Customer Reviews

Magic Labyrinth

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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

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

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.

This is the final novel of Farmer's original Riverworld cycle. Like the rest of the series, it is audacious, often fascinating, but also very problematic. "Labyrinth" is often long-winded and unwieldy, particularly in the beginning. But everything comes together as the rival riverboats commanded by archenemies Sam Clemens and John Lackland meet for their final confrontation, after which the survivors struggle on to gain entrance to the mysterious tower in the North Sea. The battle and the final leg of the journey are well-written and full of adventure and mystery. However, once they gain entrance to the tower, the story becomes dull and stagnant. The nature of the Ethicals, their struggle, and the truth about the human soul are presented in a series of interminable conversations. It is very unsatisfying, after having made the commitment to reading over a thousand pages of this series, to have it resolved with the introduction of a character who simply explains away all of the mysteries. Also, by the time the series ends, Farmer has killed off the majority of his most interesting characters, often in rather off-handed ways that are at odds with all the attention, detail, and craft that went into developing them in the first place. Of the final band that reaches the tower, most are relatively minor characters that I really didn't care about and whose personalities had not been well-developed.

In my opinion, the Riverworld series has turned out to be quite a disappointment. It does not live up to the high reputation that it has garnered within the SF community.

I read this conclusion (more or less) to the series when it first came out in 1980. Now that I'm 23 years older, it just doesn't work as well for me as it did then. I still give Farmer an A+ for the audacity of the whole Riverworld concept, but the writing is just plain clunky. I'd also dispute his assertion that all loose ends are neatly tied up. But it's an acceptable end to a remarkable SF series.

This is the fourth installment of the Riverworld series and what an anti-climax it is. It concentrates on two main storylines. The first is the confrontation between the two riverboats of Samuel Clemens and King John. The second is the adventure of Richard Burton and his allies as they make their way to the secret tower to finally know the secrets of the Ethicals. Both storylines are handled childishly. Farmer has no skill in showing battle scenes. This is especially apparent in a dogfight between the two ships air forces. The battles become cluttered and because of this lose all sense of drama. Storylines and characters that seemed important in the first 3 books are either ignored or cast aside. Samuel Clemens is portrayed as an imitation of Captain Ahab. His thirst for revenge is only equalled by the imbecility of his stratagies and tactics in battle. As for Richard Burton and his band it becomes almost a K-mart version of the fellowship of the ring except the band is so non-existent that you don't even know who's in it until a character speaks up. It's unclear which characters are around because the scenes are so poorly constructed. The hype on the inside of this book states that the Riverworld series should be compared to the Dune and Foundation sagas. I know Isaac Asimov. Mr. Farmer, you are no Isaac Asimov. Looking back over this series, the first volume is the only one worth reading. The rest of them are hackwork.

Don't believe the book jacket when it says this is the final book of the Riverworld series. It is not, there are so many loose ends, that the Gods of Riverworld is necessary reading to conclude the series. Although the events in this novel will probably piss you off and this novel is the weakest of what I would consider a 4-1/2 star series, it's a necessary novel to read to really conclude the series in the very satisfactory Gods of Riverworld.

This is the 4th book in the Riverworld series.

These main characters are Burton and Clemens. The plot is that of the two Riverboats continuing their journeys up river and finally meeting and have a huge battle.

There are a lot of boring parts to this book. Especially in the beginning where there are two many dream sequences. So you may be skipping a bit in the beginning. After about the middle though, things get quite a bit more interesting and towards the end they are extremely exciting.

As stated before the discrepancies in this novel and the next one are enormous. The author leaves quite a few issues unanswered. Such as the fate of Kazz, Loghu, Tom Mix, Jack London, and Johnston, the crow killer.

One of the things I found most irritating about this book was that it seemed like the author had plenty of time to put in boring dream sequences but no time to clear up said issues for the sake of storyline completeness. Characters were literally there one chapter and gone the next. Without any written reference to them or why they were no longer in the main travelling party.

Still worth it for the great Riverboat battle at the end, but it's irritating how many main characters are killed off wantonly.

I gave this book 3 stars because once you get to the Riverboat Battle between Clemens and Prince John it's all exceptionally good with lots of action centering around your favorite characters.

Science Fiction and Fantasy is a vast genre that encompasses the epic fantasies of J.R.R. Tolkien, the futuristic machine of Jules Verne, the space opera of Star Wars and the teen magic of Harry Potter. Its main requisite is the ability to create compelling other worlds. The successful creator of worlds has the ability to captivate the reader and to draw him from his own existence into the realm of dreams that is the essence of fantasy. Phillip Jose Farmer is a master dimension creator. Tiers, Riverworld and Dayworld are all cleverly conceived realities with a compelling twist of logic.

Master novelists create compelling characters. These constructs of words become more real than historical characters and in some cases seem to become friends of the readers. It is the protagonist who the draws the reader deep into the novel and never releases his grip until that final climax. The creation of believable and entertaining characters is one of Phillip Jose Farmer's abiding flaws. Perhaps knowing this, he has `borrowed' more characters than any writer in history. Whether resurrecting historical figures on the banks of Riverworld or writing as various members of his Wode Newton family, all of whom are borrowed, the author simply procures people who strike his fancy and then turns them into single dimensional characters.

Master writers share a common trait. They write well. Their descriptions invoke vivid images for the reader. Their prose flows smoothly. Their plots cohere. There is none of this in the works of Phillip Jose Farmer. Descriptions are pedestrian, plots often span over half a million words before petering out to nothing and the writing seems to move in fits and starts like a Model A on a cold morning.

Nowhere are these strengths and weaknesses more evident than in the Riverworld Saga. The reality of the Riverworld is brilliantly conceived, but never well communicated. The description of the world varies between scientific and pedestrian as the plot wends its way along the river eating its tail until it has happily consumed itself in pseudo scientific gobbledygook. There are plethora of throw and thrown away protagonists and hence at the climax none. Ultimately the series is a disappointment as much for what might have been as for what was. In the hands of a craftsman Riverworld would have rivaled Middle Earth, however in the hands of its creator...

both book 3 and 4 should have 100 pages ripped out of them. Much higher quality product then. And really very little would be lost.

"explanation" at end is a bit goofy, but ok. The war and the tower were pretty decent overall.