Farmer, Philip Jose

To Your Scattered Bodies Go (Riverworld Saga, Book 1)

Average customer rating:

Starts Off Strong, but Heads Downhill
I'm a Farmer fan now!
A Classic Fantasy Series--Not to be missed!
The Best of the Series
A classic

To Your Scattered Bodies Go (Riverworld Saga, Book 1)
Philip Jose Farmer
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

The Fabulous Riverboat (Riverworld Saga, Book 2)
The Dark Design (Riverworld Saga, Book 3)
The Magic Labyrinth (Riverworld Saga, Book 4)
The Gods of Riverworld (Riverworld Saga, No 5)
The World of Tiers: Volume One (World of Tiers)

ASIN: 0345419677
Release Date: 1998-06-30

Amazon.com

To Your Scattered Bodies Go is the Hugo Award-winning beginning to the story of Riverworld, Philip José Farmer's unequaled tale about life after death. When famous adventurer Sir Richard Francis Burton dies, the last thing he expects to do is awaken naked on a foreign planet along the shores of a seemingly endless river. But that's where Burton and billions of other humans (plus a few nonhumans) find themselves as the epic Riverworld saga begins. It seems that all of Earthly humanity has been resurrected on the planet, each with an indestructible container that provides three meals a day, cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, a lighter, and the odd tube of lipstick. But why? And by whom?

That's what Burton and a handful of fellow adventurers are determined to discover as they construct a boat and set out in search of the river's source, thought to be millions of miles away. Although there are many hardships during the journey--including an encounter with the infamous Hermann Goring--Burton's resolve to complete his quest is strengthened by a visit from the Mysterious Stranger, a being who claims to be a renegade within the very group that created the Riverworld. The stranger tells Burton that he must make it to the river's headwaters, along with a dozen others the Stranger has selected, to help stop an evil experiment at the end of which humanity will simply be allowed to die. --Craig E. Engler

Book Description

All those who ever lived on Earth have found themselves resurrected--healthy, young, and naked as newborns--on the grassy banks of a mighty river, in a world unknown. Miraculously provided with food, but with no clues to the meaning of their strange new afterlife, billions of people from every period of Earth's history--and prehistory--must start again.

Sir Francis Bacon would be the first to glimpse the incredible way-station, a link between worlds. This forbidden sight would spur the renowned 19th-century explorer to uncover the truth. Along with a remarkable group of compatriots, including Alice Liddell Hargreaves (the Victorian girl who was the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland), an English-speaking Neanderthal, a WWII Holocaust survivor, and a wise extraterrestrial, Burton sets sail on the magnificent river. His mission: to confront humankind's mysterious benefactors, and learn the true purpose--innocent or evil--of the Riverworld . . .

Customer Reviews:

Starts Off Strong, but Heads Downhill.......2007-05-28

I wanted to take a minute to write a quick review of the whole Riverworld Saga, which begins with To Your Scattered Bodies Go. I picked up the book because the concept sounded interesting, and it is. Every single person ever born on Earth is resurrected, naked, on the banks of an enormous winding river. Humanities' basic needs for food and shelter are met. The concept is rife with potential, and the author brings back many of history's most famous and infamous characters in his novels. As the novels go on, however, the writing becomes increasingly sloppy. Characters soliloquize about Sufi philosophy, new age metaphysics, and even Scientology. Sorry, but if I was interested in that, I'd pick up Dianetics. Readers drawn in by the first book's adventure and interesting premise may be disappointed. I was. The story drags on, and the author introduces characters, writes extensively about them, and then just drops them, never to be seen again. Even worse is that Farmer, the author, seems to draw his story out by improbable or unlikely circumstances. Characters go insane spontaneously, and cause trouble for the rest of the group; that's one whole book. The Riverworld Saga is a great concept, but the execution was only fair. I can't recommend it unless you're interested in new age philosophy and don't mind a drawn out story with inexplicably disappearing main characters.

I'm a Farmer fan now!.......2007-05-07

I have never read a lot of science fiction, nor have I read anything by Farmer, but I'm certainly a fan now! What a fantastic, fun, adventure! I could not put this book down. Farmer is a skillful writer who crafts a wonderfully written, often philosophical, journey into another world. He makes the reader genuinely consider what life after death might be like. A classic read.

A Classic Fantasy Series--Not to be missed!.......2007-05-05

I was lost in the adventures of Sir. Richard Burton on the ten-million-mile river of "Riverworld," where everyone who has ever lived wakes up from death. This is not a heaven, though! There is wild sex, and also the possibility of dying again. Mark Twain has Alice-in-Wonderland as his lover! The characters from real history build a riverboat and head up the river. Toward the end, they go flying around on comfortable overstuffed chairs. Great fun!

