To Your Scattered Bodies Go

Riverworld #1

by Philip José Farmer

Librarian note: An alternative cover for this ISBN can be found here.

To Your Scattered Bodies Go is the Hugo Award-winning beginning to the story of Riverworld, Philip José Farmer's unequaled tale about life after death. When famous adventurer Sir Richard Francis Burton dies, the last thing he expects to do is awaken naked on a foreign planet along the shores of a seemingly endless river. But that's where Burton and billions of other humans (plus a few nonhumans) find themselves as the epic Riverworld saga begins. It seems that all of Earthly humanity has been resurrected on the planet, each with an indestructible container that provides three meals a day, cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, a lighter, and the odd tube of lipstick. But why? And by whom?

That's what Burton and a handful of fellow adventurers are determined to discover as they construct a boat and set out in search of the river's source, thought to be millions of miles away. Although there are many hardships during the journey--including an encounter with the infamous Hermann Goring--Burton's resolve to complete his quest is strengthened by a visit from the Mysterious Stranger, a being who claims to be a renegade within the very group that created the Riverworld. The stranger tells Burton that he must make it to the river's headwaters, along with a dozen others the Stranger has selected, to help stop an evil experiment at the end of which humanity will simply be allowed to die. --Craig E. Engler

Cover Illustration: Patrick Woodroffe

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Hugo Awards, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Classics

207 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1971

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

[Mario the lone bookwolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

The truly sad thing is that the concept is ingenious, such a brilliant idea of resurrection in a sci fa setting, but at the same time a total waste of a wonderful plot.

I do think that this book is overrated, not really bad writing or something, but simply not worthy of being mentioned in a line with other great sci-fi and fantasy authors. Why?

Plot, worldbuilding, and especially the characters
Well, the whole plot isn´t that great, worldbuilding is meh, the character development is duh, it´s just as average as it can be, as an adaption from a game or TV series without much love for detail, but definitively not a milestone. That´s tragic because

It´s such a freaking cool idea
With historic persons, the science fantasy combination, and good protagonists, this could have been a cult series. It would have appealed to many different groups of people, to fiction addicts as well as to history nerds.

The reason is the tragic case of a Stradivari in the hands of a very average musician
Other authors made so amazing worldbuilding or character descriptions or in rare cases even both with such a fresh, unique setting, but Farmer quite kind of, I don´t know, didn´t care or, let´s face it, just didn´t have the creative writing education and talent? The solutions to problems are unrealistic, infodump is lurking around each corner, I can´t associate with the protagonists, and the ending is terribly unsatisfying. It seems as if the protagonists and the author don´t know why they are where and what they should do and what their motivation is and so they do illogical stuff for no reason, sigh, it simply makes no fun reading it. Just look at the ratings collapsing more and more with each part.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started reading To Your Scattered Bodies Go I was charmed straightaway… The idea of the story is unprecedentedly imaginative and the style of narration is magically spellbinding…
“At the round earth's imagin’d corners, blow
Your trumpets, angels, and arise, arise
From death, you numberless infinities
Of souls, and to your scatter’d bodies go…” John Donne
All the human beings that ever lived through the history of mankind are resurrected… But it isn’t the Judgement Day…

Blackness. Nothingness. He did not even know that his heart had given out forever. Nothingness.
Then his eyes opened. His heart was beating strongly. He was strong, very strong! All the pain of the gout in his feet, the agony in his liver, the torture in his heart, all were gone.
It was so quiet he could hear the blood moving in his head. He was alone in a world of soundlessness.
A bright light of equal intensity was everywhere. He could see, yet he did not understand what he was seeing. What were these things above, beside, below him? Where was he?

All the numberless individuals of the revived humankind found themselves in the strange exotic world through which a single immeasurable river flowed… All the geniuses… All the fools… All kings… All slaves… All saints… All villains… All tyrants… All revolutionaries… All and sundry were assembled together alive and kicking…
The narrator of the story is a legendary adventurer, Richard Francis Burton, who joyfully continues adventuring in this incredible world trying to solve its mysteries and coming across the great variety of illustrious personae…

He strode across the bamboo mats and looked through the port window. Down there, about two hundred yards away, under the branches of the irontree, was a round, conical-roofed, two-room hut. Inside the bedroom would be Olivia Langdon Clemens, his wife – his ex-wife – and the long, lanky, tremendously beaked, weak-chinned Savinien Cyrano II de Bergerac, swordsman, libertine, and man of letters.
“Livy, how could you?” Sam said. “How could you break my heart, the heart of Your Youth?”
A year had passed since she had arrived with Cyrano de Bergerac. He had been shocked, more shocked than he had ever been in his seventy-four years on Earth and his twenty-one years on the Riverworld. But he had recovered from it. Or he would have recovered if he had not gotten another shock, though a lesser one. Nothing could exceed the impact of the first. After all, he could not expect Livy to go without a man for twenty-one years. Not when she was young and beautiful again and still passionate and had no reasonable hope of ever seeing him again. He had lived with a half dozen women himself, and he could not expect chastity or faithfulness from her. But he had expected that she would drop her mate as a monkey drops a heated penny when she found him again. Not so. She loved de Bergerac.

A true adventurer always strives to step beyond horizon.

