Quest to Riverworld

by Philip José Farmer

Book Overview

In this compilation of short stories, histor y meets the future as everyone who has ever lived awakens in Riverworld. Authors featured in the collection include Jody Lynn Nye, Robert Weinberg and Robert Sheckley. '

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446362700
• ISBN13: 9780446362702
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Warner Books (NY)
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Any riverewold is good riverworld

Even though I do not think this installment of the anthologies has as much force as the previous one "Tales from Riverworld" there are some interesting installments that are 1. "A Place of Miracles" about Sitting Bull and his journeys on the river 2. "Hero's Coin" A tale about a wandering monk and a versatile man named nemo which I think is the strongest of all the stories. 3. "If the King Not Like the comedy" about the bard and how his company of players escape with the aid of an unlikely ally. 4. "Old Soldiers" the continuing adventures of one George S. Patton now in service to an Incan Warlord. 5. "Diaghiev Plays Riverworld" about the Spanish conquers of the New World and the length they have to go to in surviving this strange new place. As for the others I could not get into the vast majority of them. Overall the stories in this book are less conflict driven and more introspective then the stories in the pervious installment. Not bad stories but just not my cup of tea. I only wish there was another installment unfortunately this is the last of the riverworld anthologies to be published.

Imaginative! Unique! Riverworld!

If you're a fan of Philip Jose Farmer's brainchild, Riverworld, you've probably already read this. If you're not, it would probably be best to start with the original materal. However, you certainly don't need to be familiar with his five-novel series to understand or appreciate this diverse collection of well-written and intriguing SF stories. In a nutshell, Riverworld is a vast, constructed planet where everyone who's ever lived on Earth since the dawn of history to 1983 is resurrected. This leads, naturally, to an infinite variety of character meetings and confrontations through amusing and ingenious historical "what-ifs". Like what? Like what if Shakespeare came face to face with Richard III - who is not amused at the Bard's characterization of him (as in Jody Lynn Nye's excellent contribution). Or if Admundsen and Peary attempted to fly, on one of Riverworld's primitive planes, to that planet's South Pole. Why? "Because It's There," by Jerry Oltion. How about Patton fighting it out in Roman-style gladiator games (brought to you by a powerhouse in the SF field, Lawrence Watt-Evans)? Or for even more jingoistic John Wayne-style indulgence, what if American icons Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett tussled with some Nazis? Philip Jose Farmer contributes two stories here as bookends, and they are both superb; in addition to being engaging and thought-provoking, he uses only his own ancestors as characters! Fun and imaginative historical speculation by a lot of great talents in the field. Warmly recommended