- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Del Rey (July 28 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345419707
- ISBN-13: 978-0345419705
- Product Dimensions: 13 x 2.5 x 20.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 295 g
- Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #661,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
At the end of The Fabulous Riverboat, Sam Clemens finally set out in the great iron riverboat Not for Hire to reach the headwaters of the massive river on whose shores humanity has been resurrected. After 33 years on the river, Clemens and his crew--including the giant subhuman Joe Miller--are finally near the end of their journey, and only one obstacle remains: the evil Earthly king, John Lackland. John is waiting just upriver in the Rex Grandissimus, the first riverboat that Sam constructed and the one that John and his crew hijacked, and he's hell-bent on sinking Sam's boat (and vice versa). Complicating the battle is the fact that both ships likely contain agents of the Ethicals, the group of advanced beings who created Riverworld for reasons unknown. One or more of the Ethicals themselves may even be on board, as are various humans that the rebel Ethical, known as the Mysterious Stranger (but known to Clemens simply as X), enlisted in his cause, which may or may not lead to humanity's salvation.
The battle is set to take place along the shores populated by members of the Church of the Second Chance, a group that believes they must attain ethical perfection in order to proceed to the next phase of existence. The Second Chancers are not violent, but their charismatic leader, La Viro, may attempt to sink one or both of the iron ships in order to prevent the battle. Among the Second Chancers is former Nazi officer Hermann Goring, who had a run-in with Sir Richard Francis Burton in the first Riverworld novel, To Your Scattered Bodies Go. Burton and his companions--among them several people who were contacted by the Mysterious Stranger--are reluctantly serving on John's boat in order to reach the headwaters of the river. But will any of the humans working for X survive the coming battle? And if so, how can they possibly hope to penetrate the tower in the North Sea where the Ethicals are thought to reside? And what could lowly humans hope to do against a race so advanced that they can reshape entire planets and resurrect all of humanity? --Craig E. Engler
Review
“Farmer's blend of intellectual daring and pulp-fiction prose found a worldwide audience…. Sprawling, episodic works gave him room to explore the nuances of a provocative premise while indulging his taste for lurid, violent action.”
--The New York Times
“The greatest science fiction writer ever.”
--Leslie A. Fiedler, author of Love and Death in the American Novel
“An excellent science fiction writer, far more skillful than I am.”
--Isaac Asimov
--The New York Times
“The greatest science fiction writer ever.”
--Leslie A. Fiedler, author of Love and Death in the American Novel
“An excellent science fiction writer, far more skillful than I am.”
--Isaac Asimov
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
ok, but needs lots of editing,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Magic Labyrinth (Paperback)
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.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ends with a whimper,
By
This review is from: The Magic Labyrinth (Paperback)
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.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Coasting to the finish,
By Mithradates (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Magic Labyrinth (Paperback)
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.
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