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Riftworld #3
Stan Lee's Riftworld: Odyssey
The Rift, an interdimensional wormhole connecting many worlds, can be traversed only through the power of the mind. And the only person on Earth who can manipulate it is John Cameron, new artist at the Fantasy Factory, a comic-book company headed by legendary mogul Harry Sturdley. But when John transports to Earth a group of 20'-tall giants, all hell breaks loose.
- GenresScience Fiction
422 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
36 people want to read
About the author
Stan Lee
7,579 books2,364 followersStan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 5, 2019
John Cameron is no regular artist working for the comic empire, Fantasy Factory; he has the ability to travel to other dimensions, where he meets people with fantastic powers. He does this in order to come up with character ideas for the Fantasy Factory franchise. Riftworld Odyssey, however, is not about this. At the beginning of the book, John has already brought fifty giants back to earth with him and who have agreed to fight crime and in turn have become celebrities because of the very successful comic based on their true-life adventures. But the giants secretly have grown more ambitious, and want to rule the earth, so they sent assassins after John, his boss Harry, and Harry’s assistant Peg. John was shot, but managed to escape into the rift with Harry and Peg. They ended up on the giants’ home planet, where a self-aware program heals John but puts him in a coma-like state so he can’t escape, and then injects Peg with hormones to induce a pseudo-pregnancy. Also, Harry and Peg discover that they now possessed psionic abilities, and Peg was able to mind-control a slave human who attacked her. With the collective mind power of the four of them, they were able to travel through the “rift” again, arriving on a different planet, one where world peace has been achieved at the price of creative stagnation, but is now under attack by those individuals who were exiled for not rejecting monotony (but are now breaking free due to an irregularity in the rift). And that is where this book picks up. Yeesh, right?
Now is probably a good time to mention that this is book three in the Riftworld series, and also that the fourth (and presumably final) installment was never published, so be prepared for a huuuuge cliffhanger. The series has a really cool premise, and I wish I had read the first two parts, but if you are starting with this one like I did, the introduction does a good job of catching you up to speed (it’s a lot to take in in six pages though). Unfortunately, Stan Lee and Bill McCay don’t do a very good job of executing this storyline. They either didn’t know exactly what they wanted to do with this novel, or just tried to do too much.
At first, John and co. form the “S-Force” with the planet’s local authorities to fight the Deviants. Meanwhile, Robert (leader of the giants) is furthering his plans to wipe out the “Lesser” humans by mind-controlling the world leaders into launching their nuclear arsenals at each other, and Marty Burke is scheming how to take control of Fantasy Factory in Harry’s absence. Once Harry (and later John and Peg) return to earth (without any satisfactory wrap-up), there’s drama between John and Peg, Harry reassuming control of Fantasy Factory, two Deviants who followed them through the rift planning to breed with John to make a species of telepaths, Harry trying to sue their competition for creating characters similar to theirs, Robert’s hired guns turning on him for refusing to pay them, the impending nuclear attack on humankind, and the warping of reality due to the flux in the rift. At first all the different storylines make it interesting, but it really gets out of hand, especially once electronics are blowing up and laws of nature stop applying, because at that point I think most everything else would become irrelevant and yet the giants seem unconcerned, Harry is fixated on protecting the company’s intellectual property and financial situation, and John and Peg won’t stop being petty towards each other.
Speaking of which, the characterizations don’t make a whole lot of sense. On the other planet, John and Peg are crazy about each other. They even have hot, impulsive sex right after a bloody attack by the Deviants (during which that other guy, Mike, who Peg was having mixed feelings for, died), which was a low point in of itself, made worse by the fact that once they return to earth they keep sabotaging their chances at a relationship. At first Harry shows all these qualities of being a righteous, caring, clever leader, only to become fixated on the company, despite masses dying, rioting, and everything in the natural order turning into chaos. This isn’t dynamic, it’s inconsistent.
It might be petty of me to also point out that at three points they incorrectly wrote “could care less,” (pages 13, 191, & 347) but that’s something that reeeaaally irks me. So there.
In general, the action sequences are pretty cool, and there are a few genuinely funny moments (e.g. Jesse-Bob and Billy-Ray flipping the coin), but I just kept having this thought that the book wasn’t as “fun” as I expected it to be. Perhaps it was initially my fault for assuming it would be not much more than a novel-version of one of Stan Lee’s amazing comics, but eventually I accepted it wasn’t written that way and the reason it still frustrated me was because the authors themselves kept talking about comics and inadvertently drawing comparisons. When she and Emsisdin arrive on earth, Matavi “researched the world of comics,” (p. 315) to learn how to dress (because she couldn’t just look at a department store window display, TV, or actual people walking on the sidewalk…) and concoct her plan to pose as superheroes. In court, Harry actually expresses disappointment in the judge for not looking “judicial” enough to appear in one of his comics (p. 381). When Burke finds out about the threatening nuclear assault, he hopes Peg and John succeed so he is “able to survive and make a comic book,” (p.417) about it.
It’s not a terrible effort, but I bet Riftworld would have been more successful as a comic.
Now is probably a good time to mention that this is book three in the Riftworld series, and also that the fourth (and presumably final) installment was never published, so be prepared for a huuuuge cliffhanger. The series has a really cool premise, and I wish I had read the first two parts, but if you are starting with this one like I did, the introduction does a good job of catching you up to speed (it’s a lot to take in in six pages though). Unfortunately, Stan Lee and Bill McCay don’t do a very good job of executing this storyline. They either didn’t know exactly what they wanted to do with this novel, or just tried to do too much.