The Best of the Series.......2006-07-14

The last time I re-read this book was over thiry years ago and the scenes are still vivid in my memory. I was 16 and up until then, the science fiction I read was pretty tame stuff. Although it was beginning to change, most of the material out there at the time minced around or completly avoided subjects such as sex, religion, race, and the possibility that we live in a bizarre and hostile universe. Of course, there was a lot in the book that would appeal to a 16-year old boy. In the first chapter,two Victorians take LSD-laced chewing gum and spend the night coupling like mink. A Neanderthal commits the faux pas of cannibalism and public farting. A Cockney prostitute beats up on a pius philanthropist for throwing cigarettes in the River. And this is Heaven! I was hooked.
After that, I read everything by Phillip Jose Farmer I could find. If you had the misfortune of seeing the awful adaptation of "Riverworld," on the SciFi channel, you really should read this book and the "Fabulous Riverboat" to see how the movie should have been done.I

A classic.......2006-06-12

To Your Scattered Bodies Go is a classic sci fi novel by one of the giants of the genre. Storywise this isn't the most interesting one in the series but it suffers a bit less from Farmers soliloquies and philosophizing. The premise is one of the most inventive in scifi, right up there with Ringworld. Someone, or some thing, has simultaneously ressurected every human who ever lived on an alien planet which has been terraformed into one long continuous river. With their material needs provided by mysterious machines and unable to grow old or permanently die humanity is left to figure out what is going on. To Your Scattered Bodies Go starts on the first day of ressurection, or rather slightly before it, and focuses mainly on the Victorian explorer Richard Francis Burton. Burton quickly hooks up with some other resurectees including a cave man, the woman who Alice in Wonderland was based on, a washed up scifi writer who bears a passing resemblance to Farmer himself, and an alien who may have inadvertently destroyed the Earth. The motivation in the story is a bit thin. There is a Mysterious Stranger who seems to know what is going on and urges Burton to explore, but the story itself mostly deals with Burton travelling along the river and getting into trouble, first with his friends and then on his own. Along the way he encounters a bunch of different people from different times, including Hermann Goering, prehistoric giants, and religious fanatics.

The Dark Design (Riverworld Saga, Book 3)

Average customer rating:

Motives Revealed
Good Series Hits a Low Point
A Fairly Decent But Annoying Read
overwritten, careless
Sloppy novel would benefit from heavy editing

The Dark Design (Riverworld Saga, Book 3)
Philip Jose Farmer
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

The Fabulous Riverboat (Riverworld Saga, Book 2)
The Magic Labyrinth (Riverworld Saga, Book 4)
The Gods of Riverworld (Riverworld Saga, No 5)
To Your Scattered Bodies Go (Riverworld Saga, Book 1)
The World of Tiers: Volume One (World of Tiers)

ASIN: 0345419693
Release Date: 1998-07-28

Amazon.com

The Dark Design is the third book in the epic Riverworld saga, in which almost all of humanity has been resurrected on a strange planet along the shores of a river 22 million miles long. But why have humans been given another chance at life, and who is behind it all? That's what Sir Richard Francis Burton and Sam Clemens set out to discover in two earlier novels, one by riding the "suicide express" (if you die on Riverworld, you're resurrected again at a random point along the river) and the other steaming on the greatest riverboat ever seen. Now Milton Firebrass, Clemens's former enemy and now his No. 1 lieutenant, is planning to use the dwindling iron supply on the Riverworld to create a great airship, which can fly to the North Polar Sea far more quickly than any boat can travel. There he hopes to learn the secret of the mysterious tower thought to house the beings who created this planet.

Jill Gulbirra does not care as much about the mission as she wants the chance to captain the great airship, which in all likelihood will be the last airship ever constructed by humankind. But in landing the coveted role, she faces stiff competition--especially from the greatest swordsman of all time, Cyrano de Bergerac, who turns out to be a natural pilot. But even if Jill can win the command of the airship and even if the ship can reach the river's headwaters, there is no guarantee it can get through the mountain wall that surrounds the tower. And it's likely that one or more agents of the Ethicals--the creators of Riverworld--are on board the airship, plotting its downfall. Worse still, somewhere along the way the airship is sure to encounter the Rex Grandissimus, the steamboat stolen by Sam's archnemesis, King John Lackland. --Craig E. Engler

Book Description

Years have passed on Riverworld. Entire nations have risen, and savage wars have been fought--all since the dead of Earth found themselves resurrected in their magnificent new homeworld. Yet the truth about the Ethicals, the powerful engineers of this mysterious "afterlife," remains unknown. But a curious cross-section of humanity is determined to change that situation . . . at any cost.

Intrepid explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton leads the most remarkable voyage of discovery he has ever undertaken. Hot on his heels are Samuel Clemens, King John of England, and Cyrano de Bergerac. Spurred by the promise of ultimate answers, they chart a course across the vast polar sea--and toward the awesome tower that looms above it. But getting there will be more than half the battle. For death on Riverworld has become chillingly final . . .

Customer Reviews:

Motives Revealed.......2006-01-19

In the third installment of the Riverworld series, it is finally learned why people were resurrected on this strange planet by unknown beings; for some colossal galactic sociology experiment. The major characters from the first two series are all converging on the northernmost part of the river, and a few new characters are introduced, such as Jill Gulbirra, the dirigible pilot. Farmer put much more work into the character development (this book is easily thicker than the first two put together), but unfortunately puts just as many words into describing the engineering and building of the dirigible, etc. The reveal of THE DARK DESIGN of the aliens is a letdown and mostly anti-climactic.

Good Series Hits a Low Point.......2004-09-15

This is the middle volume of Farmer's ambitious five-book saga of Riverworld, a fantastic planet reworked by a mysterious super race to be one long river valley along a ten million-mile long river, which snakes around the planet. Into this artificially formed world, all humanity who ever lived is resurrected, given perpetual youth, and provided with all their needs through a mind boggling technology. What they are not given is a clue as to who did this, how, or most importantly, why. This book is the weakest of the series so far.
The action of the story follows several groups who are now racing toward the headwaters of the river hoping to discover the mysteries of their after-life and strange, new world, which are rumored to be found there. In addition to Sir Richard Burton and Sam Clemens, who we have met in previous books, we are introduced to Akhenaten, heretic pharaoh of Egypt, who hopes to discover his one true Sun god at river's end, and writer Jack London traveling together with film cowboy Tom Mix, all headed toward the same shadowy goal. The bulk of the book, however, focuses on the building of a huge dirigible that can gain in a few days of flight what would take many years of travel on the river. An exciting account of this airship's mission to river's end provides the cliff hanging ending of this volume.
Part of the charm of the first two books was their protagonists; Sir Richard Burton in the first, Sam Clemens in the second. In 'The Dark Design', the majority of the action is viewed through characters of the author's creation rather than through historical protagonists, and this does not come off as well. Both Burton and Clemens make brief appearances here, but we don't see either of them enough.
The book suffers from two other major flaws. First, it is overlong - nearly as long as the first two books put together. Farmer's writing style is at best competent, and begins to become taxing after 200 pages or so. There are whole chapters here that have no real relationship to the plot and are little more than the author indulging himself. Secondly, there are major plot and character shifts away from what was established in the first two books. These shifts and reversals are awkward, and don't seem to have been thought out well. At times, the author's sloppiness makes it hard to suspend disbelief.
The power of the story, and the possibilities of the concept should keep you reading through this poorly edited mess of a book, but if the first two volumes have not thoroughly captured you, you may bog down and never reach river's end.

Theo Logos

A Fairly Decent But Annoying Read.......2004-06-19

The part 3 of the Riverwold series. It's nowhere near as good as either of the first 2 books of the series were (To Your Scattered Bodies Go & The Fabulous Riverboat).

One of the main faults of the book is that an excessively large number of chapters deal with science fiction writer Peter Jairus Frigate who by chance remarkably resembles the author Philip Jose Farmer.

The main purpose of this character seems to be to serve as something of a mouthpice for Farmer to vent his views on humanity, the nature of people, religion and Riverworld....And all the subtly of a seal clubbing.

This is worsened by the fact that every time the book really starts to get the reader involved it breaks to a chapter or 4 filled with the musings and incessant ramblings of PJF (you decide which) or filling in the backstory of Frigate WHICH GOES NO WHERE!

I dread to think of what this book would have been like BEFORE it was edited.

overwritten, careless.......2004-06-16

severe and brutal editing would have greatly improved flow and quality. Frankly the Frigate character should have been left out of books 3 and 4- reducing page count, pretentiousness, and improving flow

Sloppy novel would benefit from heavy editing.......2004-02-07

The Riverworld saga continues as various characters attempt the journey to the mysterious tower at the source of the river on whose shores all of humanity has been resurrected. Although this essential quest and the puzzle at the heart of the series still interests, this sprawling, messy novel often tested my patience. Burton and his crew make an appearance at the beginning, but then disappear from the novel altogether. There are numerous unnecessary digressions, including several dull chapters of backstory on Farmer's alterego, the science-fiction writer Peter Jairus Frigate (check out the initials), who is actually a relatively minor character.

