Kitty G Books's Reviews > Mountain of Black Glass

Well this book was really, really good again! I think we can solidly say that Tad Williams is now a very firm favourite author of mine. I did feel that although I really love the different worlds within Otherland and seeing our team exploring them, this one actually didn't give us that many answers in terms of the overall plot direction until right at the end. I do think some of it could possibly have been cut to make it more exciting, but otherwise this is just more of the same super world from Williams.

This book particularly made me enjoy the characters of Orlando, Fredricks and Martine. Although each of these three I liked in the previous two books, this book was the one where they all became excellent characters for me and seeing the way they each dealt with the Simulations they ended up in and the problems they were faced with was great.
Martine's diary entries, each one ended with Code Delphi, are an excellent look into her character. We get to see how a blind woman experiences the world of Otherland through static and information rather than sight, and we also see how this 'ability' to sense the network helps her and the others out of tight spots.
Seeing Orlando and Fredricks' relationship develop in this book was beautiful and I think that their friendship was taken to a whole new level. I loved seeing Fredricks as he came to terms with understanding his own feelings and also decided to act for himself and take the lead when Orlando wasn't able to. Together they make for a great duo.
I also really liked seeing the Gods getting involved in the story more and the people outside the system like Long Joseph and the parents of Orlando and Fredricks. All of them played a really interesting role in explaining more of the world outside the network and also how, if you're rich, you can investigate properly...
Christabel and Sellers remain favourites of mine, and I worry about the two of them and the stuff they face!
I also like Olga and her on-going quest to find out what is happening to her because I think she will become ever more important.
Renie and !Xabbu are still firm favourites for me too, and seeing them also developing as a pair was great.

The world-building of this Network which our characters traverse is great and you never know quite where you'll end up. The two worlds I most enjoyed seeing in this book were the ever-expanding and never-ending house Simulation and the Trojan War Simulation. Both very interesting for vastly different reasons :)

Basically I love all the characters here and this book kept me hooked even though it is a little on the long side. I cannot wait to dive into book 4 (the final one) and really figure everything out!!! 4*s overall.