At first, John and co. form the “S-Force” with the planet’s local authorities to fight the Deviants. Meanwhile, Robert (leader of the giants) is furthering his plans to wipe out the “Lesser” humans by mind-controlling the world leaders into launching their nuclear arsenals at each other, and Marty Burke is scheming how to take control of Fantasy Factory in Harry’s absence. Once Harry (and later John and Peg) return to earth (without any satisfactory wrap-up), there’s drama between John and Peg, Harry reassuming control of Fantasy Factory, two Deviants who followed them through the rift planning to breed with John to make a species of telepaths, Harry trying to sue their competition for creating characters similar to theirs, Robert’s hired guns turning on him for refusing to pay them, the impending nuclear attack on humankind, and the warping of reality due to the flux in the rift. At first all the different storylines make it interesting, but it really gets out of hand, especially once electronics are blowing up and laws of nature stop applying, because at that point I think most everything else would become irrelevant and yet the giants seem unconcerned, Harry is fixated on protecting the company’s intellectual property and financial situation, and John and Peg won’t stop being petty towards each other.
Speaking of which, the characterizations don’t make a whole lot of sense. On the other planet, John and Peg are crazy about each other. They even have hot, impulsive sex right after a bloody attack by the Deviants (during which that other guy, Mike, who Peg was having mixed feelings for, died), which was a low point in of itself, made worse by the fact that once they return to earth they keep sabotaging their chances at a relationship. At first Harry shows all these qualities of being a righteous, caring, clever leader, only to become fixated on the company, despite masses dying, rioting, and everything in the natural order turning into chaos. This isn’t dynamic, it’s inconsistent.
It might be petty of me to also point out that at three points they incorrectly wrote “could care less,” (pages 13, 191, & 347) but that’s something that reeeaaally irks me. So there.
In general, the action sequences are pretty cool, and there are a few genuinely funny moments (e.g. Jesse-Bob and Billy-Ray flipping the coin), but I just kept having this thought that the book wasn’t as “fun” as I expected it to be. Perhaps it was initially my fault for assuming it would be not much more than a novel-version of one of Stan Lee’s amazing comics, but eventually I accepted it wasn’t written that way and the reason it still frustrated me was because the authors themselves kept talking about comics and inadvertently drawing comparisons. When she and Emsisdin arrive on earth, Matavi “researched the world of comics,” (p. 315) to learn how to dress (because she couldn’t just look at a department store window display, TV, or actual people walking on the sidewalk…) and concoct her plan to pose as superheroes. In court, Harry actually expresses disappointment in the judge for not looking “judicial” enough to appear in one of his comics (p. 381). When Burke finds out about the threatening nuclear assault, he hopes Peg and John succeed so he is “able to survive and make a comic book,” (p.417) about it.
It’s not a terrible effort, but I bet Riftworld would have been more successful as a comic.
March 18, 2021
Those looking for an end to the Riftworld saga will be out of luck here. I finally got around to finishing this trilogy that began when I was in grade school. I loved the first book as a kid, and still enjoyed as an adult. The second book was ok, but it left a lot of story to tell in the third book. Even at double the size of the other two, and reading like two book together, this book ends with questions unanswered, people in danger, and no resolution to the story. (I e-mailed the representation for Bill McKay a week ago in hopes of getting some clarity on where the book was headed but haven't gotten a response. I'll update this if I'm ever able to speak with him.) Some things I'm still curious about:
- Where did John Cameron come from?
- Which came first, the comic villains or John Cameron imagining them?
- How does the story end? (ok, that one is obvious)
The first half of Riftworld: Odyssey was... not great. The three human protagonists (and a brainwashed caveman) arrive on a technologically advanced planet and become superheroes. This part of the book didn't feature enough Earth story to keep me interested, and the main characters never seemed in danger on their side mission. The big drama was whether or not Peg and John would sleep together (again). It just felt like padding to stretch the story out and could have been condensed. Once that half was over, the main characters make it back to Earth and I got my hopes up for a thrilling ending to the series.
While I was ultimately let down in the lack of resolution, the second half of this book was as good as anything else in the trilogy. It was exciting seeing the giants start to snap, make plans for world domination, and the new superheroes arrive on the scene. McKay does a nice job of straddling the young reader and adult content line, where I could read this as a kid but it would definitely have been thrilling to picture the violence and sexy parts. I'm curious what age range these books were written for; if I had to guess I'd say teenage boys were the target audience. That's ok with me; even without the resolution I had fun flying through these books overall.
- Where did John Cameron come from?
- Which came first, the comic villains or John Cameron imagining them?
- How does the story end? (ok, that one is obvious)
The first half of Riftworld: Odyssey was... not great. The three human protagonists (and a brainwashed caveman) arrive on a technologically advanced planet and become superheroes. This part of the book didn't feature enough Earth story to keep me interested, and the main characters never seemed in danger on their side mission. The big drama was whether or not Peg and John would sleep together (again). It just felt like padding to stretch the story out and could have been condensed. Once that half was over, the main characters make it back to Earth and I got my hopes up for a thrilling ending to the series.
While I was ultimately let down in the lack of resolution, the second half of this book was as good as anything else in the trilogy. It was exciting seeing the giants start to snap, make plans for world domination, and the new superheroes arrive on the scene. McKay does a nice job of straddling the young reader and adult content line, where I could read this as a kid but it would definitely have been thrilling to picture the violence and sexy parts. I'm curious what age range these books were written for; if I had to guess I'd say teenage boys were the target audience. That's ok with me; even without the resolution I had fun flying through these books overall.
January 20, 2015
Dull. Tedious. Not very well written. Avoid.
February 11, 2016
An OK read. I expected more from the mind of Stan Lee the comic genius. Recommended
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews