Reviews
(18/63+) In my Hugo Read-Through Winning the Hugo Award for best novel in 1972 and was a reworking of a previously unpublished shorter story "Owe for the Flesh" he had written a decade earlier. It also has appeared as a two part novella that ran From 1965 and 1966. So after all these versions, he finally created this one and it went on to win the Hugo, so all the hard work paid off. This is my first Philip Jose Farmer book, I own "Venus on a Halfshell" but haven't read it yet, and I'm not going to lie, as soon as I finished this book I started shopping for the second. Now in the 70s of the Hugo world, I'm certain that the award is for ideas. Even if books aren't terribly well executed, a solid idea in Science Fiction and Fantasy (which is proving harder and harder to be original) will nominate you for a Hugo. This book well deserves the Hugo from what I read, and comparing it to previous winners. I've seen a lot of people questioning it's win in the reviews and I think they are missing what the Hugo Awards are seemingly about. This book had an amazingly interesting concept, executed for the most part well and only brought down by some execution of characters and some silly sexist and racial moments that date it. Philip Jose Farmer has created a fantastic world. A riverworld, where seemingly every human that has ever lived in time has been resurrected, healthy, young and in there prime, naked and fully shaven, along a seemingly endless river framed by mountains. We follow the rag-tag group the centers around Sir Richard Francis Burton the explorer, Alice Hargreaves (the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland), Peter Frigate (not sure if I should know who he is), A cave man named Kazz, and Monat, an alien from 2008 who helped destroy man kind... accidentally, and he feels bad about it. There are many other characters that come into play (maybe too many) but this is the main group. They wake up naked along this river, times and cultures and races interspersed, naked and with only one item, a cylindrical grail of sorts that when plugged into giant mushroom shaped stones by the river provided them with food, liquor, cigarettes and a hallucinogenic gum of sorts. Here we have it, the set up, the intriguing beginnings, why are they here, what is this? The book then essentially becomes a Lord of the Flies survival. We have people of all times and cultures and backgrounds now strong and new with fresh starts. Some areas become friendly settlements, other slave states (one run by Hermann Goring and Tullius Hostillius). Burton gathers his group and constructs a boat, determined to find the mouth of the great river and find out why they are here. I don't want to spoil anything so I'll leave it at that. But I thoroughly enjoyed following Burton and crew as they travel this planet's river and see just how much of humanity has been resureccted. A lot of this book is just like how Burton's life probably was, just figuring out the world around him, the flora, the fauna, the people. The encounters they have with the people they encounter, and as time goes on the way the societies a long the river settle and become something. The pacing wasn't perfect, but the first 75% sped by for me, I was lured by the unknown, I needed to know why they were here, and it kept me interested and guessing. The uniqueness and solidness of the concept of this book makes up for some of it shortcomings. I wonder how amazing the book would have been with out them. My main issue was with the number of characters. Too many, It might just be me, but I found myself mixing people up a lot, not realizing members were gone, or new members had replaced them. On top of this plethora of characters some of the main ones weren't handled well, and when I say this I primarily mean the ladies. I feel like even in the books I've read from the 50s the girls weren't so pointless. I hated Alice, so much. everything she said, she was a whiny, unrealistic, irrational nightmare. She had barely any role and when she did I always rolled my eyes. I can't tell if it's because she's a woman of HER time (so not the 70s, but 18th century Britain) or if Farmer just was terrible at writing women. This is the difficulty with characters from the past, specific characters. I don't know enough about Burton to tell if this was a well written character, from my perspective he was done well but maybe a little flat, but I'm sure those who have researched him heavily would be able to solidly say yes or no on whether these characters are well done. The book kept my interest pretty steadily, with a lull around 75%, we had a mini climax and then the build to the final climax threw me off. I found the logic surrounding it's build up odd and a little out of left field, and since I wasn't invested in that set up it made the resulting chapters slower for me. The concept of them was interesting, but it was almost like he had an idea but not how to get his characters in the situation they needed to be in to execute it. The book has a swift recovery though, regaining it's momentum and keeping me intrigued and answering just enough by the end to make me immediately look for the other book. I can see how some may feel the book is lacking something, not A LOT happens, but what does happen was solid enough that I didn't miss anything too much. So long story short. I really liked this book, it was interesting and unique, it could've used some more depth, and less characters, but it was worthy of it's Hugo win. Also it has one of my new favorite quotes ever: Burton sighed laughed loudly, and said, "Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. Another fairy tale to give men hope. The old religions have been discredited- although some refuse to face even that fact- so new ones must be invented." "It makes sense," Collop said. "Do you have a better explanation of why we're here?" "Perhaps. I can make up fairy tales, too."
One of my reading goals for 2021 is to read more Sci-Fi. I've never been a huge Sci-Fi fan but I've realized it is such a vast genre that I should try to find a niche I enjoy. After reading The Illuminatus Trilogy! last year I was still in the mood for a 70s Sci-Fi book. I had a base understanding of the premise for To Your Scattered Bodies Go but I didn't know just how vast the Riverworld was going to be. Riverworld is such an interesting an unique concept. Having all of humanity from every era intermingle and seeing how they rebuild society is a concept that offers so much potential. My mind was running wild with the possibilities. Creating an afterlife unlike any previously conceived offers a great study in anthropology. Religion and spirituality are ingrained into humanity; to have that all be proven wrong led to such an interesting look into how humans would cope and adapt to that reality. A world where death is not a final action is also a great way to push the understanding of human nature. Seeing how the characters become more accustomed to death was also a dark revelation. As someone who enjoys history, anthropology, sociology, and linguistics this was the perfect book for me. I wasn't expecting those interests to be satiated to this extent while reading this book. I love that the book incorporates real historical figures as well as architypes of historical figures, some that readers can relate to and recognize well. It never felt too hokey when it came to having these real historical figures play fictional characters. While this book definitely holds a lot of 70s camp, it never felt offensive or insensitive. This really showcases the fact that Farmer had such a deep interest in these subjects while writing the book and took into account, semi, realistic outcomes for this premise. Before reading this book I didn't know who Richard Francis Burton was. Early on I had to do some external research to get a better understanding of this man. He certainly lived an interesting life and I now want to learn more about it. By learning a little more about his life I was better able to understand his actions and methods in this book. You don't need to have this external knowledge of these real life characters, as Farmer gives a lot of their biographies in the book, but you probably will want to do your own learning as Farmer writes in such an enticing manner. I love the social commentary in this book. A lot of the themes are pretty timeless so it doesn't feel as dated as many of it's contemporaries. It helps that most of the characters were historical in 1971 and so they are still historical in 2021. I found a lot of influence from Brave New World in this book. While it might not hold the exact same themes, Farmer definitely takes the societal model concept and uses it to showcase his views on society. I do think To Your Scattered Bodies Go has a better narrative than Brave New World which is a big improvement for me. With how much I enjoyed the concept of Riverworld I am eager to read the following books and see how more scenarios will play out. That being said, I think this book offers a good standalone narrative that doesn't rely on being a part of a series.