[Henry Avila · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fabulous river meanders around the unknown planet for 20,000,000 miles with a bottomless depth too, the blue stream with no apparent beginning or end, as the towering black mountains envelop it they tens of thousands of dizzy feet high nobody could climb , even stranger every human from faraway Earth born there is here breathing again, all 36,600,000,000. A second chance at salvation or some alien creatures having themselves some fun at the expense of poor us. No insects or snakes or birds however a few giant fish in the waters nothing to shelter the resurrected people they arrive nude, healthy and twenty-five in age with a few children eight or older, others in an unknown location. The main character I will not say is a hero with too many flaws for that title. Sir Richard Francis Burton the English explorer, writer, scholar and fearless soldier, not the Welsh actor. You can imagine the shock people feel waking up to this bizarre setting, encountering a few famous beings from history books the cavemen, notorious butchers, saints but mostly sinners from every century a smorgasbord of languages unintelligible yet Sir Richard spoke 29 lingoes and was a quick learner and better brawler. Meeting a pretty woman the real model for Alice in Wonderland, Alice Hargreaves (she had black hair, not a blonde). With no laws, rules, governments to obey by the mixed population, as conditions grow chaotic, becoming savage, the fittest survive the jarred weak fell, nevertheless soon reborn in a different section of the river world. he always curious Mr. Burton must explore, building a riverboat from canoe to be honest a catamaran. Imagine the inhabitants he finds on the shores of this massive stream, strange lost civilizations arise again though destroyed once more by their hostile neighbors. Sub humans, aliens from another planet, Neanderthal Kazz, English poet John Collop, Monat from a distant planet a man still not quite looking like an Earthling, maybe those who made this weird world but the most notorious person was Hermann Goring, yes the Nazi . No surprise a new religion flourishes, Mr. Burton will try to reach his goal to open the curtain and reveal the ones that are manipulating the environment in this odd land, no matter how many battles be fought and enslavements occur in his little party. The truth will prevail, the lies must be shown, an unique voyage in adventure and entertainment for all.

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

To Your Scattered Bodies Go was author Philip Jose Farmer’s 1971 novel that went on the win the 1972 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

About as inventive as a great science fiction novel from a very good writer can be, this describes a world where everyone who ever lived is reincarnated into a river valley environment. Filled with philosophical and theological metaphor, this is an excellent vehicle for the author to explore various subjects revolving around sociology, human nature and group dynamics.

Also entertaining is Farmer’s selection of historic characters to illuminate for the narrative, somehow he chose Sir Richard Francis Burton and Hermann Goering as central figures. I have always seen Farmer as a kind of rogue element amidst the Sci Fi grandmasters, a loose cannon comic genius. This idea is his masterpiece, a solid and unique exploration in a fantastic situation with a buttressed scientific, albeit mysterious, foundation.

I am also led to believe that the producers of The Matrix films were inspired by Farmer's setting. However, one criticism is the same that often comes to such writers as Poul Anderson and Theodore Sturgeon; great idea, but an incomplete story. And of course this leads me to my most frequent criticism of science fiction novels, it is inherently incomplete when you are invited to tune in next year for the sequel. This is book one in the River World series. Having criticized (justly) a very good book, let me end on a high note and say that I will probably read the other books in the series, it’s that good.

[David Putnam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book, so creative and evocative. I have favorite books in every genre. In fantasy my fave is The Wind Up Girl,(a fantastic book), To Your Scattered Bodies Go is up there in the top five of fantasy. This is a book about resurrection and the premise is a little out there. When a person dies the wake up on a 4 million mile long river with a grail around their necks. The point of view character is Richard Burton, the explorer not the actor. Everyday the people on the river puts their grail in a rock and there is blue flash. The grail has a hot meal, drugs. This world has the usual players who were bad in the real world. If you like fantasy, give this one a whirl. I highly recommend it.
David Putnam the author of The Bruno Johnson series.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's 1972 and the Hugos just named this one best novel, and why?

Because it's actually 2016 and this novel has just been optioned by both HBO AND Showtime for an ongoing series noted mostly for it's all nude cast, all the time, celebrities and historical personages all coming back to their most perfect forms, and, of course, senseless war and violence. (When they're not expounding on philosophy, of course, because philosophy and religion always leads to a cave-man's club and a bunch of grabbing of blond hair.)

Don't get me wrong. I'm actually having a great time with this book. I can ignore the constant nudity, because, after all, the main characters are Sir Richard Francis Burton and Hermann Goering. What I'm most fascinated by is the deeper questions.

Like Why? Come on, SF, you know you want to ask it. Why are we having the tale of the bodily resurrection in an ostensibly heaven-like world complete with Holy Grails for every single person who had ever lived? And why does chewing gum bring out the very worst in us all? And why do we always, always, always have to degenerate to our very worst selves whenever the outcome just doesn't matter? Huh? Why?

Tune in for the next novel! Maybe? I don't know! This is my first Farmer, and it's definitely not going to be my last. I'm getting great vibes off of this. It's too graphic for Netflix, but I think it has practically unlimited possible milage for HBO and Showtime. We can do ANYTHING! Murders don't even count. That eviscerated person will just pop up somewhere else along the nearly infinite world of rivers among yet another random population of... ANYONE WHO EVER LIVED.

Okay... why aren't All the Authors Who Ever Lived turning this idea into a franchise and filling all our bookshelves with better versions of what I just read? The potential is glorious. I loved the conversations between all these famous people. They have the most respectful and interesting ways of saying WTF. :)

Beyond just a couple of dumb blond preferences, I think this novel has held up extraordinarily well over the years. I think it could gain a whole new audience in today's readership, especially in the realm of slash fiction, fan fiction, and whatever it is that Stephanie Meyer and E.L. James does.

[Manny · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very Kilgore Troutish book. Farmer comes up with a phenomenal idea: a world where every human being who's ever lived has been resurrected, to spend the rest of eternity coming to terms with each other along the banks of a gigantic river. Unfortunately, after a few chapters it becomes clear that the author has no real plan about where to go with his concept. I remember some reviewer expressing similar disappointment with "The Matrix". It starts with a metaphysical revelation, and ends with a shootout... what went wrong?

But even so, this is the best book of the series - the Riverworld is entertaining enough in itself to keep things moving along for a while. My recommendation is to read it for the atmosphere, and not bother to find out what the "explanation" is when that is duly produced in one of the later volumes. Trust me: you'll be disappointed.

[♑︎♑︎♑︎ ♑︎♑︎♑︎ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really put off by its misogyny, its bullheaded masculinity, its eurocentrism. Like much science fiction, it simply can't escape the stale assumptions of its time. These problems do make the book an interesting read on another level. At least I can see how far we've come. But I also wish someone would write an alternative vision, a book that would have the same kind of wonderful, playful, pan-historical mish-mosh of characters, but that would not have the same unpleasant philosophical limitations of Farmer's Riverworld.

Here is an small example from the book of the kind of thing that made me do a double-take on nearly every page, even though these probably didn't bother me at all when I read the book in high school:

"Know a man's faith, and you knew at least half the man. Know his wife, and you knew the other half."

Farmer is not interested in knowing anything about women or non-white-males at all--these characters are important in the book only in terms of explaining the european man. In particular, the female characters in this book are convenient props for sex, quickly abandoned by the story and never thought of again by the overwhelmingly male cast of characters.

I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say the book contains famous historical characters...and not one of these is female, either. The book jacket promises you'll meet Richard Burton, Mark Twain, Odysseus, Cyrano de Bergerac...there are many others in the book and all of them white men.

Sometimes I mourn the loss of those times when I could delude myself and pretend that I was part of the mass of readers being addressed in phrases like "know the man...know his wife." Sometimes I'm glad to be able to read without the blinders. It's worth contemplating such things, just as it's worth reading this book, however maddening an experience it may be to some of us readers who don't fit the mold.

[J.G. Keely · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, the appeal of Speculative Fiction is the breadth and depth of its scope. An author is free to explore the most difficult questions and imagine worlds vastly different from anything we have ever experienced. Though all literature is concerned with what it means to be human, few outside of Sci Fi go to such lengths to ask what it means to be capable of thought and self-knowledge

However, there is a drawback. Often, authors succumb to the temptation to create a world so new, so different, so complex, and so vast that it becomes almost impossible to write it. Farmer has selected too vast a canvas, too great a scene, and so the small (if engaging) story he paints upon it seems a far cry from the overarching premise.

Farmer creates an artificial afterlife, one containing every human being ever born. By using the old Sci Fi trick of 'science did it', he avoids the knee-jerk response many people would have to a book making overt spiritual claims. Since everyone was just recreated by aliens, Farmer is not technically a blasphemer.

Everyone is there; even, as the book jacket likes to point out, 'you!'. Farmer has the grandest possible cast of characters, and does not waste it. His protagonists, their friends, and their enemies are plucked from the greatest and most notorious men in history (as well as Farmer himself). However, we are struck with an immediate difficulty: Farmer is trying to write some of the most remarkable people in history.

Unfortunately for Farmer, many of his characters' real-life counterparts were brilliant, eccentric men. Since they are more brilliant and eccentric than Farmer himself, we end up with fairly standard protagonists saddled with famous names.

For example, he chooses one of the most remarkable men of a remarkable period, Sir Richard Burton. In a time of colonial adventurers, he was one of the greatest and most notorious. He was one of the most adroit swordfighters of his day and braved and escaped death numerous times over his remarkably long career.

He was also a polyglot who knew some thirty languages, making him an extremely convenient hero for a book taking place on a world where every culture was rubbing elbows with every other. He also nearly discovered the source of the Nile, giving him a thematic connection to this 'Riverworld'.

In short he was a real-life hero, straight out of an adventure story. However, he was also a refined and educated man who made a full and unabridged translation of the 1,001 Arabian Nights. Though Farmer's version of Burton is as capable and impressive as we might expect, he does not have Burton's singular and remarkable personality.

Perhaps it was wise of Farmer to pick a man so clearly suited to play the role of the adventure hero. Many authors have tried to create adventure heroes out of small and inexperienced men. However, in this case, Farmer has thrown his net too far, and caught too large a fish for his dinner.

Farmer experiences a similar problem with all of the myriad cultures he writes. Since he is not a historical expert on any of these cultures, their portrayal tends to be rather unremarkable, such that as we travel along the river, we find Victorian Gentlemen, Dakota Indians, and Chinese Marauders are more or less interchangeable.

Beyond this, their interaction with one another becomes likewise simplified. It would be a remarkable feat for any author to be able to write such interactions as might occur between Sumerians and Olmecs, but this hardly excuses Farmer; after all, he was the one who chose to write this book.

Farmer took his inspiration from Edgar Rice Burroughs, who also had a mysterious and mystical river in his John Carter of Mars series. However, Farmer might have taken another lesson from Burroughs. When Burroughs wrote of strange Martian cultures, he could create as he liked without any need for research or knowledge. However, we can see by the wild inaccuracies of his 'Tarzan' that he probably should have stuck with aliens.

Likewise, if Farmer's book had been about his own made up cultures, there would be little to fault him. However, since he chose such a difficult path himself, I feel no compunction in stating that he was unequal to the challenge. The book is exciting, adventurous, and the writing is not without grace, but it is certainly not what it would promise to be.

The next book in the series is worse, with a hackneyed, unfunny Mark Twain taking center stage.

[TK421 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let’s say you died in 2005. You wake up on a beach (I am simplifying here for those of that have not read this—the book does not start off on a beach), next to a river that is endless. You have no recollection of this place. You know this can't be possible because next to you are a man dressed in 16th century attire and a bit further down from him is what looks like a Neanderthal. But, hey, you're in a Philip Jose Farmer novel, so anything's possible.

I love the concept that when we die (regardless of what time period we died in) we are all sent to a world with a massive river cutting it in half and are dependant upon mystical orbs to get food and other necessities.

But what really works for me is the realization Farmer had that in some way man will still try to develop a power structure. Add the fact that war and politics and everything associated with the two are still present and you get what could plausibly be best described as earth.

