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steven_v's review against another edition
1.0
This is the fourth and most disappointing novel of the Riverworld series. Although the first three had some problems, they remained interesting. What drove me to keep reading this series was the mystery of why the world was built, and the purpose behind the resurrections. This fourth novel provides the final explanation for everything that is going on and who is behind it all. And that explanation is unfortunately predictable and entirely unoriginal. I will explain what I mean only in the most vague terms to avoid spoilers.
The explanation is predictable because Farmer provided too much of it before the final scene in which the whole truth is revealed. Too many facets of it were already guessed at or revealed to the main characters in earlier books. And so when the final truth is given, only minor details are new -- everything else was already anticipated by Burton and the others. At best we have some of them saying, "Ah, so that is why X happened." But these are only the most trivial details -- all of the big deductions made by the main characters end up being, on the whole, correct. And so there was no big "aha!" moment where the light bulb goes of for the reader.
But perhaps that could have been forgivable if Farmer's explanation hadn't been so trite. Perhaps if one never reads much science fiction this might have seemed original, but as someone who has read widely of the genre and seen many movies and TV shows in the genre, the driving force behind what is going on is nothing new in sci-fi. In fact, it's been done to death. I was highly disappointed in this fact, because the idea of the Riverworld itself is so original that I expected surely to be surprised and delighted by a wildly unique explanation at the end of who is behind it all and why. But we have the same old culprits here that we would have in any other unremarkable and highly predictable sci-fi novels or movies.
Finally, the other problem is that Farmer side-tracked the main plot, which is getting up the river to find the source and learn the truth, for nearly 75% of the book so he could focus on the sub-plot of the Clemens vs. King John feud. This he tracks in minute detail, to the point where I almost gave up on the novel for not caring - because I literally did not care at that point who won the fight. Even within this story, this side-track, Farmer insists on diverting us from the diversion by providing a 2-page biography of just about every minor character to appear in the novel -- about a page on what they did in the real world, and then another page on what they've been doing on the Riverworld. Then the bit character who has just been bio'ed leaps into the fight and, in almost every case, promptly dies. Gee, I'm sure glad Farmer treated me to the history of a character that won't be around in another chapter.
When combined, these negatives weigh down the narrative and bring what had been a mildly enjoyable series to a thoroughly unsatisfying conclusion. Farmer, in the introduction to book 3, claims that books 3-4 were supposed to be a single novel but grew too large to publish in one volume. Had I been his editor, I could have helped him cut the two down by telling him to just get the Clemons-John fight over with quickly, and get back to the real point of the story - the travel upriver.
There is a fifth Riverworld book, but I'll not bother to read it. This one was too poor to want to read any more. I'm afraid in addition, because the ending is so unsatisfying, I find myself unable to recommend the series as a whole. And that's a shame, because the first two books are pretty good, and the basic premise (minus the awful and cliche'ed explanation!) is a good one. It's a shame Farmer didn't do more with this.
The explanation is predictable because Farmer provided too much of it before the final scene in which the whole truth is revealed. Too many facets of it were already guessed at or revealed to the main characters in earlier books. And so when the final truth is given, only minor details are new -- everything else was already anticipated by Burton and the others. At best we have some of them saying, "Ah, so that is why X happened." But these are only the most trivial details -- all of the big deductions made by the main characters end up being, on the whole, correct. And so there was no big "aha!" moment where the light bulb goes of for the reader.
But perhaps that could have been forgivable if Farmer's explanation hadn't been so trite. Perhaps if one never reads much science fiction this might have seemed original, but as someone who has read widely of the genre and seen many movies and TV shows in the genre, the driving force behind what is going on is nothing new in sci-fi. In fact, it's been done to death. I was highly disappointed in this fact, because the idea of the Riverworld itself is so original that I expected surely to be surprised and delighted by a wildly unique explanation at the end of who is behind it all and why. But we have the same old culprits here that we would have in any other unremarkable and highly predictable sci-fi novels or movies.
