Otherland Series by Tad Williams, Douglas Cohen, John Joseph Adams

Renie Sulaweyo, a teacher in the South Africa of tomorrow, realizes something is wrong on the network. Kids, including her brother Stephen, have logged into the net, and cannot escape. Clues point to a mysterious golden city called Otherland, but investigators all end up dead.

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 twenty-first 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... moreOtherland. In many ways it is humankind's most stunning achievement: a private, multidimensional universe built over two generations by the greatest minds of the twenty-first 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... less

Mountain of Black Glass is the third volume of Tad Williams' highly acclaimed four-book series, Otherland. A truly unique reading experience combining elements of science fiction,fantasy, and techno-thriller, it is a rich epic tale in which virtual reality could prove the key to a whole new universe of possibilities for the entire human race--or become the exclusive domain of the rich and the ruthless as they seek a technological pathway to immortality....

With Sea of Silver Light, Tad Williams completes his massive Otherland quartet, one of SF's more intriguing explorations of the eroding boundaries of the human and the nonhuman, the living and the dead. Otherland is a sequence that contains many secrets, and Williams plays fair by unpacking all of them in the final book... moreWith Sea of Silver Light, Tad Williams completes his massive Otherland quartet, one of SF's more intriguing explorations of the eroding boundaries of the human and the nonhuman, the living and the dead. Otherland is a sequence that contains many secrets, and Williams plays fair by unpacking all of them in the final book. A group of adventurers searching for a cure for comatose children find themselves trapped in a sequence of virtual worlds, the only opponents of a conspiracy of the rich to live forever in a dream. Now, they are forced to make an uneasy alliance with their only surviving former enemy against his treacherous sidekick Johnny Wulgaru, a serial killer with a chance to play God forever. Williams manages a vast cast of emotionally involving characters with considerable panache, but the real strength of the book is its endlessly questing intelligence; it is, among other things, an enquiry into the nature of storytelling as a way for human beings to give structure to their perceptions of the universe around them. It is as story that Sea of Silver Light ultimately works so well--involving us in the grueling descent of a vast mountain, the siege of an underground fortress, gun battles in a nightmare Wild West. Williams never neglects to tell us how things feel. He efficiently ties up every plot strand and convincingly reveals every secret in this large, complex plot. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk less

Otherland – das ist das virtuelle Universum, in dem Fantasy Realität werden kann. Das gigantische Netzwerk wurde von schwerreichen und absolut skrupellosen Männern erschaffen, die sich zu einem Geheimbund, der «Gralsbruderschaft», zusammengeschlossen haben. Ihr Ziel ist es, in ihrer virtuellen Welt unsterblich zu werden. Zwei Generationen lang haben die Mitglieder des «Grals» Milliardensummen investiert; nun, Mitte des 21... moreOtherland – das ist das virtuelle Universum, in dem Fantasy Realität werden kann. Das gigantische Netzwerk wurde von schwerreichen und absolut skrupellosen Männern erschaffen, die sich zu einem Geheimbund, der «Gralsbruderschaft», zusammengeschlossen haben. Ihr Ziel ist es, in ihrer virtuellen Welt unsterblich zu werden. Zwei Generationen lang haben die Mitglieder des «Grals» Milliardensummen investiert; nun, Mitte des 21. Jahrhunderts, scheinen sie ihrem Ziel einen entscheidenden Schritt nähergekommen zu sein ...Nur wenige ahnen, welche Ausmaße die heimliche Herrschaft aus dem Netz bereits erreicht hat. Sie erkennen die tödliche Gefahr. less

Fantasy best-seller Tad Williams has turned in a huge (over 140,000 words) short story collection that we?ll be releasing this fall. Rite contains short stories and novellas, three teleplays, four nonfiction pieces, and short introductions to each tale.

Orlando the Boy Detective investigates a murder in the Oz simulation of the Otherland network.