Scan barcode
philster666's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
danielcantread's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
ninj's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
Took me a little to warm to the book - at the start it was a little dry, I felt, with the protagonist waking after death. But after a bit, there's a lot of adventure, traveling up the River of the Riverworld, discovering new peoples and things.
It still had slightly sluggish stalls, but generally once it was going I found it not bad from a pulp exploration point, with a lot of mystery on what's going on, where they are, why they are here, what all is happening.
It wraps up enough, but leaves questions (and adventure) open for future books.
It still had slightly sluggish stalls, but generally once it was going I found it not bad from a pulp exploration point, with a lot of mystery on what's going on, where they are, why they are here, what all is happening.
It wraps up enough, but leaves questions (and adventure) open for future books.
dennistraub's review
3.0
It was okay. Some interesting ideas. Good enough for me to read it through. Though I didn't like it enough to want to read the rest of the series.
readacorn's review against another edition
3.0
Kurz nachdem der Forscher Richard Burton im Jahr 1890 gestorben ist, erwacht er am Ufer eines Flusses in einer fremden, archaischen Welt. Offenbar wurden hier alle Menschen wiedererweckt, die je gelebt haben. Die Suche nach Antworten führt Burton, den Urmenschen Kazz und die Aristokratin Alice in eine Welt voller Gefahren, in der ein unsichtbarer Gegner die Fäden zieht … Eine zeitlose Vision über das Schicksal der Menschheit, die mit dem Hugo Gernsback Award ausgezeichnet wurde und zu den bedeutendsten Werken der phantastischen Literatur zählt.
Ganz seltsam dieses Buch... es gab Passagen, die ich weggesuchtet habe (zum Beispiel der Anfang und wenn es um Erläuterungen der Flusswelt ging) und andere mit denen ich mich sehr schwer tat (zum Beispiel die nicht seltenen Kampfszenen). Die Mischung aus fiktiven und historischen Personen hat mich etwas irritiert. Auch dass Nationalitäten und Religionen, Antisemitismus, etc eine so große Rolle spielen, fand ich etwas störend. Die Grundidee gefiel mir aber sehr und auch der atheistische Aspekt sagte mir zu, selten liest man so etwas in einem Roman.
Ob ich die Folgebände lesen werde, darüber bin ich mir noch im Unklaren. Sehr lobend zu erwähnen ist die Piper Taschenbuchausgabe, die so gut verarbeitet ist, dass beim Lesen kaum Leserillen entstehen.
Ganz seltsam dieses Buch... es gab Passagen, die ich weggesuchtet habe (zum Beispiel der Anfang und wenn es um Erläuterungen der Flusswelt ging) und andere mit denen ich mich sehr schwer tat (zum Beispiel die nicht seltenen Kampfszenen). Die Mischung aus fiktiven und historischen Personen hat mich etwas irritiert. Auch dass Nationalitäten und Religionen, Antisemitismus, etc eine so große Rolle spielen, fand ich etwas störend. Die Grundidee gefiel mir aber sehr und auch der atheistische Aspekt sagte mir zu, selten liest man so etwas in einem Roman.
Ob ich die Folgebände lesen werde, darüber bin ich mir noch im Unklaren. Sehr lobend zu erwähnen ist die Piper Taschenbuchausgabe, die so gut verarbeitet ist, dass beim Lesen kaum Leserillen entstehen.
matthewbrand's review
4.0
Reminds me a lot of Ringworld. Good story, fast read. I might continue on in the series at a later time. I liked that the main character wasn't from the 20th century. The writing style was weird for describing things. No one speaks in precise measurements "the tree was 20ft 6in tall". Definitely a lot of blatantly sexist lines/characters. I was surprised at how much he yadda yadda'd. Going through every minute detail and then one paragraph of "460 days later...."
mxmlln's review
3.0
Well written, but inconsistently paced. Sadly, there isn't an ending in sight, but an infinite series of books (FML).
kaylecorey's review
5.0
This isn't a perfect book, but it still deserves 5 stars. It's easy to overlook it for being, first and foremost, dated. This is a 1972 Hugo Award Winner that is no longer in print. It beat out The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin AND Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey. The cover art feels very 1970's SciFi. And yet within it's pages, there is something that has become scarce in modern Sc-iFi/Fantasy... it is original.
The premise revolves around explorer Richard Francis Burton, who wakes up at age 25 (after dying at age 69), nude, hairless, and surrounded by bodies. He sees the moment of resurrection, and wakes at the edge of a river. Every person who has ever lived on earth has been returned, and no one is receiving the afterlife they expected. The world they live in is governed by strange rules, and settled along millions of miles of a river, where occupants of every era congregate and create new societies. Meanwhile, Burton searches for the truth of their sudden return to a strange life.
There are things I can nitpick about it. The passage of time in the book is difficult to follow and stilted. Often, the plot can be confusing. But it does something incredibly well that many modern books cannot, and that was to find a way to pose complex philosophical and ethical quandaries without becoming preachy, judgmental, or biased. I am excited to continue the series and see where it goes, and likely the hardest part will be finding the books.
The premise revolves around explorer Richard Francis Burton, who wakes up at age 25 (after dying at age 69), nude, hairless, and surrounded by bodies. He sees the moment of resurrection, and wakes at the edge of a river. Every person who has ever lived on earth has been returned, and no one is receiving the afterlife they expected. The world they live in is governed by strange rules, and settled along millions of miles of a river, where occupants of every era congregate and create new societies. Meanwhile, Burton searches for the truth of their sudden return to a strange life.
There are things I can nitpick about it. The passage of time in the book is difficult to follow and stilted. Often, the plot can be confusing. But it does something incredibly well that many modern books cannot, and that was to find a way to pose complex philosophical and ethical quandaries without becoming preachy, judgmental, or biased. I am excited to continue the series and see where it goes, and likely the hardest part will be finding the books.
fisk42's review
5.0
All that you could want from a classic SF novel, and it certainly deserves that status. I enjoyed it so much that I almost continued on in the series despite the overwhelming advice to just stop.