The Bush League Critic

The third time's a charm. Mountain of Black Glass was everything that I wanted the the first two novels to be.

Williams set a little faster pace with this third installment - a pace that would have made the first two books much more enjoyable. This one just felt better. The dialog was natural, the action was engaging, and the virtual worlds of the Otherland Network became part of the plot - instead of just the really cool scenery they started out as. I particularly enjoyed "The House": a boundless giant structure whose inhabitants don't understand the concept of what's "beyond the house."

I was hoping that Volume four (Sea of Silver Light) would start off with the same frantic pace that Mountain of Black Glass ended with, but alas... such is not the case. I'm about a third of the way into the final installment of this series and nothing has happened. The plot is advancing at a speed that would make a glacier brag.