Philip José Farmer

The Wanderer

Zelazny's Worlds
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I'm just reading, 'The Unreasoning Mask', great read

Never read, 'To Your Scattered Bodies Go', would like to though

Any Opinions?
 
I got as far as the second Riverworld book before giving up. Highly over-rated IMO.
 
My take on Farmer is mixed. Stylistically he goes between being absolutely brilliant and rather pedestrian. Wonderful ideas a great deal of the time, and his playing with myth (both ancient and modern) appeals to me greatly. Overall, I'd say Farmer is a damned good writer, but works on more subtle levels than most sf... so much so that repeated readings of a lot of his work may be necessary to truly appreciate the different levels he's working on.

This is not to say that I like everything by the man. I don't, for instance, care for his venture in Doc Savage's early life, Escape from Loki, all that much, though it has some very nice things in it. On the other hand, "Riders of the Purple Wage" I still consider to be a magnificent piece of work that just grows in meaty complexity the more often I've read it, and Strange Relations and The Lovers are two of the groundbreaking sf novels of their time... and remain very good reads today. Strange Relations, indeed, can still be a bit disturbing on different levels. As for the Riverworld books... I've not read them since they came out, so my memory of them is somewhat vague, but I felt that, though it occasionally was a bit plodding stylistically, there was so much going on with different layers of thought that I didn't find it at all disappointing.... He also has a wicked sense of humor and a taste for the most egregious puns.....:p
 
Did you like the 'World of Tiers' it's exciting and funny - I seem to remember a Sea Lion type creature, sqealing and knocking one of the main charcters flying, I think the creature was actually a Man IIRC, who'd been turned into the creature and he had a grudge

I remember I nearly split my sides laughing, I'll have to read that again ;)
 
He also wrote Doc Savage (if memory serves...) which some people seem to think is ace but I ... don't.

I liked the Riverworld books and I've read the lot. Well worth the effort. If you can get hold of the related short Story "Riverworld". it's also worth a read and quite thought provoking.
 
Farmer was, for me, the first author who brought "sex" as opposed to "gender" into science fiction, and I was of an age when this was interesting (previous to him, science fiction heroes reproduced orally, and even marauding BEMs never got to do anything with their helpless victims)
I enjoyed the Riverworld, but found it went downhill after it's first splendid appearance (logical for a river, I suppose) but I suppose the sheer range of characters available was suffocating for the story line.
And he doesn't lack humour, at times, either, something I've always appreciated.
 
I remember reading Riverworld, The Lovers and Jesus on Mars. The latter stuck in my mind cause I probably wouldn't mind reading it again. It was a good 20+ years ago that I read any of them.
 
I read the 'Riverworld,' series. I can always remember that an accquaintance once suggested to me that a sequence of more than three books was worthless.

I cited Lewis, Susan Cooper and then Farmer before conceding that he had a point on that one. Vastly overrated.
 
He also wrote Doc Savage (if memory serves...) which some people seem to think is ace but I ... don't.

Ummm... how do you mean, he wrote Doc Savage? He wrote a tongue-in-cheek biography of the Man of Bronze, titled Doc Savage, His Apocalyptic Life, and he wrote a novel featuring the character to head off the new Doc Savage adventures in the 1980s (the rest were written by Will Murray, as I recall, under the old Kenneth Robeson house name), and he wrote a Doc Savage/Tarzan (sort of) novel or two (A Feast Unknown, and a double: Lord of the Trees/The Mad Goblin); but the original Doc Savage was written in the 1930s/1940s, chiefly by Lester Dent -- though with several other writers doing some of the stories now and again (as was common with the pulp adventure heroes), all under the house name of Kenneth Robeson... with one exception, as I recall, where the printer slipped up, and Dent's name went out on the issue....
 
I Must say that 'The Unreasoning Mask' 1981, is an eccentric, Colorful, off the wall, Vivid and memorable book

I read the recently published paperback reprint
 
Ummm... how do you mean, he wrote Doc Savage? He wrote a tongue-in-cheek biography of the Man of Bronze, titled Doc Savage, His Apocalyptic Life, and he wrote a novel featuring the character to head off the new Doc Savage adventures in the 1980s (the rest were written by Will Murray, as I recall, under the old Kenneth Robeson house name), and he wrote a Doc Savage/Tarzan (sort of) novel or two (A Feast Unknown, and a double: Lord of the Trees/The Mad Goblin); but the original Doc Savage was written in the 1930s/1940s, chiefly by Lester Dent -- though with several other writers doing some of the stories now and again (as was common with the pulp adventure heroes), all under the house name of Kenneth Robeson... with one exception, as I recall, where the printer slipped up, and Dent's name went out on the issue....

Really?

I must have him mixed up. It was so long ago that I don't actually remember who wrote. It's entirely possible that I got the mix up because of "his apocalyptic life".

Author mix-up aside...

I don't rate Doc Savage at all.
 
I liked the Riverworld books, but probably after a while they went on too long. Too much of a good thing etc..

If you haven't read any, I think "To Your Scatterd Bodies Go" is the first? and well worth reading, but I guess it's like one of those series that maybe it's too much to get to the final end.
 
I just finished To Your Scattered Bodies Go. Read it in one day. I really liked it.

Here is a long, spoiler-free review I wrote for it:


To Your Scattered Bodies Go

I've always wanted to read Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld books. I have heard nothing but great things about them, but I just never got around to actually reading any of them. And so yesterday, on a cold and rainy Saturday, I curled up on the couch and read my way through To Your Scattered Bodies Go. It was invigorating, and the perfect book to devour in a single sitting. It tells the story of an intense journey of discovery; it is full of action, tragedy, endearing characters, and a plethora of interesting ideas and situations.

One by one, millions of dead people, humans and aliens from a vast array of different eras, find themselves waking up, completely naked and hairless, scattered along the grassy bank of a vast river. This strange afterlife is unlike any detailed in any of the world's major religions. Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, and agnostics all must come to the realization that “heaven” exists, only it's completely different from what anyone ever imagined. This “heaven” quickly becomes a hotbed of debauchery and decadence; orgies, violence, rape, murder, war, slavery and torture become all too commonplace. It seems that, even when given a second chance, the “Lazuri,” are unable to live with one another in a peaceful and productive manner. What's more, some of the Lazuri learn that when they die in this world, they are resurrected again at a different point along the river. Some of the characters use this to their advantage, and embark on what comes to be known as “The Suicide Express” - dive into the river, take in a lung-full of water, and presto, randomly wake up somewhere else.

To Your Scattered Bodies Go can been read as a sort of historical-parallel-alternate-history story. Many of the characters are ripped out of a real life historical context and are thrust into this strange world. Taking center stage is the English explorer-translator-swordsman-fighter-author, Sir Richard Francis Burton. Once, Sir Burton disguised himself as a Muslim and made the journey to Mecca, thus, unofficially, becoming the first Caucasian Hadji. This historical anecdote is paralleled in the book as Sir Burton and his unusual crew of Lazuri make a boat, christened The Hajji, and travel up river to the of source of power, Riverworld's “Mecca.” Joining Sir Burton is Alice Hargreaves (the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland), a strange alien (a harbinger of mankind's doom, circa 2008), a Neanderthal, and a man named Steven Frigate, who, in life, was an admirer of Sir Burton's.

What I enjoyed most about Farmer's Hugo award winning book is how effortlessly the author blends old fashion pulp with the ideas of the new wave sci-fi movement. At times, the narrative conjures the voices of Robert E. Howard and E. E. “Doc” Smith. Lustful and voluptuous ladies abound, brutish barbarians and savages fight in bloody melees, and adventure reigns supreme upon the banks of the mysterious river. On the surface, the book is a rip-roaring action yarn full of daring-do and heroism, scalawags and usurpers, pitfalls and cliffhangers. However, Farmer also injects a ton of social and political context into his grand adventure. He examines ideas of racism, anarchy, diplomacy and democracy, and builds an interesting, if somewhat frustrating, speculative world made even more captivating because of the anachronistic characters.

To Your Scattered Bodies Go is comprised of the best of both worlds. It's got the ideas and social commentary of the new wave, and the pulpy adventure of the golden age. While it does sometimes suffer from some repetition, the heroes are captured and escape a bit too often, for the most part it is masterfully paced. I also appreciate how the journey ends. Narratives like this can often end on a sour note. Their endings are usually greatly anticipated, and many times the final destination does not compare to the sheer immensity of the journey. Such is not the case here. Farmer delivers a satisfactory ending, but he does not dwell on its importance. It does not disappoint because it is just another stop along the epic journey. The mystery is left open, and yet I don't feel as if I need to read any of the other Riverwold books. This is a very good thing in this modern world of massive door-stop sagas, and I thank Farmer for such a concise and compelling read.
 
Riverworld starts strong. It declines quickly after the end of Book One.

I picked up To Your Scattered Bodies Go up in 1971 because on the back cover it said "You are in this book!" Sure nuff, no matter where you are dead or alive you are in the novel!! The first novel in Riverworld is a must read, the 2nd The Fabulous Riverboat is very good, you can skip the rest of the series which goes nowhere.
 
I picked up To Your Scattered Bodies Go up in 1971 because on the back cover it said "You are in this book!" Sure nuff, no matter where you are dead or alive you are in the novel!! The first novel in Riverworld is a must read, the 2nd The Fabulous Riverboat is very good, you can skip the rest of the series which goes nowhere.

I read the first two books magnificent stuff ! The Syfy Channel adapted them a few years ago.

Also read hs novel Escape From Loki which is Doc Save novel about Doc as you man in WWI and how he met his amazing 5 friends. This is a very good book. I wish he had written more of Doc Savage novels. :cool:
 

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