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The Dark Design
  
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The Dark Design (Paperback)

by Philip Jose Farmer (Author)
2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

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Product Description

From Amazon.com

The Dark Design is the third book in the epic Riverworld saga, in which almost all of humanity has been resurrected on a strange planet along the shores of a river 22 million miles long. But why have humans been given another chance at life, and who is behind it all? That's what Sir Richard Francis Burton and Sam Clemens set out to discover in two earlier novels, one by riding the "suicide express" (if you die on Riverworld, you're resurrected again at a random point along the river) and the other steaming on the greatest riverboat ever seen. Now Milton Firebrass, Clemens's former enemy and now his No. 1 lieutenant, is planning to use the dwindling iron supply on the Riverworld to create a great airship, which can fly to the North Polar Sea far more quickly than any boat can travel. There he hopes to learn the secret of the mysterious tower thought to house the beings who created this planet.

Jill Gulbirra does not care as much about the mission as she wants the chance to captain the great airship, which in all likelihood will be the last airship ever constructed by humankind. But in landing the coveted role, she faces stiff competition--especially from the greatest swordsman of all time, Cyrano de Bergerac, who turns out to be a natural pilot. But even if Jill can win the command of the airship and even if the ship can reach the river's headwaters, there is no guarantee it can get through the mountain wall that surrounds the tower. And it's likely that one or more agents of the Ethicals--the creators of Riverworld--are on board the airship, plotting its downfall. Worse still, somewhere along the way the airship is sure to encounter the Rex Grandissimus, the steamboat stolen by Sam's archnemesis, King John Lackland. --Craig E. Engler --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Ingram

"The dash and grand scope of the (Riverworld) project are compellingly fascinating".--"Publishers Weekly". --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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The Dark Design
77% buy the item featured on this page:
The Dark Design 2.8 out of 5 stars (17)
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
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To Your Scattered Bodies Go 4.1 out of 5 stars (56)
CDN$ 15.33
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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
 (4)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.8 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1.0 out of 5 stars A Fairly Decent But Annoying Read, Jun 19 2004
By D Capley (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Dark Design (Paperback)
The part 3 of the Riverwold series. It's nowhere near as good as either of the first 2 books of the series were (To Your Scattered Bodies Go & The Fabulous Riverboat).

One of the main faults of the book is that an excessively large number of chapters deal with science fiction writer Peter Jairus Frigate who by chance remarkably resembles the author Philip Jose Farmer.

The main purpose of this character seems to be to serve as something of a mouthpice for Farmer to vent his views on humanity, the nature of people, religion and Riverworld....And all the subtly of a seal clubbing.

This is worsened by the fact that every time the book really starts to get the reader involved it breaks to a chapter or 4 filled with the musings and incessant ramblings of PJF (you decide which) or filling in the backstory of Frigate WHICH GOES NO WHERE!

I dread to think of what this book would have been like BEFORE it was edited.

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3.0 out of 5 stars overwritten, careless, Jun 16 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: The Dark Design (Paperback)
severe and brutal editing would have greatly improved flow and quality. Frankly the Frigate character should have been left out of books 3 and 4- reducing page count, pretentiousness, and improving flow
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3.0 out of 5 stars Sloppy novel would benefit from heavy editing, Feb 7 2004
By David Bonesteel (Fresno, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Dark Design (Paperback)
The Riverworld saga continues as various characters attempt the journey to the mysterious tower at the source of the river on whose shores all of humanity has been resurrected. Although this essential quest and the puzzle at the heart of the series still interests, this sprawling, messy novel often tested my patience. Burton and his crew make an appearance at the beginning, but then disappear from the novel altogether. There are numerous unnecessary digressions, including several dull chapters of backstory on Farmer's alterego, the science-fiction writer Peter Jairus Frigate (check out the initials), who is actually a relatively minor character.

When Farmer is developing the quest for the truth and the rivalries between characters, the book is fun. However, it really needed quite a bit of editing to whittle out the extraneous material and some shockingly bad writing. I have to admit that the cliffhanger ending does leave me wanting to know what comes next.

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars A let down after the first two volumes
The prose is remarkably bad -- remarkably because the first two volumes in this series, while not likely to win an award for style, were written in a solid, brisk and workmanlike... Read more
Published on Aug 23 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars My return to Riverworld
I first read the Riverworld series more than 20 years ago, and have just now completed a second reading. Read more
Published on July 30 2003 by Mithradates

3.0 out of 5 stars Was great in the beginning then the end.......
This book was great in the beginning then it just lagged on in the end. I like the part where there was this girl they introduced. She was gay so it was neat but shocking. Read more
Published on July 3 2003 by XanthNovels

5.0 out of 5 stars I really liked it...
Unlike most readers of his novel, I came across The Dark Design by accident. I had no idea about who Philip Farmer was, and had never read any of the other Riverworld books. Read more
Published on Mar 16 2003 by S. Mouzon

5.0 out of 5 stars Rewards the patient
"The Dark Design" is a lot like "The Godfather, Part II" -- when you first read it, you don't care much for it. Read more
Published on Aug 5 2002 by Dave Holloway

2.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't keep up with the first two, a large disapointment.
3rd book, and the worst.

The main character for a lot of the book though not all is a woman named Jill Guilbirra. She is an ex-dirigible pilot. Read more

Published on Jun 27 2002 by Joseph Kerr

1.0 out of 5 stars I Just Gave Up on this Series
Having read the first two books of this series, I'm now more than halfway through the third. I only rate items as 1 star when I find myself compelled to discard the book during... Read more
Published on Feb 20 2002 by Steve Amerige

1.0 out of 5 stars Going Steadily Downhill
I just finished reading The Dark Design. What a chore. I kept hoping for something like the first book in the series, To Your Scattered Bodies Go, but no luck. Read more
Published on Oct 26 2001

3.0 out of 5 stars Adequate Continuation to the Series
This book differs in a couple of ways from the earlier books in the RIVERWORLD series. Instead of focusing on a single character, this book shifts between several points of view... Read more
Published on Feb 16 2001 by M. Broderick

3.0 out of 5 stars Good story but too much extra material
Farmer's third offering in the Riverworld series, while better than "The Fabulous Riverboat" does not hold a candle to "To Your Scattered Bodies Go". Read more
Published on Aug 23 2000

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