Amazon.com

At the end of The Fabulous Riverboat, Sam Clemens finally set out in the great iron riverboat Not for Hire to reach the headwaters of the massive river on whose shores humanity has been resurrected. After 33 years on the river, Clemens and his crew--including the giant subhuman Joe Miller--are finally near the end of their journey, and only one obstacle remains: the evil Earthly king, John Lackland. John is waiting just upriver in the Rex Grandissimus, the first riverboat that Sam constructed and the one that John and his crew hijacked, and he's hell-bent on sinking Sam's boat (and vice versa). Complicating the battle is the fact that both ships likely contain agents of the Ethicals, the group of advanced beings who created Riverworld for reasons unknown. One or more of the Ethicals themselves may even be on board, as are various humans that the rebel Ethical, known as the Mysterious Stranger (but known to Clemens simply as X), enlisted in his cause, which may or may not lead to humanity's salvation.

The battle is set to take place along the shores populated by members of the Church of the Second Chance, a group that believes they must attain ethical perfection in order to proceed to the next phase of existence. The Second Chancers are not violent, but their charismatic leader, La Viro, may attempt to sink one or both of the iron ships in order to prevent the battle. Among the Second Chancers is former Nazi officer Hermann Goring, who had a run-in with Sir Richard Francis Burton in the first Riverworld novel, To Your Scattered Bodies Go. Burton and his companions--among them several people who were contacted by the Mysterious Stranger--are reluctantly serving on John's boat in order to reach the headwaters of the river. But will any of the humans working for X survive the coming battle? And if so, how can they possibly hope to penetrate the tower in the North Sea where the Ethicals are thought to reside? And what could lowly humans hope to do against a race so advanced that they can reshape entire planets and resurrect all of humanity? --Craig E. Engler

Book Description

The answers behind the enigmatic origins of Riverworld lie at last within reach, as the remarkable gathering of Earthlings--including Sir Richard Francis Burton, Samuel Clemens, Alice Liddell Hargreaves (the real-life Alice in Wonderland), Cyrano de Bergerac, Ulysses S. Grant, and Baron Von Richtoven--finally breaches the stronghold of Riverworld's extraordinary super-race.

But answers would lead to more enigmatic questions . . .

Who is the Mysterious Stranger who taunted the Riverworld resurrectees with hints of the truth? What is the key to the gargantuan computer that wields the power of life and death? The astonishing secrets lie within the Dark Tower--but only for those brave enough to seek them and wise enough to decipher them . . .

Customer Reviews:

A terrible ending for a declining series.......2007-01-27

The first book in the series, "To Your Scattered Bodies Go" was fantastic - filled with original ideas and interesting concepts. Unfortunatley, it was all downhill from there. The second book, "The Fabulous Riverboat", maintained interest by introducing Sam Clemens. But then the rot set in. The only thing that got me though the third volume, "The Dark Design", was the hope that in the end a satisfactory conclusion would be reached, and reading that book was the only was to get there. Finally came "The Magic Labyrinth". The best thing that can be said is that it was obvious Farmer had no conception of how to end the series. The important characters, the ones you care about, are killed off with no apparent purpose except to create an artificial shock. The ending, involving secondary characters, in incredibly weak and shows a complete case of, "Well, I have to end it, so let's do THIS". A total disappointment, not at all worthy of the promise the first book showed. I pity the people who followed this series all the way to the end only to be confronted with this. There is a lesson to be drawn here - never start a series if you have no idea how to come to a competent ending. This has all the hallmarks of a book that was written to fulfill a contract. I would give it no stars except that I have to give it at least one. My advice: read "To Your Scattered Bodies Go" for good Scifi; read "The Fabulous Riverboat" for enjoyment; but forget "The Dark Design" and definitley do not read this book. Whatever explanation you may conjure in your imgaination can not help but be infinitely superior to what is in this book. Without doubt, one of the most disappointing books I have ever read, in any category. Avoid at all costs.

jaman57

Mind-Numbing.......2006-01-19

I thought the fourth installation in the Riverworld series would be exciting. At last, they are going to reach the tower and confront the unknown entities who have done this to humans! But first, unfortunately, Farmer drags on endlessly about the final gathering of the main characters and the battle between the two paddle wheelers, which drags ON and ON, chapter after chapter, describing each turn and blow ad nauseum. I couldn't even finish it. If my husband would let me, I would donate these books to Goodwill.

The Only Weak Link In the Riverworld Series, 2-1/2 stars.......2005-12-13

Don't believe the book jacket when it says this is the final book of the Riverworld series. It is not, there are so many loose ends, that the Gods of Riverworld is necessary reading to conclude the series. Although the events in this novel will probably piss you off and this novel is the weakest of what I would consider a 4-1/2 star series, it's a necessary novel to read to really conclude the series in the very satisfactory Gods of Riverworld.

Uneven - with Great Potential Left Unfulfilled.......2004-09-21

The Magic Labyrinth is the fourth of Farmer's five volume Riverworld series, and was originally the final book in the series. Here all the various quests of those travelling to the headwaters of the river end for better or worse. Here to, the mysteries of the Riverworld planet and how and why all humanity was resurrected there are revealed.
This is a most uneven book. There are episodes of thrilling action and adventure, and long sections of mind-numbing boredom. There are characters who have been well developed throughout the books, and others that are barely sketched out, but still are central to the action. The writing is often barely competent, yet many of the ideas presented are still fascinating.
The strongest part of the book is its middle, which recounts the final drama of a forty-year, up river chase of two rival riverboats. The first boat, The Rex, captained by King John Lackland, who stole it from Sam Clemens, is pursued by The Not For Hire, the boat Clemens built to chase down his hated enemy. Clemens' quest for the headwaters of the river, to storm the mysterious tower there that may contain the answers to this world's riddles, has been subsumed by his thirst for revenge against King John. Most of the action of the book takes place when these two mighty boats, both heavily armed and manned by crews of Earth's famous and near famous, have their final clash. Two great set pieces have French ace George Guynemer, and German ace Werner Voss fighting a last fantastic dogfight over the river, and an awe-inspiring fencing duel to end all duels between Cyrano de Bergerac and Sir Richard Francis Burton. It is here that Farmer works his grand concept for all that it is worth, and shines.
The quality of the book drops sharply after the resolution of this battle. A handful of survivors continue on to complete the quest to the great tower at the end of the river. Several in this final group are not characters who were previously fleshed out, but new characters who have hardly been lined at all by the author, and with whom the reader feels little connection. Almost the whole last fourth of the book is composed of chapter after chapter of explanations of the how, why and who of the creation of Riverworld and the resurrection of 36 billion humans there. These explanatory chapters are stilted, as the information is delivered like a lecture from a perfectly dull professor. After reading through four books to get to the big revelations, this lame technique is a real let down.
This book and series suffer from great potential, unfulfilled. The concept on which Riverworld is based had promise as a grand epic masterpiece of sci-fi. It began well, but faltered and fell with books three and four. Though I contemplated giving this book only two stars, for its occasional flashes of brilliance I will give it three.

Theo Logos

ok, but needs lots of editing.......2004-06-16

both book 3 and 4 should have 100 pages ripped out of them. Much higher quality product then. And really very little would be lost.

Amazon.com

In To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip José Farmer introduces readers to the awesome Riverworld, a planet that had been carved into one large river on whose shores all of humanity throughout the ages has seemingly been resurrected. In The Fabulous Riverboat, Farmer tells the tale of one person whose is uniquely suited to find the river's headwaters, riverboat captain and famous Earthly author Sam Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain). Clemens has been visited by "X," a mysterious being who claims to be a rebel among the group that created Riverworld. X tells Clemens where he can find a large deposit of iron and other materials that Clemens can use to build the greatest riverboat ever seen. Since there is virtually no metal on the planet, it will also give Clemens an unbeatable edge when it comes to battling the various warlike societies that dominate the Riverworld.

But Clemens is not alone in his quest for the iron, which arrives on the planet in the form of a giant meteorite. In fact, Clemens is besieged on all sides by forces determined to seize the precious ore, leading him to make a deadly pact with one of history's most notorious villains, John Lackland. Lackland's crimes during his reign as king of England were so hideous that no other English monarch will ever carry his name, and he's up to equally nefarious tricks on Riverworld. However, Clemens has a guardian angel in the form of Joe Miller, a giant subhuman with a big nose, a serious lisp, and a cutting wit. Miller has also been to the very headwaters of the river, where he saw a mysterious tower in the middle of the North Sea and where the creators of Riverworld are thought to reside. He will be an invaluable ally in completing the riverboat and sailing to the headwaters, but even an 800-pound giant may not be enough to help Clemens fulfill X's mission. --Craig E. Engler

Book Description

Resurrected on the lush, mysterious banks of Riverworld, along with the rest of humanity, Samuel Langhorne Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain) has a dream: to build a riverboat that will rival the most magnificent paddle-wheelers ever navigated on the mighty Mississippi. Then, to steer it up the endless waterway that dominates his new home planet--and at last discover its hidden source.

But before he can carry out his plan, he first must undertake a dangerous voyage to unearth a fallen meteor. This mission would require striking an uneasy alliance with the bloodthirsty Viking Erik Bloodaxe, treacherous King John of England, legendary French swordsman Cyrano de Bergerac, Greek adventurer Odysseus, and the infamous Nazi Hermann Göring. All for the purpose of storming the ominous stone tower at the mouth of the river, where the all-powerful overseers of Riverworld--and their secrets--lie in wait . . .

Customer Reviews:

suck fest.......2007-05-19

after the first book I was suspecting a lot more. It got to the point where I was just skipping pages to finish. The 3rd book was a little better but not much.

Mark Twain in Space.......2006-01-19

This second installation in the Riverworld series stars the real-life historical figure of Samuel Langhorn Clemens, aka Mark Twain. He, too, has been resurrected on this strange planet. With the aid of a "Mysterious Stranger", who claims to be a renegade member of the species who built the planet and resurrected the humans, he struggles to build an enormous paddle-wheeler and search out the tower said to be found at the river's source. Unfortunately he is tied to the most notorious traitor in English history, John Lackland. As I said about the first book in the series, this book is entertaining but ultimately dissatisfying because of little character development and no solution to the mystery of the planet.

Series gaining strength as it continues.......2004-09-08

This is Farmer's second offering in his outstanding Riverworld series, five books that must be read together in sequence for the whole story. He continues to develop this fabulous world of a millions mile long river, snaking around and around a planet, hemmed in on each side by unscaleable mountains which force all to live in the river valley. Into this artificially formed world, all humanity who ever lived and died has been resurrected, with no clue as to the how or why, or by whom. The books in the series tell the stories of those who are driven to find answers to those mysteries.
In 'The Fabulous Riverboat', Farmer leaves for a while the quest of his protagonist from the first book, Sir Richard Burton, and focuses on another fascinating 19th century personality - Samuel Clemens, AKA Mark Twain. Clemens is driven by a dream of finding iron on this mineral-poor planet from which he can build a riverboat such as he piloted on Earth, to take him to the headwaters of the river where emerging clues seem to indicate answers can be found to this confounding after-life. The Clemens we meet here is bitter, angry, and filled with guilt, and his ultimate motivation is to find those responsible for the mass resurrection of humanity, and to strike whatever blow he can against them in retaliation for bringing him back from the peace of the grave. With the help of a powerful "Mysterious Stranger", who may be a renegade member of the race responsible for this resurrection and Riverworld, Clemens is able to find the minerals he needs, and to form a colony dedicated to the project of building his fabulous riverboat.
Complications abound, however. The first and greatest is a partnership of necessity that Clemens must form with the deceitful and despicable King John Lackland, the most notorious of all the old kings of England. Then there is the need to concentrate on developing the military might to hold and defend this unique area of the river that contains the minerals necessary to fulfilling his dream. And finally, there is Sam's personal, guilt-ridden agony over making the hard, amoral choices that have to be made if he is going to succeed in his quest.
The strength of these books lie in the opportunities that the premise provides for having historical persons from widely different periods interact with each other. In 'The Fabulous Riverboat', we meet Lothar von Richthofen, brother and flying comrade of the Red Baron, Erik Bloodaxe, 10th century Viking leader, Odysseus, Cyrano de Bergerac, Hitler's toady Herman Goring, mountain man "Liver Eating" Johnson and more. Together with some well-drawn original characters, these make for a fascinating story.
This book does not suffer as much from stilted writing as did the first book of the series, but I still would describe the writing style as merely competent. The characters and story are the strength of the book, and more than sufficient to provide both the thrills and intellectual stimulation to make reading it worthwhile.
After taking you on a thrill-ride of battles, assassinations, double crosses, and assorted intrigue, 'The Fabulous Riverboat' will leave you with a cliff-hanging ending that should send you scrambling to read the next book in the series (The Dark Design).

fairly enjoyable pulp.......2004-06-16

not much more to say. It's pulp, but good enjoyable stuff.

Books 1 and 2 are vastly superior because, not despite this. Their origins in the serial magazine world show and are delightful.

Books 3,4,5 suffer because PJF tends to believe he is a far far better writer than he is, and overwrite if not severely edited

To journey up the great River.......2004-04-20

In this, the second of The Riverworld series, Samuel Clemens, joined by Viking, Erik Bloodaxe undertake to find a source of iron great enough to build a Riverboat by which to navigate to the headwaters of the Riverworld and there to asertain the purpose for which they were all resurected.

The Stranger who has helped various individuals along with information in the first book continues to help, and lends his assistance in delivering an enormous supply of iron in reach of Clemens's team. Undertaking thier great project, the newfounded city faces trials from within and without. Neighboring city-states want to take over the source of iron for themselves, and Samuel Clemens must think quick to avoid trechery, even comiting trechery of his own to achive his goals.

Book Description

Thirty-five billion people from throughout Earth's history were resurrected along the great and winding waterways of Riverworld. Most began life anew--accepting without question the sustenance provided by their mysterious benefactors. But a rebellious handful burned to confront the unseen masters who controlled their fate--and these few launched an invasion that would ultimately yield the mind-boggling truth.

Now Riverworld's omnipotent leaders have been confronted, and the renegades of Riverworld--led by the intrepid Sir Richard Francis Burton--control the fantastic mechanism that once ruled them. But the most awesome challenge lies ahead. For in the vast corridors and secret rooms of the tower stronghold, an unknown enemy watches and waits to usurp the usurpers . . .

Customer Reviews:

Very good.......2005-10-18

The unfavorable reviews of this book kept me from buying it. But finally I couldn't resist finding out how Farmer closed out the series. Buy, was I pleasently surpirsed. Of the 5 RiverWorld books in the series, book 1 was my favorite while book 5 is my second favorite.

Book 5 closes the show sure but what leads to the close is fascinating to me. The discussions the characters have is stimulating and the events that occur in the tower are entertaining.

Don't let the unfavorable reviews disuade you from reading this book. If you liked the existential undertones in the previous 4 books, you'll really like this one.

A return to Riverworld.......2005-06-04

One of the questions I hear most often from sci-fi and fantasy fans is "But what happened next?" This is the reason the most successful series have so many subsequent books and fan-fiction stories written; when a world is evocative, you want to hear more.

The Riverworld story was absolutely finished with Book 4, and Farmer could easily have stopped there. However, he was curious about what might transpire when the power of the Riverworld falls into the wrong (?) hands, so he continued the series for one more book.

Do not attempt to read this book without reading the rest of the series, and don't feel that you have to continue if you were satisfied with the end of The Magic Labyrinth. Gods of Riverworld brings the story to a more definite close, albeit not one that I particularly liked.

Note that one of the book's two protagonists is Peter Frigate, who many readers (including myself) found absolutely an insufferable example of author egotism. If you'd had enough of Frigate by the end of book four, you're probably not going to like book five.

Overly long.......2005-05-10

At first I was going to rate this book 2 stars. Then once I finished I realized I liked it better, and raised my rating.

This book is definitely the worst in the series. While the other books show the difficulties and struggle of people trying to get to the tower, spanning several years and with many different conflicts and enemies, this book takes place in a realatively short time in a small space, the tower or giant grail.

Filled with overlong backgrounds on many of the characters, this book is mostly a discussion on various points of philosophy, not really a continuation of the Riverworld saga.

The first few pages, a few pages in the middle and the last half chapter all progress the story and were the redeeming quality of the book. The rest was a buch of irritating dialogues and asides describing character histories.

If you liked the other books in the series, be prepared for disappointment. Still I did enjoy knowing what happened to the characters after they got to the tower. If you skim the backgrounds and the philosophy discussions, this book is a nice one to have read.

Pretty bad.......2004-06-16

This book wasn't necessary. Book 4 ties up pretty much everything and this book is simply tedium ad infinitum. Lots of people playing in their private paradises, etc.

Somewhat arbitrarily, a lot of what is explained in book 4 turns out to be a lie. Guess that makes sense, as X is more or less nuts, but still annoying

Didn't age well for me.......2004-06-12

Try as I might, I could not get into this book as much as I wanted to. I originally read this book (all of the series) back in 1987-8 and I remember liking the books quite a bit. Now the writing seemed stilted and the plot heavy handed.

Average customer rating:

The Image Of The Beast
Philip Jose Postscript By Theodore Sturgeon. Farmer
Manufacturer: Essex House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HZCNC6

More Than Fire: A World of Tiers Novel (World of Tiers)

Average customer rating:

A very good end for a great series(or it's not the end?)

