It’s such a luxury to be reading a fiction paperback again.
I started reading the first volume ‘Otherland: City of Golden Shadow‘ when my significant other first joined his game company about 2 to 3 years ago. I stopped quite a long time ago – almost gave up, due to work commitments. It was only recently that I casually picked up the third volume of the book ‘Otherland: Mountain of Black Glass‘ and became hooked to it again. I managed to get myself to the last page within a week, while getting to work and at work 
The author, Tad Williams, was able to beautifully weave fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi into one title – it’s amazing. It’s nice to let oneself get lost among the characters (there are countless in this novel), and within the fantastical computer networks; to tread among the present world and venture through a possibly unimaginable future.
One of the characters, Mr Jongleur aka Osiris, the King of gods whose thirst for immortality was unstoppable, tells of his fear in one of the last few chapters,
‘Death is the oldest enemy of mankind‘.
It’s an interesting yet thought-provoking statement. Indeed, man has made enemies in many, has defeated and been defeated by many, but Death remains an unbeatable fiend of ours. On the other hand, is Death necessarily so detestable? Maybe not, because:
- Death helps to control the population on earth. It’s important because we’re already facing a shortage in everything.
- Death helps us conquer all other fears that breed from within us. Knowing what’s at the end of the road, knowing that nothing can be worse than death itself, one can be motivated to work harder towards their life goals.
- Death, as a non-entity in itself, a vacuum, a determinate end that all must come to face at one point in their life, helps to ensure balance and justice in a supposedly unfair life.
- Death is after all the only predictable outcome in life (though some may contend to say that one never knows when it’ll get you).
I’m looking forward to the final volume already.
For the online MMO gamers out there, here’s something to look forward in the coming 1 to 2 years:
