Product Description

Resurrected on the lush, mysterious banks of Riverworld, along with the rest of humanity, Samuel Langhorne Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain) has a dream: to build a riverboat that will rival the most magnificent paddle-wheelers ever navigated on the mighty Mississippi. Then, to steer it up the endless waterway that dominates his new home planet--and at last discover its hidden source.

But before he can carry out his plan, he first must undertake a dangerous voyage to unearth a fallen meteor. This mission would require striking an uneasy alliance with the bloodthirsty Viking Erik Bloodaxe, treacherous King John of England, legendary French swordsman Cyrano de Bergerac, Greek adventurer Odysseus, and the infamous Nazi Hermann Göring. All for the purpose of storming the ominous stone tower at the mouth of the river, where the all-powerful overseers of Riverworld--and their secrets--lie in wait . . .
Amazon.com Review
In To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip José Farmer introduces readers to the awesome Riverworld, a planet that had been carved into one large river on whose shores all of humanity throughout the ages has seemingly been resurrected.In The Fabulous Riverboat, Farmer tells the tale of one person whose is uniquely suited to find the river'sheadwaters, riverboat captain and famous Earthly author Sam Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain).Clemens has been visited by "X," a mysterious being who claims to be a rebel among the group that created Riverworld.X tells Clemens where he can find a large deposit of iron and other materials that Clemens can use to build the greatest riverboat ever seen.Since there is virtually no metal on the planet, it will also give Clemens an unbeatable edge when it comes to battling the various warlike societies that dominate the Riverworld.

But Clemens is not alone in his quest for the iron, which arrives on the planet in the form of a giant meteorite. In fact, Clemens is besieged on all sides by forces determined to seize the precious ore, leading him to make a deadly pact with one of history's most notorious villains, John Lackland. Lackland's crimes during his reign as king of England were so hideous that no other English monarch will ever carry his name, and he's up to equally nefarious tricks on Riverworld. However, Clemens has a guardian angel in the form of Joe Miller, a giant subhuman with a big nose, a serious lisp, and a cutting wit. Miller has also been to the very headwaters of the river, where he saw a mysterious tower in the middle of the North Sea and where the creators of Riverworld are thought to reside. He will be an invaluable ally in completing the riverboat and sailing to the headwaters, but even an 800-pound giant may not be enough to help Clemens fulfill X's mission. --Craig E. Engler ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

Huck Finn Lost in Space with John Slyboots
Welcome to a world were every human being who has every lived is resurrected randomly along an immensely long river valley surrounded by incredible steep mountains. Is this heaven, hell, purgatory or a dream, how did this happen, who created this world, what is the purpose of this "experiment" these are just some of the questions author Farmer thought his colorful historical characters explores in this intriguing novel. If you are a reader of Philip Farmer's fiction you are already aware that theological speculations are a major theme in his writings. See his novel "Jesus on Mars" for example. Farmer to his credit avoids getting bogged down in interminable religious speculations although religion does play an important role in this book. The ex-Nazi Herman Goering converts to a new religion, Church of the Second Chance. The Second Chancers are Quaker-like pacifist on a world that has quickly evolved into countless warring city-states spread out along both sides of the River. These encounters with Goering allow Farmer to digress from the action adventure mode to ruminate about love, war, religion and reincarnation. Rest assured we are quickly returned to the warring tribes, carnage and ethnic hatred just like back on old earth.
One of the guilty pleasures of these books is the way Farmer depicts the interactions of actual historical characters. Farmer has done his research so when he introduces a character they have the history and cultural baggage from their Earthly existence. It is the classic "what if" fantasy. Imaging if American author Samuel Clemens and the English King John Plantagenet became uneasy allies in order to build a Riverboat, defeat their innumerable enemies and travel to the end of the River in order to solve the Big Mystery. The satisfaction I had from this book is that Farmer bring it all off and leaves you wanting to read the next book in the series.
This novel is the second volume in the Riverworld series. The first book is titled "To Your Scattered Bodies Go". After having read both books in succession rest assured that "The Fabulous Riverboat" can be enjoyed without reading the first book in the series. Author Farmer brings the reading up to date with the events and characters from the previous volume. One individual from volume 1, Hermann Goering, plays a major role in book 2.

Not Free SF Reader
Clemenering for transport.


Or, as you may guess by the title, Sam wants to be able to put together a nice and nifty craft that will last the trip to find out what is going on in this great big river.

Not so easy to do with the lack of materials around, and so he has to try and make deals with various individuals along the way.

Here we have Odysseus, Cyrano, and other entertaining personages.

suck fest
after the first book I was suspecting a lot more. It got to the point where I was just skipping pages to finish. The 3rd book was a little better but not much.

