River of Eternity

by Philip José Farmer

River of Eternity, written in 1952, but never before published, is the revised version of the original Riverworld novel which formed the basis for the five novels in Farmer's series.

205 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1979

About the author

Philip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, but spent much of his life in Peoria, Illinois.

Farmer is best known for his Riverworld series and the earlier World of Tiers series. He is noted for his use of sexual and religious themes in his work, his fascination for and reworking of the lore of legendary pulp heroes, and occasional tongue-in-cheek pseudonymous works written as if by fictional characters.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cannot begin to count how many years I have been wanting to read this book and I have to say that is one more off the list of things I want to achieve - I was not disappointed either.

This is the earliest recorded (as the author states there may be an earlier version running around out there although I doubt, we will ever see it) to the famous Riverworld story and subsequent saga.

My edition is sadly not in the best condition but I guess that is the way life is at times - however you can see the ideas forming that were revised and greatly expanded upon. This book to me is a celebration of an author who tried and tried and finally obtained the recognition he deserved (although along the way suffer his share of setbacks too - the saga of who and where this story was published never ceases to amaze me)

So I can now finally say I have read the story (or at least as close as I will get) to where it all started.

[Jim Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Farmer's Riverworld series many years ago and enjoyed them very much. I just discovered this version recently. If you're in the middle of reading that 5 novel series or intend to read it in the future - DON'T read this novel. It is Farmer's first attempt at writing the story of Riverworld. This novel tells the whole story in one book and the ending is similar to what happens in the 4th novel - The Magic Labyrinth. I think the only reason to read this book, which was written in the early 1950's, is to see Farmer's original take on this idea. Farmer had written the original novel to enter a contest. Due to some strange occurrences with the company sponsoring the contest Farmer was never able to get this version published. This is all explained in Farmer's introduction to the book when it was finally published in 1983.

At the suggestion of Frederick Pohl in the mid 60's, Farmer decided to rewrite and greatly expand the original novel which become the well known and admired Riverworld saga that began with To Your Scattered Bodies Go in 1971 and that is where I would suggest you begin reading about Riverworld.

I found this early novel, in spite of being only 70,000 words in length, to move slowly until the final chapter which seemed to wrap things up too quickly. Farmer improved his concept and writing skills greatly in the almost 20 years between this book and To Your Scatter Bodies Go. I think this book should only be read after you have completed the 5 novels of the greatly expanded version of the Riverworld saga and then only for it's historical interest concerning the early days of Farmer's writing career and his original ideas about Riverworld.

[Sergey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonus to Riverworld series. Early version of novel To Your Scattered Bodies Go and its sequels. Written in 1952, rewritten in 1963-64, lost for decades, unearthed and published in 1983.
If you had read all Riverworld novels River of Eternity would seem for you a bit weak and dry for a start comparing with the prose by PJ Farmer from the 70s. But page by page text is becoming more and more interesting, concentrated and you'll get classical novel by PJ Farmer with traditional for him philosophical and sociological topics: life and death, the meaning of life, violence and intelligence, moral and immorality, religious concepts and real life, individual and society.
Of course historic persons looking a kind of caricature in this novel but it's not novel about history.
It's philosophic fable with fantasy in style of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Philosophy packed into pulp SF wrapping.
If you didn't read Riverworld novels - it's hard to recommend River of Eternity cause it contains events from the end of the series, so it could be less interesting for you to read all novels consequently.
On the other hand if you don't want to read all five novels of the series - well, read River of Eternity.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early version of “To Your Scattered Bodies Go” which I enjoyed a lot more.