Finally, the other problem is that Farmer side-tracked the main plot, which is getting up the river to find the source and learn the truth, for nearly 75% of the book so he could focus on the sub-plot of the Clemens vs. King John feud. This he tracks in minute detail, to the point where I almost gave up on the novel for not caring - because I literally did not care at that point who won the fight. Even within this story, this side-track, Farmer insists on diverting us from the diversion by providing a 2-page biography of just about every minor character to appear in the novel -- about a page on what they did in the real world, and then another page on what they've been doing on the Riverworld. Then the bit character who has just been bio'ed leaps into the fight and, in almost every case, promptly dies. Gee, I'm sure glad Farmer treated me to the history of a character that won't be around in another chapter.
When combined, these negatives weigh down the narrative and bring what had been a mildly enjoyable series to a thoroughly unsatisfying conclusion. Farmer, in the introduction to book 3, claims that books 3-4 were supposed to be a single novel but grew too large to publish in one volume. Had I been his editor, I could have helped him cut the two down by telling him to just get the Clemons-John fight over with quickly, and get back to the real point of the story - the travel upriver.
There is a fifth Riverworld book, but I'll not bother to read it. This one was too poor to want to read any more. I'm afraid in addition, because the ending is so unsatisfying, I find myself unable to recommend the series as a whole. And that's a shame, because the first two books are pretty good, and the basic premise (minus the awful and cliche'ed explanation!) is a good one. It's a shame Farmer didn't do more with this.
cruelspirit's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
After a year and a half break I'm finally returning to the Riverworld series to take on the fourth installment. The Riverworld series has been a rocky journey in terms of my enjoyment of the series. I still have yet to find a Sci Fi book that take the place of my all time favorite Sci Fi book away from To Your Scattered Bodies Go. I really love the overall concept of riverworld and the blending of history, linguistics, and anthropology into a fun and out of the box Sci Fi story.
That being said, the follow up sequels have been underwhelming to say the least. I hated The Fabulous Riverboat as it felt like it removed everything I enjoyed from the first book. The lead protagonist was replaced by Sam Clemens (Mark Twain) who was stuck in a loop of building and having to rebuild his riverboats while whining about having lost his wife from earth to a new lover without really doing much about it but complain. I enjoyed the third book, The Dark Design, more. There was a return to some of the adventure and themes of the first book but still it was bogged down by diverting plot points that felt more like a distraction than anything else.
Out of all of the sequel I think I like The Magic Labyrinth best. That being said it isn't free from it's own issues and continuing problems I had with the last two books. While I enjoyed a lot of what this book had to offer I found just as many moments where I was struggling to work through it. The biggest issue here is how disjointed it is. There are the immediate plot points that need to be wrapped up from where they left off in the last book but also the overall mystery that has been explored since the first book needs to be wrapped up in a satisfying and fleshed out way. Overall, I didn't find this to be the best executed.
I enjoyed the first hundred pages or so. My biggest criticism here would be that it was a lot of rehashing of events that happened in the last book but considering I hadn't read that book in a year and a half I was alright with this recap. Mainly I was just enjoying back in this world. About 150 pages in we get to the big battle between Sam Clemens and King John. This is a carry over from the last book and was something I didn't really enjoy then. A big criticism I had of the last book was that the action scenes really fell flat for me. While I think this is done better here I still found this to be an issue. This battle is drawn out for around half of the book and it really slowed down my progress and interest in the book.
After the battle is concluded the characters are able to continue on their journey to the tower in which the ethicals live and try to find out what this world is. I was drawn back into the story. The adventure and worldbuilding is really what I enjoy most about these Riverworld books and I got that for the last hundred pages or so.
That being said, once the story gets to the tower and they are confronting the grand mystery I still wasn't feeling that invested. I've spent my time working my way through four books to get to what I wanted just to not really care. Some of the ideas are fun and this is the kind of Sci Fi I like exploring but I just felt like it wasn't the greatest payoff. Things wrap up rather quickly and in a mundane way. It felt like Farmer was wrapping up the story out of obligation and not really out of any real interest in exploring this world like he was in the first book.
As a series Riverworld could have been two, maybe three books, and I would have liked it more. There's a lot to explore in a world like this but much of what was focused on felt like typical adventure schlock as opposed to exploring a wholly unique world. One of the main issues I've had with these books is they go from essentially fighting with sticks and stones in the first book to having machine guns, airplanes, and fully functional large scale steam boats by the second book. This advancement in technology over only a few decades always threw me off and made it feel like this was just a general action series on 20th century earth more often than a newly explored Sci Fi world.