And who doesn't want to read about Richard Burton or Mark Twain in the afterlife?

Though I do have issues with Farmer's writing style the story more than makes up for this.


VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

[Jeraviz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me he visto tentado de ponerle 3 estrellas por varias cosas que no me han gustado y que explicaré luego, pero vengo de varias lecturas clásicas que he tenido que abandonar o leer en diagonal y encontrarme con una historia tan entretenida ha hecho que le suba la nota.

Farmer construye una historia donde todos los seres humanos que mueren resucitan en un mundo por el que cruza un solo río interminable. Desde la primera página nos suelta en ese mundo y tenemos que descubrir junto con el protagonista si es el Cielo, el Infierno, el Purgatorio, Matrix..

Tiene un inicio brutal que no deja despegarte del libro porque no entiendes qué está pasando. Y siempre que durante toda la historia Farmer se centra en qué es ese mundo, por qué resucitan, las interacciones entre personas de distintas épocas que resucitan a la vez, el libro es un 5 estrellas. Farmer escribe bien, no ha pasado de moda su prosa: mucho diálogo y acción bien narrada.

El problema viene cuando se desvía de las grandes cuestiones arriba mencionadas y se pierde en la aventura trivial y luchas entre distintos grupos de resucitados. En ocasiones eso parece Los Juegos del Hambre donde cada uno lucha por la comida, por un terreno o por las mujeres. Porque sí, la historia es machista: todas las veces que aparecen mujeres es solamente para clasificarlas por su físico.
Además, los personajes no conectan: no he empatizado con ningún personaje y menos con el protagonista, que antes de su muerte era un viva la vida y parece que una vez resucitado le sigue dando igual todo.
Y como remate que casi hace que le ponga menos nota es que Farmer tiene un problema con los detalles: me da igual que el protagonista mida 1,80 cm y pese 72 kilos, y que el hacha que está cogiendo mientras le atacan mida 60 cm de alto por 2 cm de diámetro (no exagero con estas descripciones).

Pero como digo, vengo de varias lecturas clásicas bastante malas y encontrarme con una historia original que consigue engancharte es más de lo que puedo pedir por lo que no quería daros la impresión de no recomendarlo. Eso sí, intenta evadirte del machismo y racismo y pensar que estaba escrito en una época distinta a la actual.

¿Alguien ha continuado con el resto de la saga? ¿La recomendáis

[Metodi Markov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Чудесна "твърда фантастика", превърнала се в класика за жанра. За съжаление, това е поредната силна поредица, останала недоиздадена на български.

Настава ден, в който всички човешки същества живели някога са възкресени и са захвърлени голи по бреговете на безкрайна река. Кой и защо би провел такъв жесток експеримент?

За главен герой авторът си е харесал личноста на сър Ричард Франсис Бъртън - неспокойна душа и една от най-интересните исторически фигури на XIX век. Пътешественик-изследовател, географ, картограф, етнолог, преводач, лингвист, ориенталист и дипломат, той не е човек, който би се задоволил с просто живуркане, след така нареченото Възкресяване.

Филип Хосе Фармър е страхотен писател, историята, приключенията и героите му са отлично създадени и развити, не те оставят да скучаеш нито за миг!

Цитати:

"Познаваш ли вярата на човека, познаваш половината от него. Познаваш ли и жена му — познаваш го целия."

"Обич дори към онези, които с нищо не заслужаваха такова чувство, най-трудният и рядък вид любов."

P.S. Ще дочета поредицата на английски.

[Althea Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Usually, the Hugo Awards are a good recommendation for entertaining literature.
Not in this case. I really don't understand how this book could have been given an award of any kind. Were there NO other sf novels published in 1971?
Farmer uses historical figures as his characters as an excuse to not bother writing any characterization of any kind. Every character in the novel is completely two-dimensional. It's pretty hard to make such an interesting and multi-dimensional character as the historical Richard Burton dull and flat - but Farmer manages it.
Moreover, the book is offensively, insidiously sexist. By which I don't mean that, in the grand tradition of adventure stories, that lusty buxom babes abound! (if only!) Rather, I mean that not one female character in the book displays any initiative, independence, or intelligence. Men regard them as property, and women's only instinct seems to be to find a male "protector." The stereotypes of women as "prude," "nag," or "whore" are found in abundance. Women are only an accessory to a man, to be admired physically, used sexually, and then tired of.
Here's one direct quote: "She was the product of her society - like all women, she was what men had made her."
One cannot excuse this attitude in writing as being a product of its time - check out what Ursula LeGuin was publishing in the late 60's and early 70's!
Sexist stereotypes are not the only ones found... they're practically incidental to the ethnic and cultural stereotypes! In a world supposedly populated with people of all cultures, time periods, and places, everything seems to run in a remarkably Eurocentric manner. To regard cigars as a universal luxury item is particularly bemusing.
Still, all this would be excusable, if only the story was fun, exciting and interesting. Not so. For such a short (222p.) novel, the plot was inexcusably meandering and dull. I fell asleep on it last night, and finished it this afternoon out of some sort of sense of obligation.

I think I'll be sending the copy of World of Tiers on my to-read shelf straight to the recycle bin.

[Theo Logos · Rating 4 out of 5]

To Your Scattered Bodies Go introduces Philip Jose Farmer's five volume Riverworld series. It doesn’t stand alone, but must be read in sequence from beginning to end for the whole story. As an introduction to an unique series it works well, making a good beginning.

It’s the fantastic premise that hooks you and draws you into the book and series. All of humankind, everyone who ever lived, is simultaneously resurrected on an artificially formed world along the banks of a millions mile long river snaking around and around the planet. Everyone is mid-twenties, ageless, and their needs are supplied by a fantastic technology none of them understand. And everyone is equally ignorant of the who, how, and why of their miraculous resurrection.

Not everyone is equally willing to remain ignorant. Sir Richard Francis Burton, explorer, adventurer, spy, writer, linguist, swordsman, and self-style rake of the 19th century Victorian British Empire, one of the most restless and adventuring men ever to live, was resurrected naked, along with the rest of humanity. In no time at all, he is off with a group of companions, sailing up river to search for it's source (as he searched for the source of the Nile on Earth) and for the answers to the mystery of their existence in this strange after-life. Slowly, he puts together clues that he hopes will lead him to the hidden gnosis of his strange new world.

To Your Scattered Bodies Go gets five stars for concept, but only three for execution. The scope of the concept is huge, leaving fascinating possibilities to explore throughout the series. The choice of Burton as protagonist was inspired. The historical Burton was well suited to the task his literary counterpart undertakes here, and he makes a brilliant character. The author has studied Burton's life, and provides much biographical material on him throughout the book. (This book was my introduced to Burton on my first reading in the ‘80s.) So much for the book's strengths.
The weakness of To Your Scattered Bodies Go, unfortunately, is the writing. Farmer often breaks away from the story, giving asides on characters he appropriated from history, or making philosophical speeches. The histories come as information dumps, the speeches are unnecessarily intrusive and stilted.

It is unfortunate that the series that this book begins does not hold up to the promise of the first book. The second book is equally good,(concentrating on Sam Clemons) but the third falls off sharply, and the fourth (originally the concluding volume) is a major disappointment. The fifth volume, which revisited and changed the ending of the fourth, isn’t worth the effort.

I have mixed feelings about this series. It is truly one of the most ambitious speculative fiction ideas ever. It also turns some fascinating people from history into intriguing fictional characters. Yet it crashes badly before the end. Is it worth it to read for its virtues, even forewarned?You decided.

[Bettie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revisit 2015 is via audio file 07:42:33

Description: To Your Scattered Bodies Go is the Hugo Award-winning beginning to the story of Riverworld, Philip José Farmer's unequaled tale about life after death. When famous adventurer Sir Richard Francis Burton dies, the last thing he expects to do is awaken naked on a foreign planet along the shores of a seemingly endless river. But that's where Burton and billions of other humans (plus a few nonhumans) find themselves as the epic Riverworld saga begins. It seems that all of Earthly humanity has been resurrected on the planet, each with an indestructible container that provides three meals a day, cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, a lighter, and the odd tube of lipstick. But why? And by whom?

That's what Burton and a handful of fellow adventurers are determined to discover as they construct a boat and set out in search of the river's source, thought to be millions of miles away. Although there are many hardships during the journey--including an encounter with the infamous Hermann Goring--Burton's resolve to complete his quest is strengthened by a visit from the Mysterious Stranger, a being who claims to be a renegade within the very group that created the Riverworld. The stranger tells Burton that he must make it to the river's headwaters, along with a dozen others the Stranger has selected, to help stop an evil experiment at the end of which humanity will simply be allowed to die. --Craig E. Engler

Burton's battle with the F-icles is a fantastic adventure story and the excitement stood the test of time with this re-visit. Looking forward to the second book where Mark Twain is a major player, if my memory serves me right.

How lucky I was as a young woman, there was so much to grab and follow - this series, Donaldson's, Eddings's and the beginning of PTerry's ouevre.

It was this very book that introduced me to Burton, and I've enjoyed reading about the lives of the explorers ever since.



Richard Burton
Alice Liddell
John de Greystoke
Hermann Goring
Tullus Hostilius

From wiki: Peter Jairus Frigate is a fictionalized version of the science fiction author Philip José Farmer, which appeared in his Riverworld series of novels.

Confusingly, it is only towards the end of the series that the true Peter Jairus Frigate appears – the one in the earlier volumes was in fact an impostor

5* To Their Scattered Bodies Go
The Fabulous Riverboat (Riverworld, #2)
The Dark Design (Riverworld, #3)
The Magic Labyrinth (Riverworld, #4)
The Gods of Riverworld (Riverworld #5)

[Kat Hooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

After he died, the famous 19th century explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton wasn’t surprised to find that what the Christian priests had taught about the Resurrection wasn’t true. But he was totally bewildered by what actually happened. He woke up young, hairless, naked, and turning in midair (as if on a spit) in the middle of 37 billion other young, hairless, naked and rotating humans. Soon after waking, the bodies — all the people over the age of five who had ever lived — plunged to the ground and began their new lives together in a giant river valley... Is this Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, or is it some huge social experiment being run by aliens?

Most of the humans, happy that their basic needs are being met, are content to just be living again. Some people see this as an opportunity to seize the power and wealth that they had, or never obtained, on Earth. But Sir Richard just wants to know what’s going on. He seems to be the only person who got a glimpse behind the scenes of their new home and, not only does he resent being manipulated, but his curiosity is insatiable. So, he and a few companions set out to explore the Riverworld and, they hope, to discover the source of the river and find some answers.

Richard Francis Burton, a fascinating and scandalous man in real life, is the perfect character to explore the Riverworld. Philip Jose Farmer’s depiction of Burton, and several other real historical figures, is superb, though occasionally teachy when Farmer periodically interjects an encyclopedic-sounding aside about a character’s life (this minor bit of clumsiness is the reason for my 4.5 instead of 5-star rating). I won’t tell you who else shows up in the Riverworld, because I’d spoil the fun, but I’ll say that it’s hilarious to watch Burton learn about 20th-century history and interact with some of its denizens.

The best aspect of To Your Scattered Bodies Go is its original premise — the idea of all of humanity spread out, generally in chronological order, along a giant river which can be traveled, like a human timeline. There is some “scattering” of bodies (hence the title) so that a 21st century American could end up in a tribe of Neanderthals. If someone dies in the Riverworld, they are resurrected at random somewhere along the river.

To Your Scattered Bodies Go, written in 1971, is creative, exciting, fast-paced, and totally absorbing. I was completely enthralled from the first page to the last. I listened to Recorded Books’ version read by Paul Hecht and I had a hard time removing my earbuds for long enough to pay attention to my real-life duties. By the end of the story Burton has managed to get a few answers, but there are so many questions left and I can’t wait to learn more about Riverworld. Therefore, I’m already reading the next installment: The Fabulous Riverboat.

[Gabi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This only escapes 1 star, because the idea is good.

But I'm so done with authors who think of new stories, new philosophies and such and are not able to imagine one woman who is not there as accessoire for the macho men doing macho things.
I thought I reached rock bottom with Ringworld, but this one beats it.

[Xavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iba con las expectativas bajas y me he encontrado con un clásico muy entretenido e interesante. Hay muchos detalles que me han gustado, y me pongo directamente con la segunda parte.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

To Your Scattered Bodies Go is the first of Farmer's five Riverworld books, in which everyone who has ever lived and died wakes up on a world that's bigger than even Silverberg's Majipoor and they fight and have adventures and try to stay busy and try to figure out who's running the place and why they're there and what it all means. Richard Burton (no, the other one) is the main character, opposed in the most part by Herman Goering. There are some aliens and other fictional characters in the mix, and it was a big, broad example of New Wave sf which won the Hugo Award in 1972 for best novel of the year. (Honestly, had I been a voter that year I would have picked Half Past Human by T.J. Bass or Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny.) It's definitely Farmer's best-known work, and arguably his best.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, a word of warning: do NOT expect to know the answers to the questions you're going to have by the end of this book. They aren't there. So if you read this book, get to the end of it and say "this stinks! There's no resolution! I hate this book," don't say I didn't warn you! The book isn't about finding the answers...it's the journey that counts. And if by the end of the book you don't have any questions, you need to go back and read it again because your curiousity should be absolutely on fire!

Second, if you are a hardcore Christian, this book just might bother you enough because of the subjects it deals with. Remember: it's Fiction!


This novel is the first of the Riverworld Series, in which the reader is introduced to the Riverworld, so called because its main feature is a continuous river that doesn't seem to end. The main character is a real character, here in his fictional garb, the explorer Sir Richard Burton. One moment, he's laying in the arms of his wife, dying; the next moment, he's floating among countless numbers of sleeping people, the only one awake until he sees a canoe with strange markings floating toward him, carrying humans in it, who put him back to sleep. Shortly thereafter, he wakes up, buck naked, his mustache (his pride and joy) gone, along with all of his hair in fact, with only a cylinder attached to him. As he awakens, he realizes there are others there as well, all in the same condition. Eventually he comes to realize that they have all at some point, died, either before him or after him. All told, every single human being that ever lived on the Earth at any moment in its history are there in the Riverworld, resurrected, it seems. At first the main problems are seeking shelter and safety; afterwards, Burton is not content to simply accept his fate, but the explorer in him wants to get a boat onto the river and follow it wherever it leads and to see what lies beyond. What he finds is not pretty: it seems that people are just repeating their old bad human-nature habits. His real quest, however, is to find the who, the how and the why behind this massive resurrection.

I guess what amazed me about this book was the idea that humans are humans no matter what the situation, time, place, whatever. And while I didn't always like Burton's character, the author did an amazing job with the creation of this guy. I cannot wait to read the rest of the books in the series, although I've heard that none of them can top this one. I have to say that this is probably true, considering how well done this book was.

I would recommend it to sci-fi readers who aren't in to all the techno aspects of sf; this is more like a fantasy type thing. Also, if you are a reader interested in the questions of the soul as spirit or physical entity, you might also be interested.

read: October 2005

[Katie T · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf 40% - funny how even in the after life this is just about men trying to hook up with or rape women.

[Julio Bernad · Rating 4 out of 5]

¿Qué hay después de la muerte? Puede que esta fuera la pregunta más importante de la humanidad, formulada, quizá por primera vez, cuando un neandertal se detuvo para enterrar, ceremoniosa y metódicamente, a un compañero caído sin importarle las consecuencias que esos minutos de indefensión podían acarrear. Cada pueblo ha apaciguado su espíritu de la mejor forma posible, cada uno ha confeccionado una creencia tranquilizadora a medida a la que recurrir cuando ese miedo atávico hace su repentina aparición. Pero, qué me diríais si os dijera que al final de la vida no hay cielo ni infierno, no hay grandes salones con banquetes pantagruélicos regados con hidromiel ni lagunas que atravesar junto a un barquero bien remunerado, tampoco reencarnación ni vacío; que me dirías, repito, si al morir resucitarais con vuestro cuerpo de veinticinco años, lampiños y desnudos, en las vegas paradisiacas de un rio aparentemente infinito, con la única posesión de un cilindro que os aprovisionará con un suministro de comida, bebida y drogas alucinógenas diario. Me diríais, o deberíais decirme, que vaya a tumbarme en un diván y que me encierren en una habitación acolchada donde no ponga en riesgo ni mi vida ni la de los demás y luego tiren la llave. Eso deberían haberle dicho a Philip José Farmer y, sin embargo, al muy cabrito le dio por escribir una saga con tan delirante premisa para hacernos cómplices de lo que, a todas luces, tuvo que ser un viaje malísimo de peyote.

