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World of Tiers #7
More Than Fire
Philip Jose Farmer is one of the living giants of the science fiction genre. His first published story, "The Lovers" (1952), won him the Hugo Award for Best New Writer and launched one of the most important careers in the history of the field. Perhaps the Riverworld novels and stories are the best known of his more than 90 books. Certainly next in rank of popularity has been his World of Tiers series. Beginning in the 1960s with The Maker Of Universes, and continuing in The Gates Of Creation, A Private Cosmos, Behind The Walls Of Terra, and The Lavalite World, Kickaha, an Earthman travels, fights, loves his way across the pocket universes. He is the implacable enemy of the decadent and arrogant Lords, a combatant who could have stepped out of the pages of Joseph Campbell's The Hero With A Thousand Faces. And Kickaha's greatest and most deadly foe is the Lord, Red Orc. Now, in More Than Fire, Farmer concludes this epic series with the ultimate battle between Kickaha and Red Orc, with the entire existence of the pocket universes at stake. The long-awaited climax of one of the most popular and long-running adventure series in the history of science fiction is a colorful, complex, bloodthirsty, sexy explosion. The fast-paced story spans many worlds of wonders, reveals many secrets of the history of the World of Tiers, and ends with a shout of victory.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
4 people are currently reading
355 people want to read
About the author
Philip José Farmer
620 books883 followersPhilip 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 19, 2019
I get the impression that Farmer did not read his previous books before starting on this one, or at least tried to pretend they didn't happen. There's an incredible amount of retconning going on. Some needlessly confusing -- such as changing which character was responsible for what in the preceding books. Some just needless -- apparently, Earth was not created by Red Orc but by some other Orc. This is never brought up again and plays no role in the story whatsoever, but Farmer just felt the need to throw it out there.
The crux of the plot is the climactic showdown between Red Orc and Kickaha. Red Orc is of course the "badass" villain that Jim was so obsessed about. But wait, I hear you ask, wasn't red Orc completely useless? O ye of little faith, Farmer is way ahead of you:
Nice try, Farmer. No one's buying that. You wrote a shitty character. You won't suddenly make him seem threatening by telling us he was only pretending to be retarded.
And Kickaha, well. Kickaha is the Slayer of Lords, and his name is whispered in hushed tones among what little Thoan are left! He killed Urthona and, uhm. Maybe the fat guy? I'm not sure if there is a plural. Besides, who's spreading these stories? The only witnesses to Kickaha's antics are Anana and Red Orc. Anana was stuck with Kickaha in a backwater world the past fifteen years, and Red Orc has little reason to run Kickaha's PR campaign.
But don't worry, if for some reason you're not sold on these characters, there's also a lizard-insect survivor of the Creator Race! Who, it is revealed, did not actually create the Thoan. The Thoan invaded their universe and killed them. Then somehow forgot all about that incident to the point where they're not sure if it actually happened or whether it was a legend. Despite that this clearly happened by the time the Thoan were already technologically advanced and well in the habit of writing history rather than, say, making up prophecies about how Farmer's self-insert is going to ally himself with a race that may or may not have existed and destroy them all in the future.
Still not sold? There's a seven foot woman with giant tits.
Great, let's move on.
The flow of the plot is densely punctuated with gates and faintings. The scene changes several times per chapter, making it impossible to get a grip of what's going on. Fortunately the reader is not missing much, because much of the plot operates behind the scenes. Kickaha's job is to punch things and get punched, the actual decisions are made offscreen by Red Orc, the lizard thing, and the "Ogress slut", as Red Orc calls her. In terms of the setting, we flitter through many worlds in this book, none long enough to see anything interesting. Only thing really of note is that Earth 2, which has previously been described as being somewhat better than Earth 1, is full of slavery, violence, and disease, and the formerly topless women seem to have put some shirts on.
All in all, it's a completely forgettable conclusion featuring a secondary hero killing tertiary villains, with Jadawin's whereabouts, the great question left hanging since book three, unresolved. And given Kickaha's decision never to leave the World of Tiers again, I take it we're not supposed to care.
The nicest thing I can say about More than Fire, is that I personally didn't have to wait fifteen years for this to come out. Imagine the disappointment.
The crux of the plot is the climactic showdown between Red Orc and Kickaha. Red Orc is of course the "badass" villain that Jim was so obsessed about. But wait, I hear you ask, wasn't red Orc completely useless? O ye of little faith, Farmer is way ahead of you:
Kickaha thought back to when he and Anana had been in Los Angeles and Orc and his men had been trying to catch them. Now that he considered the events, it seemed to him that Orc's men had been rather inept. And Orc's organizing had not been of the best.
Was that because Orc was playing with him?
Nice try, Farmer. No one's buying that. You wrote a shitty character. You won't suddenly make him seem threatening by telling us he was only pretending to be retarded.
And Kickaha, well. Kickaha is the Slayer of Lords, and his name is whispered in hushed tones among what little Thoan are left! He killed Urthona and, uhm. Maybe the fat guy? I'm not sure if there is a plural. Besides, who's spreading these stories? The only witnesses to Kickaha's antics are Anana and Red Orc. Anana was stuck with Kickaha in a backwater world the past fifteen years, and Red Orc has little reason to run Kickaha's PR campaign.
But don't worry, if for some reason you're not sold on these characters, there's also a lizard-insect survivor of the Creator Race! Who, it is revealed, did not actually create the Thoan. The Thoan invaded their universe and killed them. Then somehow forgot all about that incident to the point where they're not sure if it actually happened or whether it was a legend. Despite that this clearly happened by the time the Thoan were already technologically advanced and well in the habit of writing history rather than, say, making up prophecies about how Farmer's self-insert is going to ally himself with a race that may or may not have existed and destroy them all in the future.
Still not sold? There's a seven foot woman with giant tits.
Great, let's move on.
The flow of the plot is densely punctuated with gates and faintings. The scene changes several times per chapter, making it impossible to get a grip of what's going on. Fortunately the reader is not missing much, because much of the plot operates behind the scenes. Kickaha's job is to punch things and get punched, the actual decisions are made offscreen by Red Orc, the lizard thing, and the "Ogress slut", as Red Orc calls her. In terms of the setting, we flitter through many worlds in this book, none long enough to see anything interesting. Only thing really of note is that Earth 2, which has previously been described as being somewhat better than Earth 1, is full of slavery, violence, and disease, and the formerly topless women seem to have put some shirts on.
All in all, it's a completely forgettable conclusion featuring a secondary hero killing tertiary villains, with Jadawin's whereabouts, the great question left hanging since book three, unresolved. And given Kickaha's decision never to leave the World of Tiers again, I take it we're not supposed to care.
The nicest thing I can say about More than Fire, is that I personally didn't have to wait fifteen years for this to come out. Imagine the disappointment.
March 17, 2025
4/10
I am happy to have finished with the World of Tiers series. Too pulpy, too much needless gore, too many double-crosses, too many dead major characters , and a major unresolved plot thread from earlier in the series (the fate of Wolff and Chryseis). The only decent characters were Anana, who was reduced to being a motivation for Kickaha rather than an active character, and Manathu Vorcyon, the Mother Goddess. Hmmm, only the female characters were at all appealing? Interesting.
I am happy to have finished with the World of Tiers series. Too pulpy, too much needless gore, too many double-crosses, too many dead major characters , and a major unresolved plot thread from earlier in the series (the fate of Wolff and Chryseis). The only decent characters were Anana, who was reduced to being a motivation for Kickaha rather than an active character, and Manathu Vorcyon, the Mother Goddess. Hmmm, only the female characters were at all appealing? Interesting.
October 23, 2014
This final book to the World of Tiers series isn't bad, but like the 5th book, it has almost too much action, especially toward the end. Lots happening, not very well described, almost a synopsis. It does wrap up the story to some extent, but I think it would have been better as a longer book & I would have appreciated a longer last chapter.
I still don't see much use for the 6th book, "Red Orc's Rage". All the high spots of Red Orc's are recapped or referred to enough that it isn't needed. On a re-read, which I doubt I'll do, I'd skip it.
I still don't see much use for the 6th book, "Red Orc's Rage". All the high spots of Red Orc's are recapped or referred to enough that it isn't needed. On a re-read, which I doubt I'll do, I'd skip it.
February 17, 2018
Metaphorosis Reviews
2.5 stars
Kickaha is once more in trouble and variously searching for or escaping his Nemesis Red Orc on the way to a final confrontation.
Farmer set up some interesting possibilities with this book - a return to the stone computer world that holds the secret of the universe creation engines, a meeting with the last, long-hibernating member of the ancient race that developed the technology, and some other larger than life characters - and he throws it all away in favor of a standard Kickaha-gates-traps-escapes adventure. I had hopes that a really strong, intriguing, and original ending could redeeem the series by delving into the mysteries behind it all; a tall order, but feasible. Having set out the ingredients to make it happen, Farmer proceeds to make a different recipe altogether - corn bread where he could have had gingerbread.
There's a lot of inconsistency in the World of Tiers series, especially around the technology for creating universes, which is sometimes long-lost, sometimes recently used, and whose origin is never clearly set out. By bringing in a member of the ancient race that apparently came up with both that and the gates, Farmer created an opportunity to round the series off with a satisfying explanation. Instead, it's more of the same inconsistency that has plagued the series so far.