Mark Twain in Space
This second installation in the Riverworld series stars the real-life historical figure of Samuel Langhorn Clemens, aka Mark Twain. He, too, has been resurrected on this strange planet. With the aid of a "Mysterious Stranger", who claims to be a renegade member of the species who built the planet and resurrected the humans, he struggles to build an enormous paddle-wheeler and search out the tower said to be found at the river's source. Unfortunately he is tied to the most notorious traitor in English history, John Lackland. As I said about the first book in the series, this book is entertaining but ultimately dissatisfying because of little character development and no solution to the mystery of the planet.

Series gaining strength as it continues
This is Farmer's second offering in his outstanding Riverworld series, five books that must be read together in sequence for the whole story. He continues to develop this fabulous world of a millions mile long river, snaking around and around a planet, hemmed in on each side by unscaleable mountains which force all to live in the river valley. Into this artificially formed world, all humanity who ever lived and died has been resurrected, with no clue as to the how or why, or by whom. The books in the series tell the stories of those who are driven to find answers to those mysteries.
In 'The Fabulous Riverboat', Farmer leaves for a while the quest of his protagonist from the first book, Sir Richard Burton, and focuses on another fascinating 19th century personality - Samuel Clemens, AKA Mark Twain. Clemens is driven by a dream of finding iron on this mineral-poor planet from which he can build a riverboat such as he piloted on Earth, to take him to the headwaters of the river where emerging clues seem to indicate answers can be found to this confounding after-life. The Clemens we meet here is bitter, angry, and filled with guilt, and his ultimate motivation is to find those responsible for the mass resurrection of humanity, and to strike whatever blow he can against them in retaliation for bringing him back from the peace of the grave. With the help of a powerful "Mysterious Stranger", who may be a renegade member of the race responsible for this resurrection and Riverworld, Clemens is able to find the minerals he needs, and to form a colony dedicated to the project of building his fabulous riverboat.
Complications abound, however. The first and greatest is a partnership of necessity that Clemens must form with the deceitful and despicable King John Lackland, the most notorious of all the old kings of England. Then there is the need to concentrate on developing the military might to hold and defend this unique area of the river that contains the minerals necessary to fulfilling his dream. And finally, there is Sam's personal, guilt-ridden agony over making the hard, amoral choices that have to be made if he is going to succeed in his quest.
The strength of these books lie in the opportunities that the premise provides for having historical persons from widely different periods interact with each other. In 'The Fabulous Riverboat', we meet Lothar von Richthofen, brother and flying comrade of the Red Baron, Erik Bloodaxe, 10th century Viking leader, Odysseus, Cyrano de Bergerac, Hitler's toady Herman Goring, mountain man "Liver Eating" Johnson and more. Together with some well-drawn original characters, these make for a fascinating story.
This book does not suffer as much from stilted writing as did the first book of the series, but I still would describe the writing style as merely competent. The characters and story are the strength of the book, and more than sufficient to provide both the thrills and intellectual stimulation to make reading it worthwhile.
After taking you on a thrill-ride of battles, assassinations, double crosses, and assorted intrigue, 'The Fabulous Riverboat' will leave you with a cliff-hanging ending that should send you scrambling to read the next book in the series (The Dark Design).
... Read more

Product Description
Two stories from Science Fiction Grand Master, Philip José Farmer.

Heel — There's a great movie being made thousands of years in our past. The Director is Zeus and the screenplay writer is Apollo. Their actors are Achilles and the cast of the Trojan war. Only they're not aware of even what a movie may be. The gods/crew of the movie all have different motives. But it should all make for a great epic.

The Wounded — What happens when the Master of Love gets smitten?
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Epic adventure
This is one of Farmer's best efforts at the heroic epic.Set in 10,000 BC when Tarzan's Opar was part of a thriving civilization, the novel tracesthe adventures of Hadon while his society is transforming from matriarchyto patriarchy.If you notice anything familiar about the characterSahhindar, it's no coincidence.The sequel, FLIGHT TO OPAR, isn't quite asgood, but is still worth reading.It's too bad these are out of print. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

creative amusement
This book is one of Farmer's best.The story and the concepts are familiar - but the way the plot unfolds does so with a wit that never fails to amuse me.Pornsen the Gapt,the small,perverse policeman/religious overseer/moral guardian -who harrases poor Hal Yarrow throughout the book.

I throughly reccomned this book to those fans of Farmer who haven't experienced the other side of his creativeness.

5 stars

A science fiction classic that is still worth reading.
This is a novel based on a short story from 1952. Unlike many such extended stories, Farmer succeds to create a coherent whole novel without boring material just intended to stretch a story to novel lenght.

The protagonist of "The Lovers" is Hal Yarrow, citizen of the HaijacUnion, a totalitarian teocracy that has replaced the USA after a world wardecimated most of the human race. Stifled by the unrelenting control by thestate-church and its police over every aspect of his life, he is offered away out of his bleak existence when he is drafted as a linguist for aninterstellar expedition to the planet Ozagen, a world inhabited by a nativespecies with a very complex language.

