RAISING A MOUNTAIN
The concept Tad Williams pitched for Otherland was different. Approaching science fiction like epic fantasy, he set out to tackle an ambitious story to follow his groundbreaking Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy.
Starting in 1996 with City of Golden Shadows, Williams spun out a complex tapestry with Virtual Reality as the backdrop. Remarkably, he threaded the needle and delivered four hefty tomes in five years.
Set in the late 21st century, the worldbuilding plays on stratification of wealth and technology to create a dystopic vision of the future that has resonated well in the decades after publication.