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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Uneven - with Great Potential Left Unfulfilled, September 20, 2004
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
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A terrible ending for a declining series, January 26, 2007
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
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not The Last One, July 29, 1999
Well, now that I am through reading _The Magic Labyrinth_ I have to conclude that it is a step up from the previous book, but there are still some things that irk me enough to give it three stars. The good things: at least Farmer got rid of the psychedelic dream visions from _The Dark Design_. The bad: unfortunately, the pacing really stinks. A lot of sections drag on forever; we know it's coming to battle between the two ships, but it takes forever to get there. Also, the ending comes in the last few pages at such a speed that it feels like a shock. And the very last few lines are such a cheat. I thought I was reading the last book, not so. On to _Gods Of Riverworld_. All in all enjoyable, but it could have been written better.
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