Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

The Fabulous Riverboat (Riverworld Saga, Book 2) [Paperback]

Philip Jose Farmer
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover --  
Paperback --  
Mass Market Paperback --  
Audio, CD --  
Audible Audio Edition, Unabridged $21.43 or Free with Audible 30-day free trial
Summer Reading
Summer Reading
Browse the best books of summer including blockbusters, beach reads, and editors' picks in our Summer Reading Store.

Book Description

July 28, 1998 Riverworld Saga (Book 2)
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 . . .

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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

From the Inside Flap

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 . . .

Product Details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Del Rey; 1st Ballantine Books ed edition (July 28, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345419685
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345419682
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #609,169 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Sadly, it's not what I expected it to be. Sinbad  |  1 reviewer made a similar statement
Using real life characters somehow even adds more realism to this amazing tale. farmerfan  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Adventure February 11, 2001
Format:Paperback
After focusing on Sir Richard Burton in the first Riverworld book, Farmer shifts the viewpoint to Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). The book focuses on how Clemens tries to find out the secret of Riverworld by building a magnificent steamboat that will carry him to the tower located at the end of the River. This book is about the efforts to build the steamboat, not about the journey. There is a lot of political intrigue in the book, as Twain has to cooperate with others, including unsavory types like the former King John of England. The book held my interest, and I read it almost in one sitting. Since Farmer has literally everyone in human history to draw from, there are lots of interesting characters, and Farmer writes the story competently. I recommend the book, but it would probably best to read TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO first.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Series gaining strength as it continues September 8, 2004
Format:Paperback
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).
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good April 29, 2003
Format:Paperback
I am a huge fan of Mark Twian's books, so when I heard that he was a main charecter of a bok I was very sectical and didn't think the book would be any good.

For the most part I was very wrong. The action is fast paced and the ending(although not wholly surpising) was well done. I espically liked the ingenuity the "Riverworlders" displayed at every turn. My favorite part was where they used the fat in the bodies of the dead to make parts for explosives. This didn't hurt anyone because the next day they would be resurrected along another strech of river.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars The Fraud of the Fabulous Riverboat: Riverworld Saga, Book 2
8/1/11

I was so excited to read the Riverworld Series after watching the movie and greatly enjoyed the first of the series, The Fabulous Riverboat: Riverworld Saga, Book... Read more
Published 22 months ago by L. L. Mendelson
1.0 out of 5 stars Ugh
I was extremely disappointed with this book It was not nearly as intriguing as the first book. It also painted Mark Twain as this whiny, boring man. Read more
Published on May 13, 2011 by paige
5.0 out of 5 stars Mark Twain in the afterlife...
#2 in the Riverworld Saga. This book, the second in a series that features a sort of repository for the dead--basically, everyone ever born on earth is resurrected in the... Read more
Published on March 7, 2011 by Cheryl A. Reynolds
3.0 out of 5 stars In which we learn very little about the Riverworld
To Your Scattered Bodies Go, the first of Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld novels, was a fast-paced, highly creative, and extremely exciting story, so I was eager to continue the... Read more
Published on February 24, 2011 by Katherine Hooper
3.0 out of 5 stars OK followup
I really enjoyed the first book. This story was entertaining, but had some slow parts which overall dragged the book. Read more
Published on February 10, 2011 by JHH
4.0 out of 5 stars An Entertaining Read
"The Fabulous Riverboat" is the second installment in Philip José Farmer's "Riverworld" series. Read more
Published on December 31, 2010 by J C E Hitchcock
1.0 out of 5 stars boring...
I read the first book of the series, thinking it has an interesting story.

SO I picked up the 2nd book in the series to continue the journey. Read more
Published on November 22, 2010 by Sinbad
5.0 out of 5 stars Huck Finn Lost in Space with John Slyboots
Welcome to a world were every human being who has every lived is resurrected randomly along an immensely long river valley surrounded by incredible steep mountains. Read more
Published on September 7, 2009 by Paul Brooks
4.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader
Clemenering for transport.

Or, as you may guess by the title, Sam wants to be able to put together a nice and nifty craft that will last the trip to find out what is... Read more
Published on April 21, 2008 by Blue Tyson
1.0 out of 5 stars suck fest
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.
Published on May 18, 2007 by Joseph Andrew Crawley
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews



Books on Related Topics (learn more)

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 





Look for Similar Items by Category