Bienvenidos, intrépidos exploradores, al Mundo del Rio, un edén fluvial al que han ido todos los humanos -y no solo- que vivieron, viven y vivirán hasta el trágico año de 2008. Porque sí, en los setenta los años 2000 ya era el futuro lejano, todo el mundo tenia un robot mayordomo y un coche volador aparcado en el heli-garaje. En efecto, nuestro futuro es una mierda; prosigamos. Nadie entiende el porqué de esta resurrección ni quién, o qué, está detrás de la misma, pero hay alguien dispuesto a averiguarlo, y ese no es otro que el gran explorador victoriano Sir Richard Burton, hombre de acción, poliglota e intrépido por encima de sus posibilidades, poseedor, así mismo, de una información privilegiada aunque confusa y fragmentaria sobre su propia resurrección.

Este primer tomo de la saga de Mundo del Rio es una verdadera delicia para el amante de las aventuras y de la ciencia ficción clásica. Ya desde la premisa sabes que lo que vas a leer aquí, como mínimo, te va a divertir. Pero que lo delirante de la premisa no os engañe, Farmer tiene mensajes que compartir e ideas para hacernos reflexionar, que entre tirito de coca y lingotazo de whisky siempre hay tiempo para filosofar sobre sociología y segundas oportunidades. Porque, en efecto, esta resurrección, sobrenatural o premeditada, no es más que una excusa para poner no al individuo, sino a toda la humanidad. Qué hará la humanidad con este don maravilloso, con este reinicio; aprovechará, ahora que dispone del conocimiento heredado de toda la humanidad pasada, presente y futura para edificar una sociedad netamente igualitaria que no repita los errores del pasado. Ya os podéis imaginar que no. Farmer no comparte las tesis de Rousseau, no cree en que el hombre sea bueno por naturaleza ni que el estado sea ese gran corruptor; Farmer sostiene, y lo comparto, que en un mundo sin ley el que no corre, vuela, y que el disponer de toda la experiencia de la humanidad sólo ayudará al hijo de puta a serlo más rápidamente, como es el caso. Porque de sociedad igualitaria nada, si el ser humano tropezó con una piedra en el pasado volverá a tropezar con la misma, puede que porque este en nuestra naturaleza o porque siempre va a haber gente que se las ingenie para aprovecharse de los demás.

Sin embargo, Farmer no es tan pesimista como el anterior párrafo refleja. Ante todo, esta es una novela de aventuras, y nuestro protagonista no es otro que Richard Burton, el hombre adecuado en el lugar adecuado, con los recursos para asegurar su supervivencia y la de su grupo y una moral lo suficientemente flexible como para enfrentar los peligros de este nuevo mundo sin perder por completo su humanidad. Encuentro genial la elección de Burton como protagonista por dos motivos: primero, nos permite disfrutar la aventura desde el principio y centrarnos en resolver el misterio tras la resurrección sin la necesidad de confeccionar un héroe a lo largo de la historia ni introducir una increíble -en la peor acepción de la palabra- Mary Sue, personajes tan insípidos como detestables; segundo, y más importante, sabemos que vamos a encontrar celebres figuras históricas a lo largo de la travesía, algo que siempre resulta enriquecedor. Por ejemplo, uno de los personajes más importantes de esta novela es Herman Goering, que para quien no lo conozca, debería: no hay que olvidar a uno de los mayores hijos de puta de la historia; Farmer no lo hace: lo arrastra por el fango y le hace vivir un muy merecido infierno. No obstante, Farmer es lo suficientemente inteligente como para no convertir a tales personajes en completos punching balls carentes de toda dignidad. Sería muy fácil presentar a un nazi como la personificación de todos los defectos humanos, pero entonces no estaríamos ante un personaje. Incluso el enemigo merece un ápice de respeto en algún momento, como hizo Tarantino en su Malditos Bastardos con ese capitán nazi que sucumbe bajo los repetidos golpes del bate del oso judío. Era un puto nazi, sí, pero alguna virtud tuvo en vida. Con Goering, y muchos otros personajes, ocurre lo mismo: no se puede ser un completo hijo de puta todo el tiempo, y eso me gusta, refleja una madurez que no todos los autores tienen al retratar a sus villanos, y menos ahora que Hollywood se esta disneyficando a cada nueva cinta -¿nos están haciendo sus propuestas más imbéciles o se están adecuando a nuestra imbecilidad colectiva?

Lo que en un primer momento parece un mal viaje de LSD esconde una historia con múltiples capas, una aventura frenética llena de grandes momentos de acción, con escaramuzas piratas y asedios medievales pero con un fondo filosófico que, aun sencillo, hace reflexionar sobre los errores del pasado y lo inevitable de la naturaleza humana, resiliente, adaptable pero siempre a un paso de la destrucción. Un verdadero disfrute que hará las delicias de cualquier amante de las aventuras clásicas pero pasadas por ese filtro hippy y lisérgico de los setenta ¡Qué años! Tengo curiosidad por la secuela, en la que el protagonista no es nada menos que Mark Twain. Con un protagonista así, cómo no volver al mundo del rio.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this many years ago, but never wanted to read any more in the series. As time went by, I forgot why, so I thought I'd reread it & see. The description makes this sound really neat & it is, but it's also disappointing. It's certainly open ended enough that I should want to continue, but I don't - again.

It starts off with a great idea. Everyone is reborn into their body at their prime. They have plenty of food, no disease or insects, & a great climate with abundant natural materials save metal. There is even a daily ration of drugs: booze, pot, & a psychedelic. So there is full equality & real opportunity at a second chance in an interesting mix of cultures & times. The characters are really interesting. Farmer even writes himself in (sort of) to explain his interest in the main character, Sir Richard Burton, & we get to meet Herman Goering plus several others.

Of course, they manage to screw up paradise & I expected that to be the most interesting theme. It wasn't. It was actually rather boring & somewhat disheartening. The major theme was who made this world & why? Also an interesting premise, but he didn't expand on it enough to really capture me.