Overall, I think this is a fine place to tap out. I know there's a fifth book expanding on the world but unless I come across a copy and really feel like revisiting Riverworld in a few years I don't see myself reading it. I'd rather read one of Farmer's other works at this point or reread To Your Scattered Bodies Go. I knew going into this series that it doesn't really have legs to stand on but my curiosity and love for the first book got the best of me. It could have been worse but with such high expectations I'm still left feeling disappointed.
That being said, the follow up sequels have been underwhelming to say the least. I hated The Fabulous Riverboat as it felt like it removed everything I enjoyed from the first book. The lead protagonist was replaced by Sam Clemens (Mark Twain) who was stuck in a loop of building and having to rebuild his riverboats while whining about having lost his wife from earth to a new lover without really doing much about it but complain. I enjoyed the third book, The Dark Design, more. There was a return to some of the adventure and themes of the first book but still it was bogged down by diverting plot points that felt more like a distraction than anything else.
Out of all of the sequel I think I like The Magic Labyrinth best. That being said it isn't free from it's own issues and continuing problems I had with the last two books. While I enjoyed a lot of what this book had to offer I found just as many moments where I was struggling to work through it. The biggest issue here is how disjointed it is. There are the immediate plot points that need to be wrapped up from where they left off in the last book but also the overall mystery that has been explored since the first book needs to be wrapped up in a satisfying and fleshed out way. Overall, I didn't find this to be the best executed.
I enjoyed the first hundred pages or so. My biggest criticism here would be that it was a lot of rehashing of events that happened in the last book but considering I hadn't read that book in a year and a half I was alright with this recap. Mainly I was just enjoying back in this world. About 150 pages in we get to the big battle between Sam Clemens and King John. This is a carry over from the last book and was something I didn't really enjoy then. A big criticism I had of the last book was that the action scenes really fell flat for me. While I think this is done better here I still found this to be an issue. This battle is drawn out for around half of the book and it really slowed down my progress and interest in the book.
After the battle is concluded the characters are able to continue on their journey to the tower in which the ethicals live and try to find out what this world is. I was drawn back into the story. The adventure and worldbuilding is really what I enjoy most about these Riverworld books and I got that for the last hundred pages or so.
That being said, once the story gets to the tower and they are confronting the grand mystery I still wasn't feeling that invested. I've spent my time working my way through four books to get to what I wanted just to not really care. Some of the ideas are fun and this is the kind of Sci Fi I like exploring but I just felt like it wasn't the greatest payoff. Things wrap up rather quickly and in a mundane way. It felt like Farmer was wrapping up the story out of obligation and not really out of any real interest in exploring this world like he was in the first book.
As a series Riverworld could have been two, maybe three books, and I would have liked it more. There's a lot to explore in a world like this but much of what was focused on felt like typical adventure schlock as opposed to exploring a wholly unique world. One of the main issues I've had with these books is they go from essentially fighting with sticks and stones in the first book to having machine guns, airplanes, and fully functional large scale steam boats by the second book. This advancement in technology over only a few decades always threw me off and made it feel like this was just a general action series on 20th century earth more often than a newly explored Sci Fi world.
Overall, I think this is a fine place to tap out. I know there's a fifth book expanding on the world but unless I come across a copy and really feel like revisiting Riverworld in a few years I don't see myself reading it. I'd rather read one of Farmer's other works at this point or reread To Your Scattered Bodies Go. I knew going into this series that it doesn't really have legs to stand on but my curiosity and love for the first book got the best of me. It could have been worse but with such high expectations I'm still left feeling disappointed.
olityr's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The series is a little less psychedelic with each entry. This one felt more like typical sci-fi novel, not a mushroom trip like the first one.
emu_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
nnewbykew's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
joelshults's review against another edition
3.0
Like a lot of people who have commented already, I felt like this book was kind of a let down compared the others in the series. I wasn't disappointed by "the big reveal" of what was going on on Riverworld, I was more let down by the story leading up to it. The final battle, if you will, and the events leading up to it were pretty tedious. It's still an interesting series that I've spent a good deal of time pondering while not actually reading the books.
lettersbyansible's review against another edition
4.0
Better than the others in the series as the "journey" doesn't get in the way of his story-telling.
nicholasbobbitt1997's review against another edition
3.0
Another good but not great story in the series. The writing style is, per usual, great, but it again feels like Farmer ran out of steam.