More Than Fire: A World of Tiers Novel (World of Tiers)
Philip Jose Farmer
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312852800

Customer Reviews:

A very good end for a great series(or it's not the end?).......2000-07-05

Khichaka and Anana are absolutely unique:a goddess so human,a human so godlike.The pocket universe idea is wonderful,provided it's not used for making the heroes wander pointlessly from one zany universe to another.And the solution is so bizarre,so farmerish,one would say,but very humane.I only think that the petty wars between the immortal supergods who made the World of Tiers made me wonder about the desirability of immortality.And what happened to Wolff and Chryseis,by the way?

Up from the Bottomless Pit and Other Stories

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Up from the Bottomless Pit and Other Stories
Philip Jose Farmer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1596061286
Release Date: 2007-07-25

Product Description

Limited to 250 signed numbered copies, in slipcase. Up from the Bottomless Pit is the ultimate collection for Philip Jose Farmer fans, including 140,000 words (roughly 400 pages) of very obscure, never-before-collected short stories, a novel beginning, non-fiction, and a complete novel as well. All of these pieces have only seen publication in Farmerphile, a fanzine with a regular circulation well under two hundred copies per issue. Subterranean Press is proud to give these newly discovered gems a more permanent home, in an edition specifically geared toward Phil's most ardent fans. In addition to the rarities, there will be copious introductions and numerous black and white illustrations. Philip Jos?? Farmer: maker of universes and chronicler of fantastic adventures, legendary Hugo Award winner and Nebula Grand Master... Today few realize that Farmer was writing literary fiction long before he set the science fiction world afire with his groundbreaking "The Lovers." Up from the Bottomless Pit and Other Stories collects these little known treasures, along with other fantastical tales--all making their first appearance here in book form. Sure to excite readers of science fiction everywhere is the inclusion of Farmer's "lost" novel of the ultimate ecological nightmare. Set in an alternate past circa the 1970s, Up from the Bottomless Pit tells of a world so ravenous in its desire for oil that it has thrown caution to the wind. Using an experimental laser drill, humankind burns a hole through the ocean floor only to unleash a deadly torrent that threatens to wipe out all life on the planet. With its first-time collection of a lost novel, ultra-rare works, tales of science fiction and fantasy, Up from the Bottomless Pit and Other Stories presents a compelling new look at one of speculative fiction's most beloved literary giants.

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The Best of Philip Jose Farmer
Philip Jose Farmer
Manufacturer: Subterranean Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Anthologies | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1596060360

Average customer rating:

Three groundbreaking works under one cover
Early Farmer at is Very Best

Strange Relations
Philip Jose Farmer
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Adventure | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1416509348

Book Description

The Lovers: One of the most controversial and groundbreaking novels in science fiction. Sent by the religious tyranny of a future Earth to the planet Ozagen, Hal Yarrow met Jeanette, an apparently human fugitive, hiding in ancient ruins built by a long-vanished race. Unconsecrated contact with any female was forbidden to Yarrow-and love for an alien female was an unspeakable sin. But Yarrow's lifelong conditioning was no match for his strange attraction to Jeanette.

Flesh: The starship captain had made the mistake of landing on a forgotten planet colonized centuries ago by believers in ancient pagan rituals. Unless he could escape, he would be made part of a fertility rite which would conclude with his very unpleasant death.

Strange Relations: Five novelettes of unbounded imagination telling of strange encounters between man and alien.

Previously published as separate books, these three works are published here together for the first time.</p>

Customer Reviews:

Three groundbreaking works under one cover.......2006-04-20

Philip Jose Farmer is another name from the past strongly associated with powerful writing, and STRANGE RELATIONS is an excellent compendium of three of his groundbreaking works under one cover: THE LOVERS, FLESH, and STRANGE RELATIONS. A starship captain sent by Earth's religious rulers discovers a human fugitive hiding in an ancient ruins and finds love too strong to ignore, however illogical or forbidden. His adventures with his new love will change worlds.

Early Farmer at is Very Best.......2006-03-02

This is a collection of three books, the novels THE LOVERS and FLESH and a loose collection of stories called STRANGE RELATIONS, one of which has a Father Carmody story. This handsome edition from Baen should be in everybody's library, everybody, that is, who claims to be a student of science fiction. Farmer was at his best when throwing humans up against alien races in sexual (or reproductive) situations. THE LOVERS, I think, stands as one of his very best novels overall. I had a lot of fun rereading these stories in this new edition. I highly recommend this book.

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