but the other bad guy is still on the loose.
Guess I need to finish out the series, but wow there is a LOT to keep track of!

ainsleym's review against another edition

3.0

Not quite as low plot as book two, but it’d be hard to match that. Plot points and reveals were a bit oddly paced and I wish the characters had more agency in moving forward and making discoveries like they did in book one. Hopeful that book four has a satisfying conclusion: if it doesn’t, I can’t say I’d recommend this series, but if it all comes together then slogging through books two and three will hopefully be worth it. 

chocolatereader's review against another edition

3.0

We’re deff taking the long to get anywhere in this series. This volume did end with an exciting bang at least.