Ephemeris of the Mind (Book Review) Otherland: City of Golden Shadow
Time to read: 3 min read
Book Cover
He had once thought it was strange to have a friend you'd never met. Now it was even stranger, losing a friend you'd never really had.
Review
I first picked up this book because Tad Williams is a well-known name in speculative fiction, known for his "big fantasies" with complex stories and intricate character arcs.
City of Golden Shadow is big, really big, probably too big. It felt that the author was trying to do everything at once; there were multiple stories which were seemingly seperate until the very end. The world was complex but it felt that I was reading 3-4 different novels, as the stories were basically seperate until the end.
The book sets up the (very complicated) premise for the rest of the series; it effectively serves as only the prologue for the main story. The book cuts off just when the story is becoming interesting.
There were aspects of the book which I enjoyed, such as having an extremely diverse cast of protagonists, from a "bushman" learning technology for the first time, to a Black female university lecturer from South Africa; it was very refreshing to read perspectives which weren't traditionally covered in science fiction.
I also enjoyed the commentary on how technological progress can intrude on the natural physical world, such as addiction to the "net" and the erosion of nature. Understanding how technology can enhance and detract from the real world is as relevant as ever.
Furthermore, the technologies Williams mentions, such as streaming "netflicks" online and playing MMORPGs with friends, was ahead of its time. There's an interesting idea of science fiction eventually becoming science facts, and this book is an excellent example.
One technology which has yet to catch on is ironically the main one: virtual reality, which still today, has fallen short of expectations and remains a niche gimmick. The mid-90s was a boom time for VR; with the release of devices such as the Virtual Boy, it must have seemed like VR will be as widespread as the internet. Perhaps this recent move to remote-work will finally fill this gap between science fiction and science fact.
Conclusion
While I appreciated the incredible amount of detail in world-building, such as the fictional news reports inbetween chapters, I felt that the book dragged on for too long (especially for what essentially is the prologue for the main story) and the structure of the book, with its multiple disconnected narratives, made it a chore to read.