While the series started with Robert Wolff/Jadawin, Farmer makes no effort to bring the story full circle. Jadawin doesn't get a look in. Similarly, Anana, Kickaha's love interest, is present mostly as a motivator for Kickaha, not as a genuine character. Even Kickaha himself, long hinted to have Lord's genes, remains unexplained. Pretty much the only thread that is tied up is Red Orc, Kickaha's long-time nemesis.
This was a book with a lot of opportunity, almost all of it wasted. If you've gotten this far in the series and enjoyed it, this is more of the same. If you were hoping for some sort of redemptive explanation of it all, don't bother reading this.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
2.5 stars
Kickaha is once more in trouble and variously searching for or escaping his Nemesis Red Orc on the way to a final confrontation.
Farmer set up some interesting possibilities with this book - a return to the stone computer world that holds the secret of the universe creation engines, a meeting with the last, long-hibernating member of the ancient race that developed the technology, and some other larger than life characters - and he throws it all away in favor of a standard Kickaha-gates-traps-escapes adventure. I had hopes that a really strong, intriguing, and original ending could redeeem the series by delving into the mysteries behind it all; a tall order, but feasible. Having set out the ingredients to make it happen, Farmer proceeds to make a different recipe altogether - corn bread where he could have had gingerbread.
There's a lot of inconsistency in the World of Tiers series, especially around the technology for creating universes, which is sometimes long-lost, sometimes recently used, and whose origin is never clearly set out. By bringing in a member of the ancient race that apparently came up with both that and the gates, Farmer created an opportunity to round the series off with a satisfying explanation. Instead, it's more of the same inconsistency that has plagued the series so far.
While the series started with Robert Wolff/Jadawin, Farmer makes no effort to bring the story full circle. Jadawin doesn't get a look in. Similarly, Anana, Kickaha's love interest, is present mostly as a motivator for Kickaha, not as a genuine character. Even Kickaha himself, long hinted to have Lord's genes, remains unexplained. Pretty much the only thread that is tied up is Red Orc, Kickaha's long-time nemesis.
This was a book with a lot of opportunity, almost all of it wasted. If you've gotten this far in the series and enjoyed it, this is more of the same. If you were hoping for some sort of redemptive explanation of it all, don't bother reading this.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
November 28, 2019
I found this last novel n the World of Tiers series to be very disappointing. I spent quite a long time looking before finally getting my hands on a copy and what I ended up with was almost bad. The first five books of the series are about our hero characters working with others to achieve their quests and beat the bad guys. In this final novel our hero goes it alone miraculously escaping one disaster after another. In the course f the novel the other interesting people he meets all end up either dead or effectively so, even the ones we have been following for several novels long stories. The hero character is a cheap Mary Sue type avatar of the author in this novel and the whole thing just left a bad aftertaste. I would have preferred the last two novels in this set of seven had never been published, they diverged wildly from the first five and had none of the adventurous spirit I so enjoyed in the earlier books.
November 25, 2022
A portal fantasy with artificial worlds, populated with creatures from fantasy, created by a super-powered technologically advanced family who sometimes ally with but largely loathe each other - this series is one of Zelazny's major inspirations for his Chronicles of Amber.
The flavor of these lie closer to pulp adventure than Zelazny's tales but is just as fantastical.
"More Than Fire" is the concluding volume to the series and marks Farmer's return to it after a 16 year absence excepting a meta-dive into it two years prior with "Red Orc's Rage"
The flavor of these lie closer to pulp adventure than Zelazny's tales but is just as fantastical.
"More Than Fire" is the concluding volume to the series and marks Farmer's return to it after a 16 year absence excepting a meta-dive into it two years prior with "Red Orc's Rage"
January 17, 2025
Okay so when it was all said and done I absolutely loved this series ! Of course I wish a couple things would have panned out differently but oh well. Although book #6 didn’t fit at all in my opinion i’ll definitely read them all over again. Great imagination Farmer has !
February 19, 2018
The last fantastic volume in Farmer’s World of Tiers series. Fantastic read.
March 23, 2018
come per gli altri libri del ciclo. fughe continue
July 17, 2019
Lots of twists and turns, a very good ending to the series.
November 6, 2014
My library copy is missing the first 30 pages - bummer! I guess it's have to do though as there may not be another copy in Maine. I don't feel like springing for one even if Amazon has it. The first thirty pages likely contain the same stuff as the previous hundreds - lots of fighting and chasing around through gates to various worlds/universes. This will be the final showdown, the last book in the series except for "Red Orc's Rage", which is related to the Tier's series but not directly of it. I'm gonna read that too, though.
