Quest to Riverworld [Paperback]

Philip Jose Farmer (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1993

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. '

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Questar; Warner books ed edition (August 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446362700
• ISBN-13: 978-0446362702
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,303,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative! Unique! Riverworld!, June 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Quest to Riverworld (Paperback)

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

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Any riverewold is good riverworld, December 17, 2008

By 

General Pete (SC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Quest to Riverworld (Paperback)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Satisfactory End To A Remarkable Series, November 14, 2006

By 

Charles Glover - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Quest to Riverworld (Paperback)

I hope that most Riverworld fans out there were more satisfied with this one than I was. I appreciate what the other reviewer said about the book, but I was disappointed. I read it primarily for the Farmer stories at the beginning and the end. Some of the others were entertaining, some stretched the premise a little too far, and some just seemed like an excuse to write a story about Elvis or Wild Bill or whatever famous person the writer of the story liked.

The original series (including the original novella which lead up to "To Your Scattered Bodies Go") was a great series. My favorite will always be "The Fabulous Riverboat," the story of how Sam Clemens built the Not For Hire. There was even a Not For Hire story in this collection. I kind of enjoyed it, but it really just made me yearn for the original book. Even the fifth book of the series (which was technically the sixth book if you count the original novella) took place after the mystery of Riverworld had been solved, and showed signs of a series running out of steam. This collection, released alongside Tales of Riverworld (which was of equal calibre to this one, and included a good story by Ed Gorman) seemed to be the last of the series, and it felt to me like the stories were reaching.

I appreciate the writers taking time to pay tribute to a great series, but hopefully we will never see writers writing Dark Tower stories to celebrate Stephen King, or 2001 Hal and Dave stories to celebrate Arthur C Clarke. It is nice to pay tribute, but it never lives up to the originals... This is why I especially appreciate the Farmer stories, as if he chose to close off his tribute to his own series. I didn't know when I read these that Farmer used his own ancesters in them. I don't know if Farmer is still writing (or if he is still alive), but this will likely be the last of any Riverworld tales I read. I will be glad, however, to revisit the original series at any time.