[bir]

i cant decide on which tad williams' book to try
memory,sorrow and thorn or otherland
whit kind of genre is The Otherland? any info will be greatly appreciated
+ and - comments as well
tnx http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Gooch]

Otherland is more or less fantasy, but leans towards SciFi a bit more

[DarthV]

I think Otherland would be classified as Sci-Fi.


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Even though there are a lot of worlds that are very much like fantasy settings, the core of the story is based in the not-so-faraway future.

[Crysania]

I'm glad you brought this up. I LOVE MST but I have yet to pick up Otherland because normally I don't like sci-fi. Just doesn't appeal to me at all. I read the Coldfire trilogy that had shades of sci-fi, but to me, was wholly fantasy for the most part.

I mean, I can't stand space ships and galaxies and laser guns and space-age technology and space-suits... so I'd probably dislike Otherland, right?

I also haven't read Stephen r. Donaldson's Gap series for the same reason - though he's one of my fave authors as well...

[Warewolf]

Hate to move off topic, but I wanted to ask Crysania a question: does your dislike of sci-fi extend only to books or movies as well?

I personally much prefer fantasy, but there are some sci-fi authors that I read regularly: Asimov, Clarke, Card. Donaldson's Gap Cycle was brilliant. If you like him, you might like this, but then again, if you don't like spaceships, lasers, and stuff, you might not.

As far as Otherland goes, I've been waiting for SoSL to come out in paperback so I can read the whole thing at once. I loved MS&T, so hopefully this series will live up to my expectations.

[Crysania]

For the most part, I don't like sci-fi films/tv shows either. I, of course, adored the Star Wars trilogy but I consider that a fantasy in that it follows the typical journey of the hero and redemption of the evil etc.

So...hmmm...

[Eventine]

Crysania,
Otherland is definitely NOT space ships and galaxies and laser guns and space-age technology and space-suits.

Get City of golden Shadow and have a read. I expect that you will be pleasantly surprised.

Stephen Donaldsons Gap series however, is full of space ships and galaxies and laser guns and space-age technology and space-suits.
It is extremely well written and a very good story however.

[bir]

i also dislike sci fi =/
but i thought dune was ok
how can fantasy lean towards sci fi?

[Cannon Fodder]

The Otherland series is technically sci-fi but in many ways is very fantasy like. It has a very fantasy like quest structure to a lot of the storyline and a lot (If not all) of the many worlds introduced are fantasy worlds in nature. In any case, I haven't read MST (I mean to) but I would say that Otherland is IMHO definitely worth a try.

[ChrisW]

The only sci-fi element of Otherland is the virtual reality and it's that element which allows the fantasy.

I would not class it as either. It's just a series worth reading as far as i'm concerned.

I'm actually using it to ease my 35 year old sister into fantasy.



[This message has been edited by Caldazar (edited March 26, 2002).]