All in all, the whole book seemed like a lot of great opportunities lost. It wasn't bad, but it just didn't meet the expectations I had for it & that was disappointing. Again, I don't think I'll continue reading the series.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Hugo Award-winning first novel in the Riverworld series is a mixed bag; it's quick and easy to read with some diverting ideas although it's also somewhat dated at times. Many of the main characters are famous historical figures - Richard Francis Burton, Alice Hargreaves nee Lidell, Hermann Goring - which can be interesting or distracting depending on your personal tastes, and they meet in the Riverworld which is an afterlife containing all human beings ever to live on Earth. Exploring the Riverworld (basically one long river, hence the name, with shores on either side) and uncovering answers to the various mysteries surrounding the world and how everyone got there is the plot of the book, but don't expect a lot of answers - there will be only more questions - and the abrupt ending merely sets up the next book.

[Ira (SF Words of Wonder) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out a discussion I had with Bryan from Bad Taste Books HERE.
This one has a crazy set up with some wild ideas about life after death where everyone who has ever lived arrives on what appears to be an endless river. The novel turns into a bit of an adventure story from there. There is the mystery of ‘what is really going on’ throughout the novel as our main character seems to have some things happen to him that hasn’t happened to anyone else. This is a reread and I’ve always been curious to read the rest of the series.

[Erik Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Years before the Matrix, but possibly a factor in the movie's vision of the empodded "copper-tops", Farmer devised a scenario allowing him to portray the interactions of any persons who ever lived. The original idea spawned several novels, plus short stories by both the author and other science fiction writers. He went too far, but the concept of the thing was quite ingenious. I was impressed, sucked in by the first few pages and carried away downstream.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sir Richard Francis Burton is a Dick.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine that you wake up and the last thing that you remember is dying. You're lying on a riverbank surrounded by strangers who are naked and hairless just as you are. As you explore your surroundings, you find that you are no longer on Earth and the people around you are all the people from the beginning of time who have lived and died on Earth. Furthermore, there are no animals or insects, but there are plenty of fish in a river that seems never never to end. Meals and wants like cigarettes, alcohol, and clothing are provided daily from unseen benefactors.

The main character of the story is Richard Francis Burton, a famous British explorer from the last half of the 1800s. He's the perfect character to follow around in such a world because of his wide acquaintance with various cultures and ability to speak 29 different languages. Joining him (wanted or unwanted) are characters such as a caveman, an alien (responsible for the destruction of most of the human race in 21st century), the real life Alice who was the inspiration for the fictional Alice in Wonderland, Nazi leader Hermann Göring, and a well-read American.

When my husband mentioned the premise of this series to me, I knew I had to read it. He also said that it's going to be a 4-hour movie event on the SyFy channel. Unfortunately, Richard Burton isn't going to be the main character because they were worried that Americans would think of the wrong Richard Burton -- the one that was an actor and Elizabeth Taylor's husband. Are we really so dumb that we couldn't differentiate between a little-known actor and a well-known explorer? Some other things that I bet won't make it into the series are people waking up naked and hairless, marijuana and hallucinates, lots of suicides, lots of love and war, and people's questioning of their religion since the afterlife is different than they were told. Oh, what am I talking about? I'm sure they'll show war. That at least is socially acceptable on television. *rolls eyes*

I'm giving this 5 stars because I actually want to read the next book in the series when I'm usually not a reader of book series. The next book in the series The Fabulous Riverboat features Mark Twain as the main character rather than Richard Burton. While the first book gives a small idea of who created Riverworld and why everyone is there, it still leaves enough questions unanswered that I'm curious about. For one thing, there's the end/beginning of the river and a fabled Tower to reach. As for the television series, I'm not nearly as optimistic about it. I'm sure Philip José Farmer would roll over in his grave to see the changes they'll surely make.

[Maggie K · Rating 3 out of 5]

The one sentence version: Great idea, bad execution....

I LOVE the idea of a world where everyone who ever existed is suddenly reesurrected and given a second chance...if that is what's really happening...

However, it seems like it never gets too developed from an idea into a story, and using real-life people as characters...well, it can be sometimes disconcerting. When the main character Richard Burton goes after Alice Hargreaves (Alice in Wonderland) it seems more like a peek at the author's own Id than anything else...kinda creepy.

and for some reason, I kept thinking about the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen while I was reading this...I do like to read about historical figures, but if too many 'liberties' are taken with their personalities, well, it rankles the reader.

It did end up becoming a story in the last couple chapters, definitely set up for the next in the series.

[Bria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mayyybe 2.5

Some real character building here - there's Burton, who, realistically, is almost the only person out of 36 billion intent on figuring out how the world works. There's Alice, who is a bit of a stickler for Victorian morals but has a great figure. Frigate, who wikipedia claims is a stand-in for the author. Wilfrida, who has a great figure. Herman Goering, who eventually works his way toward salvation. Luga, who would be pretty if only her lips were better, but has a great figure. The subhuman, Kaz, who is smart enough to mostly adhere to 19th century morals. Lev Ruach, a prop to work against the real Burton's possible anti-Semitism. I think there may have been two or three other women with great figures, I can't remember.

There's this strange utter disbelief in the possibility of progress that underlies the conflict between Burton and the other resurrectees and the Ethicals. It's OBVIOUSLY wrong and bad for this advanced civilization to play with all these poor humans in this way, and Burton is so enlightened that he knows better. It couldn't possibly be that in tens of thousands of years a species makes any sort of philosophical or moral advancement. Because we certainly have done zero in three thousand years. So clearly the person from thousands of years ago has a clearer idea of what's right and wrong. Damn those future people for not having the exact same moral assumptions as the 19th century!

And here's one more thing that irritated me horribly:
Why wouldn't the slaves just want to be killed?!! The only effect it would have would be freeing them! Why would Burton be so reluctant to release them from their suffering? GOD that made me so mad, there wasn't even a throw away line giving a weak excuse why he wouldn't, it just was never MENTIONED.