What do you think?
Rate this book
Riverworld #5
Gods of Riverworld: The Fifth Book of the Riverworld Series
Gods of Riverwold is the fifth and final chapter in Philip Jose Farmer's New York Times bestselling classic SF series, Riverworld
Thirty billion people from throughout Earth's history have been resurrected along the great and winding waterways of Riverworld. Most began life anew―accepting without question the sustenance provided by their mysterious benefactors. But a rebellious handful, including Mark Twain, Richard Burton, and Peter Jairus Frigate, burned to confront the unseen masters who controlled their fate―and these few launched an invasion that will ultimately yield the mind-boggling truth. The story was chronicled in four previous volumes, and is now concluded in Gods of Riverworld .
Riverworld's omnipotent leaders must finally be confronted, and the renegades of Riverworld―led by the intrepid Sir Richard Francis Burton―will control the fantastic mechanism that rules them. But the most awesome challenge lies ahead. For in the vast corridors and secret rooms of the tower stronghold, an unknown enemy watches and waits to usurp the usurpers....
Thirty billion people from throughout Earth's history have been resurrected along the great and winding waterways of Riverworld. Most began life anew―accepting without question the sustenance provided by their mysterious benefactors. But a rebellious handful, including Mark Twain, Richard Burton, and Peter Jairus Frigate, burned to confront the unseen masters who controlled their fate―and these few launched an invasion that will ultimately yield the mind-boggling truth. The story was chronicled in four previous volumes, and is now concluded in Gods of Riverworld .
Riverworld's omnipotent leaders must finally be confronted, and the renegades of Riverworld―led by the intrepid Sir Richard Francis Burton―will control the fantastic mechanism that rules them. But the most awesome challenge lies ahead. For in the vast corridors and secret rooms of the tower stronghold, an unknown enemy watches and waits to usurp the usurpers....
352 pages, Paperback
First published October 10, 1983
43 people are currently reading
1924 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews
September 9, 2025
The final in the incomparable, glorious Riverworld series with many twists and turns, making the previous books incomplete... lets say inaccurate facts not lies or misinformation but this is science-fiction , readers will not be shocked , after all five novels need a lot of thick pages. Our not quite hero Sir Richard Francis Burton the explorer is unsettled as he reaches the mysterious towering tower miles high and wide with thousands of empty rooms they hope. Are rather bewildered the people and massive scenes of chaos doesn't help . Since the group's survivors feel stress ... who can blame them after their many losses suffered. However an uneasy feeling prevails and the next strike is sure to come and destroy all. A renegade Ethical in this their former headquarters, were masters here, the one that caused great confusion in Riverworld to the resurrected humans appears again, but not without many suspicions...a friend or villain? A vicious struggle against unemotional androids is fun for the winners though. Alice of Wonderland fame is nervous so are the others. Li Po China's greatest poet drinks and drinks and drinks...a man that Burton thinks is Jack the Ripper a well known Victorian doctor is in the Tower too, but the author tells the uninterested reader what he thinks...sigh, better, Tom Turpin and black musicians gives life to the proceedings with the sounds of ragtime. The disguised author in the book reveals himself with guidance, still the mighty computer rules nevertheless... who trust a machine not Mr. BURTON AND FRIENDS. Moreover one of the friends is trying to kill the rest . Another weird place to escape the grim reality of life into the bizarre world we need this. As a fan of the genre I liked the last chapter maybe not the best but anything which is different from the usual is a welcome sight. These novels will last since the public loves to be fooled. Ancient story tellers knew this and so do we.
February 23, 2023
I first read the Riverworld series in mid ‘80s. About 20 years later I decided to revisit it. The first two books (To Your Scattered Bodies Go, and The Fabulous Riverboat) reminded me of what I loved about the books. The third book (The Dark Design) recalled how it all started to go wrong. The fourth book (The Magic Labyrinth, which originally concluded the series) recalled how a brilliant idea could be executed so poorly as to become nearly unreadable and ruin the whole thing.
And this book? Book number five — Ending take two — the second chance? This one left such a bad taste that I didn't even bother to reread it after struggling through books three and four. The one thing that stuck in my mind from the first go through of the volumes was that as unsatisfying as the original conclusion in book four was, that this book managed to go downhill from there. Avoid it.
And this book? Book number five — Ending take two — the second chance? This one left such a bad taste that I didn't even bother to reread it after struggling through books three and four. The one thing that stuck in my mind from the first go through of the volumes was that as unsatisfying as the original conclusion in book four was, that this book managed to go downhill from there. Avoid it.
July 19, 2015
What a bleak view of humanity this book presents! The only semi-believable emotion portrayed is anger and there is a LOT of violence, especially since these are supposed to be the new & improved humans who finally made it to the mysterious tower on Riverworld. They soon prove themselves to be as self-involved and poor of judgement as Humanity 1.0.
Good things about the book? Farmer’s version of Sam Clemens does not appear, nor does King John. He only gives measurements in metric (rather than metric & Imperial, as in previous books). And it really does finish the series.
Bad things about the book? Still too much description of what people are wearing and eating which is completely unrelated to the plot. Too much fighting and too little cooperation. All the characters are cardboard cut-outs, very one dimensional and over the course of 5 books they have not grown or changed or deepened.
Weird things about the book? A strange aside as Burton attempts to solve the Jack the Ripper mystery. And then all the people involved in that sad situation are mysteriously resurrected causing chaos and distrust. And a creepy party given by Alice (of Alice in Wonderland fame) with android versions of Lewis Carroll’s characters as party favours.
