A Feast Unknown [Hardcover]

Philip Jose Farmer (Author), Richard Corben (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Fokker Press (1975)
• ASIN: B0013PPVBY
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Original Slash Fiction?, May 29, 2005

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F. Orion Pozo "Orion Pozo" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Feast Unknown (Paperback)

The Feast Unknown by Philip Jose Farmer may not be everybody's cup of tea. There is a lot of graphic descriptions of both violence and male arousal. Yet if the reader is open-minded enough to get past these, this is a well crafted adventure novel by one of the masters of the field.

The novel pits Farmer's versions of Tarzan and Doc Savage against each other in a fight to the death over the secret of eternal life. Farmer calls these foes Lord Grandrith and Doc Caliban, and tells the story from the point of view of Grandrith. Also, it turns out there is another secret these two share that they must discover before they kill each other.

There are enough explosions, deaths, and dismemberments for a summer Hollywood adventure blockbuster, but Farmer has added a strange twist to the story that makes this risky material for the screen. As the novel opens, Grandrith finds that he becomes physically aroused to the point of climax whenever he kills someone. This is very distracting for him, as he must outwit his most deadly enemies while his body is being drawn towards other feelings.

This is difficult material to handle and Farmer does it superbly, and with a touch of humor, while keeping the excitement level high. Leave it to the creator of Riverworld to invent such a fantastic story line and carry it off superbly from beginning to end.

Is this the original slash fiction (fan writings involving fancied romantic liaisons between fictional male companions)? Most articles about slash trace it back to 1970s fan fiction depicting romantic adventures between Star Trek's Kirk and Spock. A Feast Unknown was first published in 1969, a date that precedes the earliest dating for slash so far. However, regardless of whether this novel has anything to do with slash fiction, it is a great work on its own terms that was certainly groundbreaking at the time and can still be controversial to this day.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is what you want it to be, June 3, 2010

By 

Jamie Kendall "zenjestre" (Tucson Arizona) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Feast Unknown (Paperback)

If you've stumbled across this particular amazon listing, then no doubt you were doing some searching for Phil Farmer's more obscure works. This is one of them, and let me tell you that this book is everything you want to get when you crack open a Farmer novel, applied to an extreme degree.

The basic gist of the plot is Tarzan vs Doc Savage. The characters are not named as such, likely because of the content, but it is obvious who the main characters are. These two pulp heroes define the classic adventure genre, and here Farmer has them crossing paths in what I'm positive other reviewers would agree is an orgy of sex and violence.

And no, that is not an exaggeration. This is one of the most graphic books I've ever read, violently and sexually and, yes, both at the same time. If you're familiar with Farmer (specifically 'Image of the Beast,' 'World of Tiers,' and 'Lord Tyger [which is another 'Tarzan' pastiche]) you know that the man tends not to hold back. In this particular instance, he strives to outdo himself. In fact, one could say it is the point of the novel- to take the ultimately superficial (violent) and ultimately latent (sexual) aspects of our favorite classic pulp heroes and to explore them in a novel that, once begun, does not let up until the final chapter.

Upon reading this (in one sitting, though I did not intend to do so at first), I was emotionally drained. The book is intense, action-packed, adventurous, deviant, pornographic, horrific, and ultimately great. I highly recommend this to Farmer fans, and I sort of recommend this to open-minded fans of the classic pulps. If you ever wanted to know what Tarzan's sex life was like, this or 'Lord Tyger' are the books for you. Wonderful, fast-paced, relentless enjoyment throughout.

Don't hesitate. Grab this one if you can.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gross yet good, March 13, 2007

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C. Nappi "goldwater lives" (funkytown) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Feast Unknown (Paperback)

Its hard to explain how this book is better than lame internet fan fiction. The author takes two fictional characters and puts them through some violent homoerotic adventures, yet this book is way better than any lame blog entry.

If you like disgusting books check this one out, it might even be more over the top than American Psycho.