Moving right along with more of the entertaining same from PJF. The Brunswick library has the book in now. I'll see if it's "intact" and go back for the first 30 pages; 15 years and the "scaly man". By the way, Kickaha now reminds me of Zed the Destroyer(Sean Connery) in "Zardoz".
Almost finished after last night. Tonight's reading will include the first thirty pages. I now have another copy with all the text intact!
- It can be tough to follow all the plot logic and events in this and the other books. Kind of like "The Big Sleep" when Chandler proclaimed that he and the other script writer(s) didn't know what was going on half the time.
- Kickaha's origin story seems a bit like Kal-El's in Superman. The little baby adopted by a poor farm family... I'm sure it'll be all clear by the end of the story!
And so the epic saga comes to an end(except for the somewhat related "Red Orc's Rage", which I'll get to in a bit). It was OK but I had the feeling that PJF wanted to get the darned thing over with. The writing of the six parts took place over 25 years. He doesn't even bother to tell us what happened to Wolff and Chryseis. He basically abandons them as he does the black guy in "The Lavalite World". Kickaha doesn't even wonder what happened to him. At least he occasionally thinks about Wolff and Chryseis. His final assault on Red Orc is pretty gross and unnecessary. Makes me think that the author might have become somewhat senile and unhinged.
- page 300: "big league" s.b. "big leagues"
- 2.75* rounds up to 3*
Moving right along with more of the entertaining same from PJF. The Brunswick library has the book in now. I'll see if it's "intact" and go back for the first 30 pages; 15 years and the "scaly man". By the way, Kickaha now reminds me of Zed the Destroyer(Sean Connery) in "Zardoz".
Almost finished after last night. Tonight's reading will include the first thirty pages. I now have another copy with all the text intact!
- It can be tough to follow all the plot logic and events in this and the other books. Kind of like "The Big Sleep" when Chandler proclaimed that he and the other script writer(s) didn't know what was going on half the time.
- Kickaha's origin story seems a bit like Kal-El's in Superman. The little baby adopted by a poor farm family... I'm sure it'll be all clear by the end of the story!
And so the epic saga comes to an end(except for the somewhat related "Red Orc's Rage", which I'll get to in a bit). It was OK but I had the feeling that PJF wanted to get the darned thing over with. The writing of the six parts took place over 25 years. He doesn't even bother to tell us what happened to Wolff and Chryseis. He basically abandons them as he does the black guy in "The Lavalite World". Kickaha doesn't even wonder what happened to him. At least he occasionally thinks about Wolff and Chryseis. His final assault on Red Orc is pretty gross and unnecessary. Makes me think that the author might have become somewhat senile and unhinged.
- page 300: "big league" s.b. "big leagues"
- 2.75* rounds up to 3*
March 18, 2014
Many years ago, when the world and Philip José Farmer were (relatively) young, I fell in love with The World of Tiers. Between this universe and that of Riverworld Farmer is unsurpassed in the art of world-building.
Long after the original five novels of The World of Tiers, Farmer released Red Orc's Rage, which was still entertaining but short on world-building.
I had somehow missed this last novel in the series. And I wish that was still true. Besides a complete lack of anything new, it reads very much like a video I watched the same day: Die Hard with Pugs: a three minute video summary of the movie Die Hard performed with Pugs (yes, the cute little dogs). A great deal of action with absolutely no character development, and our hero continually put into fatal situations and still getting out safely.
Almost his only saving grace, Farmer's female characters are generally pretty tough cookies, and don't need a man to save them — though the protagonists are, as far as I can recall, still always men.
If you're tempted to read this book, watch Die Hard with Pugs instead. It's funnier and you'll waste far less time.
Long after the original five novels of The World of Tiers, Farmer released Red Orc's Rage, which was still entertaining but short on world-building.
I had somehow missed this last novel in the series. And I wish that was still true. Besides a complete lack of anything new, it reads very much like a video I watched the same day: Die Hard with Pugs: a three minute video summary of the movie Die Hard performed with Pugs (yes, the cute little dogs). A great deal of action with absolutely no character development, and our hero continually put into fatal situations and still getting out safely.
Almost his only saving grace, Farmer's female characters are generally pretty tough cookies, and don't need a man to save them — though the protagonists are, as far as I can recall, still always men.
If you're tempted to read this book, watch Die Hard with Pugs instead. It's funnier and you'll waste far less time.
June 20, 2011
Weak finish to the series, almost as though Farmer decided he had to do a closing book but was not sure how.
July 20, 2016
The last book of Philip Jose Farmer's World of Tiers series. I missed it in high school, when I read the rest of the series, but a rolicking good book it is.
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