Things are not quite what theyseem; the ostensibly peaceful scientific expedition is actually intended topave the way for human colonization, starting with genocide by germ warfareon the native species. While Yarrow is working together with the localinhabitants to learn more of the world, the spaceship crew is working onproducing bioweapons lethal to the natives. During a trip trough thewilderness, Yarrow meets Jeanette, a human survivor of an earlier, failedcolony, founded by people who fled the Earth before the Haijac Unionestablished hegemony over the western world.

Yarrow falls in love withJeanette, and he realizes he would not be allowed to meet her, or any humannot approved of by the state-church hierarchy and its local commissar,Pornsen. The existence of other humans on the planet is not known byYarrow's superiors, and he decides to keep it a secret. As his secret loveaffair with Jeanette continues, he begins to change from a loyal subject ofthe state-church to a rebel. His love to Jeannette gives him the courage tobluff his superiors in a game of deceit that will cost him his life if heis found out.

"The Lovers" was considered controversial when itwas published in 1952, since the explicit treatment of sexuality wasanathema at the time (although modern readers are unlikely to find anythingoffensive in the book). Farmer has expanded the original story to create abeleivable background. A perfectionist may complain over minor detalils;for instance why are the local aliens only a few centuries behind thehumans in technology, when both have evolved in a 15-billion year oldgalaxy (a common paradox in science fiction) ?Actually, technologytransfer between the failed human colony and the locals would explain thenarrow technology gap between humans and aliens, but Farmer misses theopportunity to explain the paradox. The near simultaneous evolution of twodifferent intelligent alien species on Ozagen seems rather far-fetched, andwould require a better explanation then mere coincidence. Another problemis the ability of local symbiotic species to easily adapt to the humanpresence. Farmer could have elaborated more on this detail, but all in all,the biology is convincing.

The literary treatment of the aliens in thebook as different, but morally equal beings (neither monsters nor idealisednoble entities) is a hallmark of Farmer's humanitarian values.In the end,the aliens with their inferior technology turn the tables on the humans,simply by relying on human arrogance; although the leaders of theexpedition are paranoid towards their human subjects, they do not expectthe simple locals to outwit them.

My minor objections are trivial in thecontext of a story that dates back to the fifties, and still remains agripping tale of passion, rebellion and grief.The plot could easily havebecome a cliché, but Farmer injects new life in old ideas. Not much of thescience fiction written today will still feel this fresh a generation fromnow. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not Free SF Reader
When you first come across Philip Jose Farmer, you will generally pick up on the fact that you have come across something new and different, and this is even more of the case if it was a considerable time that you did so.

From oddball fantasy, to the strange alien captivity of Mother, and including even some more mainstream SF here and there.

Classic Philip Jose Farmer : Sail On! Sail On! - Philip Jose Farmer
Classic Philip Jose Farmer : Mother - Philip Jose Farmer
Classic Philip Jose Farmer : The G0d Business - Philip Jose Farmer
Classic Philip Jose Farmer : The Alley Man - Philip Jose Farmer
Classic Philip Jose Farmer : My Sisters Brother - Philip Jose Farmer
Classic Philip Jose Farmer : The King of Beasts - Philip Jose Farmer


Angel radio.

4 out of 5


Stay at home's mobile mate misunderstandings hard on the in-laws.

4 out of 5


Brewing up a new world.

4 out of 5


"I am laughing, laughing, laughing. Just because youre a freak of nature, a monstrosity whose bones all went wrong in the womb, youve dreamed up this fantastic myth about being descended from the Neanderthals"

3 out of 5


Got to find the others to get off this planet, but this alien reproduction stuff is rather interesting.

3.5 out of 5


Man scariest.

3 out of 5
... Read more

Product Description
For over thirty years, readers have marveled at Philip José Farmer's inventive integration of popular fiction and literature's most beloved characters, in a mythical web known as the Wold Newton Family. First described in the fictional biographies Tarzan Alive: The Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, Farmer expanded his Wold Newton mythos in novels such as The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, The Adventure of the Peerless Peer, Time s Last Gift, Hadon of Ancient Opar, Flight to Opar, The Dark Heart of Time: A Tarzan Novel, and Escape from Loki: Doc Savage's First Adventure.

The Evil in Pemberley House, an addition to the Wold Newton cycle, plays with the Gothic horror tradition. Patricia Wildman, the daughter of the world-renowned adventurer and crimefighter of the 1930s and '40s, Dr. James Clarke "Doc" Wildman, is all alone in the world when she inherits the family estate in Derbyshire, England old, dark, and supposedly haunted.

But Farmer, characteristically, turns convention on its ear. Is the ghost real, or a clever sham? In Patricia Wildman, Farmer creates an introspective character who struggles to reconcile the supernatural with her rational scientific upbringing, while also attempting to work through unresolved feelings about her late parents. He sets the action at Pemberley from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and ingrains the various mysteries in the Canon of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

The Evil in Pemberley House is a darkly erotic novel with broad appeal to readers of pulp and popular literature, particularly followers of Doc Savage, Sherlockians, and fans of Farmer's own celebrated Wold Newton Family. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Delightful Surprise
A mixture of gothic romance/mystery with an erotic twist, ghost story, Jane Austen spin-off and Doc Savage/ Tarzan/ Sherlock Holmes tie-in, this novel is surprisingly good at meshing all of them. For me the Sub Press description didn't give me the full scope of what Farmer and Eckert have done here. Not being terribly familiar with Farmer's work beyond Riverworld and his entry in Dangerous Visions, I really didn't know what to expect and how closely to the Doc Savage and Sherlock Holmes universes this book would read. I've been a fan of Doc Savage since I was a kid and this book was a lot of fun as a result. The main character is the daughter of Doc Savage and shares his skin tone, gold-flecked eyes and penchant for solving mysteries. It's also a story within a story as we read along with her a thinly veiled "fictional Holmes based short story" that gives her background on the characters she encounters at Pemberley House. This book has everything but the kitchen sink and is highly readable. Endpapers contain a helpful family tree showing how all the characters are related to each other and to Doc Savage and Tarzan, among others. You will have to see through their aliases in the story to make the connections, but there are plenty of clues to get you there. This is a great introduction to Farmer's Wold Newton world where he integrates the worlds of many pulp and literary characters. It made me want to read more Wold Newton books.

Very enjoyable romp.
First, let me quite honest about something: while I enjoy a little bit of the Wold Newton stuff, there are times that I think it goes overboard and ruins my enjoyment of certain stories. It's neat to see crossovers but exhaustive attempts to fitevery fictional character into the Wold Newton framework makes my eyes glaze over in the same way that listening to someone tell me all about their family tree does.

So, having said that, let me also point out that I have enjoyed a number of works by Philip Farmer over the years, including A Feast Unknown, his over the top erotic interpretation of Doc Savage and Tarzan. I mention Feast here because The Evil in Pemberley House exists in that same sort of world: a world where everyone has deep-seated sexual neuroses and the authors aren't afraid to continually point out the size of the bulges in every man's pants.

The Evil in Pemberley House is an homage to the Gothic horror tradition. Patricia Wildman, daughter of the world-renowned adventurer Dr. James Clarke "Doc" Wildman, is all alone in the world when she inherits the family estate in Derbyshire, England. The estate is old, dark, and supposedly haunted. Along the way, Patricia engages in much worry over her incestuous desires for her father (who is missing when the story begins and believed dead). She's sexually victimized by another woman early on but recovers enough to go forward on a journey that's as much about her sexual exploration as it is the hauntings that have made Pemberley House infamous. There are direct ties to a classic Sherlock Holmes tale and the setting is straight out of Pride and Prejudice. The Wold Newton elements weren't particularly intrusive early in the book but towards the end, there were parts where I wondered how much stronger this story would have been if the focus had been a little tighter on the story at hand.

The writing is quite fluid and feels very Farmer-esque. I'm not sure how much rewriting or original writing that Eckert had to do but the fact that I can't pick out which parts are his is a credit to his work.

I liked Patricia's character quite a bit and the overall Gothic trappings really worked when she first arrived at Pemberley and the mystery was first unveiled. I wasn't completely pleased with the way things played out but it was still fun seeing Pat Savage -- er, I mean Pat Wildman -- adventuring on her own in Pemberley. The ending screams sequel and I hope that Win Eckert (who finished this story based off Farmer's work and notes) picks up the pieces and takes us further with Pat. This was a lot of fun, though as I've said, I always think Wold Newton pieces would be stronger stories with more focus and less attention to tying things together.

Another great Wold Newton novel from Philip Jose Farmer!
I had been waiting for this book to be published, after hearing Win Scott Eckert pump up the book for so long.Then I ended up taking months to get my hands on a copy.It was worth the wait.This was a great addition to the Wold Newton mythos, as well as an excellent book in its own right.Farmer and Eckert expertly weave scores of classice WNU members into an erotic, gothic-style novel.I couldn't put it down and wonder if Eckert will find a sequel among Farmer's papers!

Long Lost Evil Comes to Light
The Evil in Pemberley House by Philip Jose Farmer and Win Scott Eckert, isbn 9781596062498, 214 pages, Subterranean Press,$40.00
(also available in a Limited signed & numbered edition with addtional chapbook for $60).

I'll admit that when it comes to the depth and breadth of character interconnectedness that is The Wold-Newton Universe, I am nowhere near as well-versed as Win Scott Eckert, Denis Powers, Rick Lai and the folks who have spent countless years building upon the basis laid down by Philip Jose Farmer in books like Tarzan Alive, Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, and such works. I like to think I'm a slightly above-average fan, though -- I enjoy picking out the little mentions here and there that indicate how a new piece of fiction might be linked to the classics (such as the veiled reference to Indiana Jones in the first Gabriel Hunt adventure; or the fact that Shannon Rutherford on LOST might actually be distantly related to Tarzan's mother).

As he says in his author's notes, Win Eckert got the chance to meet Mr. Farmer, and to dig through old files looking for pieces of interest for the Farmerphile fan magazine, and came across the unfinished manuscript for The Evil in Pemberley House.And Farmer agreed to let Eckert finish the manuscript and submit it for publication.

The Evil in Pemberley House is pure classic Farmer, connecting the daughter of Doc Savage to a curse that stretches back through the Darcy family of Austen's Pride and Prejudice and even further back from there. There are connections to Sherlock Holmes, Fu Manchu, The Shadow, The Avenger, and a variety of other pulp-and-earlier classic adventure tales, including of course Doc Savage himself. I don't think I picked up every single cross-literary name-drop, but I enjoyed the hell out of trying to.

Also in classic Farmer mode: every one of these characters has a libido -- an active libido. Farmer, after all, is credited with finally showing super-heroes as fully functioning beings, including bathroom breaks and sex .... lots of sex.By today's standards, the actual descriptions of sex are pretty tame.Eckert rightfully resisted the urge to "beef up" the sex scenes to match what today's readers might find shocking; and because of that, the scenes that are meant to be erotic actually are erotic -- the old "less is more" adage in full effect.(And, I should add, not every sex scene is meant to be erotic, especially the very first one).

The story is the classic Gothic literature setup: young woman is the sole remaining heir to a large, and possibly haunted, estate. Is the house really haunted, or are other people trying to scare her off? That is the crux of Farmer's story, as developed and completely by Eckert. The authors go out of their way to walk that line through the story that the creators of Savage and Holmes usually walked in their heroes' tales: there's always a plausible non-supernatural explanation for everything, but it is left up to the reader to decide in the end what was really happening.

In true collaborative form, you can't really tell where Farmer's original ms and Eckert's later work start and end, which I think is a testament to Eckert's ability as a writer.There are people with questionable motives all around the heroine, Patricia Wildman, and another fun part of the book is figuring who (if anyone) actually has her best interests at heart.

I highly recommend The Evil in Pemberley House to anyone who is a fan of gothic lit, pulp adventure, or a good old fashioned mystery. I'm very glad this was rescued from the depths of Farmer's files and that Subterranean Press agreed to publish it.

MAGNIFICENT BOOK!
Mr. Eckert did a seamless job of finishing the work of one of my all time favorite authors, P. J. Farmer.
I became COMPLETELY absorbed in to the story and have a huge crush on the main character, Patricia Wildman.
I would love to see sequels written about her. She could stand shoulder to shoulder with butt-kicking women like, Modesty Blaise, Emma Peel and Buffy Summers! Looking for a great adventure with thrills, chills, terror, action and intelligent humor? Then GET THIS BOOK!!!!!! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Long Live the Man of Bronze!
Tha last published edition (the others in Hardcover by Doubleday and paperback by Bantam) of Doc Savage his apocalyptic life.While I had seen the Bantam paperbacks as a kid in the late 1960's, early 1970's, this was the book that got me interested in Doc and His Amazing Five (six if you count his cousin Pat) to the point where I had every one of the Bantam reprints all the way to UP FROM EARTH'S CENTRE.Farmer spins an entertaining and entralling look at the life and career of the Arch Enemy of Evil (once had that Bama poster!).Sure relating him to everyone from Ned Land to James Bond is a stretch but it is all in good fun and you very interested in reading his exploits.

definative work on Doc Savage; irreplacable
This book attempts to piece together a variety of authors work into a workable timeline.

Great series for young boys
I started this series of books when I was 10 yrs old. It was a greatMystery/Adventure series. For boys who liked "Alfred Hitchcock and theThree Investigators" or "The Hardy Boys" this is the nextstep. Doc Savage is much like Batman, except he doesn't hide his identityand all the stories take place during the 30's and 40's. There are severalsub-characters(Ham, Monk) who play practical jokes on each other, but whenthe chips are down they would give their lives for each other.I amcurrently attempting to find some of the old books to read to my 9 year oldson. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

This is what you want it to be
If you've stumbled across this particular amazon listing, then no doubt you were doing some searching for Phil Farmer's more obscure works.This is one of them, and let me tell you that this book is everything you want to get when you crack open a Farmer novel, applied to an extreme degree.

The basic gist of the plot is Tarzan vs Doc Savage.The characters are not named as such, likely because of the content, but it is obvious who the main characters are.These two pulp heroes define the classic adventure genre, and here Farmer has them crossing paths in what I'm positive other reviewers would agree is an orgy of sex and violence.

And no, that is not an exaggeration.This is one of the most graphic books I've ever read, violently and sexually and, yes, both at the same time.If you're familiar with Farmer (specifically 'Image of the Beast,' 'World of Tiers,' and 'Lord Tyger [which is another 'Tarzan' pastiche]) you know that the man tends not to hold back.In this particular instance, he strives to outdo himself.In fact, one could say it is the point of the novel- to take the ultimately superficial (violent) and ultimately latent (sexual) aspects of our favorite classic pulp heroes and to explore them in a novel that, once begun, does not let up until the final chapter.

Upon reading this (in one sitting, though I did not intend to do so at first), I was emotionally drained.The book is intense, action-packed, adventurous, deviant, pornographic, horrific, and ultimately great.I highly recommend this to Farmer fans, and I sort of recommend this to open-minded fans of the classic pulps.If you ever wanted to know what Tarzan's sex life was like, this or 'Lord Tyger' are the books for you.Wonderful, fast-paced, relentless enjoyment throughout.

Don't hesitate.Grab this one if you can.

cock fighting male nudity female nudity sex violence
wHERE TO START,WE HAVE TWO IMMORTAL SUPER HEROES,A SINISTER SECRET SOCIETY CALLED THE NINE,AND OUR TWO HEROES SPEND MOST OF THERE TIME RUNNING AROUND NAKED SPORTING MASSIVE ERECTIONS,AND EJACULATING WHEN EVER THEY KILL SOMEONE.ITS KINKY ITS PERVERSE I LOVED IT.I ESPECIALLY LOVED THE TITANIC FIGHT BETWEEN OUR TWO NAKED HEROES,WHEN AS THE AUTHOR PUTS IT THERE PETERS WERE CROSSED LIKE SWORDS.GOOD DIRTY FUN,

Abandon shame all ye who enter...
This is the most uncompromising science-fiction novel of all time. Even more than 1984 or Clockwork Orange! A big infuence along with his Wold Newton Universe on Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentleman and Warren Ellis's Planetary. This is like a crossbreeding of Freud and Nietzche on steroids and PCP. Doc Savage becomes Doc Calliban and Lord Greystoke becomes Lord Grandrith. May have also influenced the Dark Knight Returns. Philip Jose Farmer is known for bringing a greater realism and sexual frankness to sci-fi along with Heinlein and others. And boy does he here. Robert Silverberg commented that the book proves that, "total violence combined with total sex equals total absurdity" or something to that effect but this absurdity is more on the level of outrage. By the end you feel exhausted and exhilarated. Could only be adapted as an adults-only fan-film or anime. The sequels are much tamer but still interesting. Sadly Farmer never brought the series to closure. Equally sadly he never gave this treatment to the Shadow, Spider, Phantom or other pulp heroes.

Gross yet good
Its hard to explain how this book is better than lame internet fan fiction. The author takes two fictional characters and puts them through some violent homoerotic adventures, yet this book is way better than any lame blog entry.
If you like disgusting books check this one out, it might even be more over the top than American Psycho.

Not all that good
Too many reviews have stated that one has to be "open-minded" to appreciate this book, as if resenting all the sex makes one close-minded.This book is full of Farmer's sexual ideas, and if you don't agree with those, you won't like the book. Also, the story itself isn't all that great.The idea of The Nine is intriguing, but instead of making a couple of heroes of another age more "real", the story made them a lot weirder. Stick to Burroughs or Dent, and let Farmer spin his little fantasies to himself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A bizarre semi-pornographic excursion by PJF
This book is quite a surprise for anyone who has read a lot of PJF's work.It involves a private eye, Heralde Child (a sort of proto-Christian leitmotif character who appears in - I'm ashamed that I can't remember -the Kirlian Quest series which either Farmer or Piers Anthony wrote) whobecomes involved in a battle for the fate of humanity (really?) againstmonsters from another universe.Although the characters are true to thePJF model - they embody famous historical characters like the sadisticGilles de Rais - the bizarre aspect is in the explicitly sexual scenes, asthe monsters seek some sort of unifying catharsis through the expenditureof sexual energy.I only gave this three stars because, if I'd never readany of his other work I would have thought this was relatively badlywritten, but it is worth it if you're a fan.Some critics, such as SimonFlower, found it extremely worthwhile. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Behind the Walls of Terra
The second best book in the Worlds of Tiers series. Will almost stand alone.Good adventure but much more fun if you have read the preceeding volumes. ... Read more

Product Description
In his classic "biographies" of fictional characters (Tarzan Alive and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life), Hugo- and Nebula-award winning author Philip José Farmer introduced the Wold Newton family, a collection of heroes and villains whose family-tree includes Sherlock Holmes, Fu Manchu, Philip Marlowe, and James Bond. In books, stories, and essays he expanded the concept even further, adding more branches to the Wold Newton family-tree. MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE: PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER’S WOLD NEWTON UNIVERSE collects for the first time those rarely-seen essays. Expanding the family even farther are contributions from Farmer’s successors—scholars, writers, and pop-culture historians—who bring even more fictional characters into the fold. In addition to Win Scott Eckert and Philip Jose Farmer, contributors to this volume include Matthew Baugh, Christopher Paul Carey, Peter M. Coogan, Rick Lai, Chuck Loridans, Jess Nevins, Dennis E. Power, and John A. Small. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Check the website first.
A well-written and imaginative book - but it left this non WoldNewtonWebsiteJunkie completely cold. I should have read the reviews here and gone to the website first.

A Wold Newton heroic delight
This is a further exploration of the relationships in Philip Jose Farmer' s Wold Newton Universe, as seen in books like Tarzan Alive, Doc Savage - His Apocalyptic Life, and the Other Log of Phileas Fogg.

Myths for the Modern Age is worth it for the Captain Nemo is Moriarty piece alone, not to mention the fabulous cover, complete with Modesty Blaise!

Here you have a collection of essays that inter-relate various characters, families and other information, by several different authors, including a compatriot, as well as Eckert himself, not to mention Farmer himself, so you could call this an anthology.
Please be aware that this is not a novel, if that is what you are looking for.

Eckert has a passion for this stuff, yes, you could call it obsessive monomania, but that is what collecting, which is really what this is all about, 'collecting' characters into universes and relationships, and utter, utter, fandom.

He is also a Philip Jose Farmer expert, to boot.

This is just fantastic stuff.Check out his and Farmer's various websites too, they are great.There are also related mailing lists that are worth it, if you are interested to this level.

Something else I have found : if you ask these authors a question, or anything like that, they will answer.They are completely devoted.

Outstanding book, in presentation, content, and participation.I am sure Farmer is quite pleased.

5 out of 5

What a fantastic book!!
I'm so glad that all these bits about The WNU have been collected in one volume. I first got interested in PJF's concept when I read his Doc Savage bio. I've been lucky enough to track down a mint HC version of it...at a very reasonable price! This book has made me almost miss my Metro stop on more than one occasion. If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, pulp heroes, or just want to read some very creative writing then you must buy this book. I plan on giving a couple as gifts this year.
I am also lucky enough to have been accepted into the Johns Hopkins University's Master of Arts in Writing Program. I showed this book to one of my instructors and he was fascinated by it. I gave him the nutshell explanation of WNU and told him that, after I get my degree, I would like to teach a course or two about it. If you are already an English/Writing teacher, please do the same. Let's srpead the fun around!!!

Welcome to the universe!
Philip Jose Farmer had created the Wold Newton Universe. The 'stargate' necessary to access that Universe is the book in question. Read it fast and by the end of it, you would be hooked. Read it slowly, you might feel sleepy. Neverthless, the book is wonderful.

Chris Davies is WRONG!
Having read both this book from cover to cover and the reviews that are posted on this sight, I can only conclude that one of the reviewers has an axe to grind with one or more of the writers responsible. Don't let that sway you; this is an excellent book that, yes, occasionally offers up contradictory information - if you take the time to read the introductory portion CAREFULLY, you will note that not only does Mr. Eckert acknowledge as much, but goes on to state that this is part of the fun in the game these writers are playing. Some people should lighten up and learn how to have fun already! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Queequeg's coffin
Phil Farmer has cleverly used historical and fictional characters in many of his stories. This novel propels Ishmael of Moby Dick fame from the mast of the ship Rachel, sailing the South Seas in 1842, into the far, far future of Earth. Farmer attributes this "time travel" experience as a consequence of looking at the cryptic carvings engraved upon Queequeg's coffin. Additional references to Moby Dick show up throughout the story. Ishmael is saved from drowning by a providential appearance of the harpooners coffin and on several occasions he ponders about Ahab and his obsession with The Whale.

Ishmael find himself in a future with a swollen red Sun, oceans evaporated to the point where islands appear to be mountains and the primary means of travel are lighter than air ships that rely on sails and air bladders. Ishmael quickly established himself as a warrior leader and after disposing several kinds of vicious predators gets a kingdom and the girl.

To be honest this is a minor Farmer work; light and pleasant reading. I would recommend this book for some interesting comments about the idol cults Ishmael must contend with to win over the confidence of the natives. Farmer almost always works some perceptive observations pertaining to religion into his books and this one is no exception. Readers looking for some deep analysis of Moby Dick will be disappointed.

the legend of the white whale continues...sort of.
i sometimes tend to read books with concurring themes..such as ahab's wife, moby dick and this book which a very handsome bartender named william let me borrow when i was finishing moby dick.

i think it's great to jump from contemporary fiction to classic fiction to little known (to me) sci-fi. i really got into this book and enjoyed the lush visual imagery and the sailor's new adventure in a new, unique world. ... Read more

Product Description
This Halcyon Classics ebook contains Philip José Farmer's THE GREEN ODYSSEY, the story of Alan Green, an astronaut marooned on an alien planet where fear and superstition hold sway.In order to escape, Green must keep his identity and past a secret as he journeys to a distant city where other astronauts are rumored to survive.This collection also includes the short stories THEY TWINKLED LIKE JEWELS and RASTIGNAC THE DEVIL.

This ebook is DRM free and includes an active table of contents for easy navigation.
... Read more

Product Description
This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. They Twinkled Like Jewels is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Philip Jose Farmer is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Philip Jose Farmer then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
An epic adventure by the author of the award-winning Riverworld series.

Fifteen billion years from now, Earth is a dying planet, its skies darkened by the ashes of burned-out galaxies, its molten core long cooled. The sunless planet is nearing the day of final gravitational collapse in the surrounding galaxy. Mutations and evolution have led to a great disparity of life-forms, while civilization has resorted to the primitive.

Young Deyv of the Turtle Tribe knew nothing of his world's history or its fate. He lived only to track down the wretched Yawtl who had stolen his precious Soul Egg. Joined by other victims of the same thief--the feisty Vana and the plant-man Sloosh--the group sets off across a nightmare landscape of monster-haunted jungle and wetland. Their search leads them ultimately to the jeweled wasteland of the Shemibob, an ageless being from another star who knows Earth's end is near and holds the only key to escape. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Imaginative, action-packed fantasy, but too repetitive
Ostracized from their tribes, Deyv and Vana (and friends) undertake a series of treks across a dying Earth, 15 billion years in the future, at a time when Earth's sun is finally dying out (hence the title).Although Farmer has no peer when it comes to action, and he's been known to come up with brilliant ideas, his plots are often weak and unfocused and his characters are just as stock as can be.This (very) long novel is a textbook showcase for his failings, as the plot (using the term loosely) is painfully repetitive, and the characters offer little to recommend them.The main characters are wronged by somebody, get involved in a long chase after them, catch them, and then wind up joining forces with them to go after a new antagonist.Again and again and again.After a few iterations of this we start wondering if there's a point to all of this - it turns out there isn't, which is a darn shame.Definitely a work of fantasy, despite brief (page-long) and infrequent (1:100) forays into science fiction, this book is an imaginative, action-packed and generally entertaining romp through a primitive world of the far, far, far future, but it suffers from dragging on well past its welcome.Three and a half stars.

A Cracking Good Read....
I first got hold of this book back in 1982 (or thereabouts), and I loved it straight off the bat. It knocked Ringworld off the top of my All Time Favourite Books list. Great extrapolations, great characters (characters you really get to care about, even though some of them are pretty, er, "out there"), and some great solid adventures. I was at art school in Glasgow at the time, and found Dark Is The Sun such a great source of well defined, richly described people (and non-people), I picked it as a college project to illustrate the cover of the book and depict the main characters. Great fun. If you read and rate good SF and you haven't read this novel, buy it NOW!

PS: Never, EVER lend your books. I had a hardback first edition, sigh...

One of the best "Far Future Earth" Sci Fi Novels
This book stands tall alongside Jack Vance's "Dying Earth" Novels, Gene Wolfe's Books of the New Sun and "Hothouse" by Brian Aldiss as one of the best far future Earth novels I have read.

Farmer's fecund imagination is what makes this book so great - he brings the future earth alive through the creation of an amazing bestiary and a fascinating storyline. This is one of the few books I re-read on a regular basis. Highly recommended.

Classic
This really deserves to be listed in the best sci-fi of all time.The story is miles wide, delving into a range of ideas that leave you gasping for more.If you want to read something intelligent that has perspectives you've not come across before, and I mean REALLY new, then you cannot afford to pass up any opportunity to read this book.I've read it many times, and I don't let people borrow it (which really annoys them, because I constantly tell them how brilliant it is).Read this book.Read it again.And again.I envy you your first trip through the pages.

Farmer does it again!
Farmer is the best science fiction author of all time and this book is atruly wonderful read!Definitely a book to read more than once, it is richwith adventure, excitement, and deep thought provoking philosophy. Imagingliving in a far away future time when the earth is dying as the sun burnsout. Society has become primitive again. There are great ideas in this bookwhich is what one expects from Farmer, who has the most brilliant andoriginal imagination ever.If you have ever read "to your scatteredbodies go" or "maker of universes" then you will know what Iam rambling on about. ... Read more