There is no doubt that Farmer dealt with big issues in this series—the nature of the soul, the role of religion in society, the question of free will vs. determinism. Unfortunately, I didn’t think the quality of the writing did these big issues justice. Better characterization, tighter plotting, more realistic emotions—all these would have contributed to a much superior product.
I am relieved to be finished this series—thankfully I’m not entirely unhappy to have read it, as it is one of the seminal science fiction works of the 20th century.
Good things about the book? Farmer’s version of Sam Clemens does not appear, nor does King John. He only gives measurements in metric (rather than metric & Imperial, as in previous books). And it really does finish the series.
Bad things about the book? Still too much description of what people are wearing and eating which is completely unrelated to the plot. Too much fighting and too little cooperation. All the characters are cardboard cut-outs, very one dimensional and over the course of 5 books they have not grown or changed or deepened.
Weird things about the book? A strange aside as Burton attempts to solve the Jack the Ripper mystery. And then all the people involved in that sad situation are mysteriously resurrected causing chaos and distrust. And a creepy party given by Alice (of Alice in Wonderland fame) with android versions of Lewis Carroll’s characters as party favours.
There is no doubt that Farmer dealt with big issues in this series—the nature of the soul, the role of religion in society, the question of free will vs. determinism. Unfortunately, I didn’t think the quality of the writing did these big issues justice. Better characterization, tighter plotting, more realistic emotions—all these would have contributed to a much superior product.
I am relieved to be finished this series—thankfully I’m not entirely unhappy to have read it, as it is one of the seminal science fiction works of the 20th century.
September 19, 2025
Farmer’s Riverworld series comes to a conclusion with this fifth book. Our heroes acclimate their lives living in the huge tower after the events from book four, but naturally the danger still abounds, mysteries are eventually solved as new ones crop up and are soon figured out, and we get a relatively decent conclusion of sorts. My favorite part was a party thrown by Alice as she creates Lewis Carroll characters from the computer for it to liven things up. Needless to say, not all goes as planned. More philosophy, the introductions of some new and out of left field characters, and a lot of mayhem. Weird part is the afterward would have made more sense as a forward since it is a recap of the first four books.
November 25, 2011
After the non-ending of the last volume, I had to get the fifth of the series. In this convoluted tale, Burton, Frigate and the others enjoy their newfound powers in the Ethicals' tower, and begin resurrecting people... and then some folks start becoming power-mad. Despite some annoying internal inconsistencies and the usual complaints about awkward dialogue (though the latter is much improved from the first and second books), this was a page-turner. And I did not, believe it or not, guess the ending (although I guessed the identity of the renegade Tower-dweller). It was really an exciting story, and while there remains one anthology of Riverworld stories I haven't read, I'm sorry that Riverworld won't continue in other novels, especially by other authors.
August 15, 2012
I will say this of all 5 books in the series... Philip Jose Farmer is a literary genius! I fell absolutely in love with Riverworld and couldn't put it down to save my life. I read all 5 books at the same time within a few days. I was completely entranced. I loved every character and felt like I was a part of the struggle to figure out the mystery of Riverworld. When I finished reading I was left with so many thoughts and my mind couldn't stop racing. MUST READ!
July 29, 2013
This is where it should all come together, and instead all falls apart. No, not man's hubris as he tries to take on God-like powers, but the awful writing, stereotypical characters, and uneven, juddering plot. I had this horrible, dawning realisation that after wasting five books trying to get invested in this world, DESPITE the misogyny and plot holes, I was going to be rewarded with the least climactic and interesting explanation for the universe, EVER.
February 14, 2016
The Riverworld series stumbles to the finish line in a handful of painful, limping steps. Farmer was not originally planning to write a fifth book in this series, but, by his own admission, he left a few loose ends after the fourth book and needed to tie them off. I wish he hadn't done so.
Starting a few weeks after the conclusion of "The Magic Labyrinth," the survivors of the trip to the tower are faced with a new mystery. Loga is speaking with Burton on a video call when he is apparently murdered or destroyed. The survivors of the journey to Riverworld determine that there must be someone else in the tower with them and that that person - dubbed "The Snark" - is their enemy. A portion of the book deals with the hunt for the Snark and the rest describes the politics of the humans in the tower. They must decide how they will allocate power, who can use the resurrection machinery and for what purposes, how space will be shared and so forth. At the end of the book, there is another big revelation in which everything we know changes.
I found all of this a bit depressing. Much of what Farmer tackles in this book can be summed up in the old axiom, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." The humans are clearly not capable of handling the God-like powers they've been afforded. There is a lot of violence and pettiness and, as usual, Farmer spends way too much time on the nitty-gritty of combat, murder, arguments and rapes. OK. We get it. People aren't moral or ethical or ready to lead each other with civility and kindness.
The final section of the book essentially undermines much of what was defined at the end of the fourth volume. This may be what Farmer had intended all along, but it reads a bit like a false ending in a movie where the second ending is not as satisfying as the first. Farmer's dim view of human nature and potential, coupled with what felt like unnecessary plot complications made this an unsatisfying read. I just don't think I am a Farmer fan. But hey, I finished the series, so the completist part of me has been pacified.
Starting a few weeks after the conclusion of "The Magic Labyrinth," the survivors of the trip to the tower are faced with a new mystery. Loga is speaking with Burton on a video call when he is apparently murdered or destroyed. The survivors of the journey to Riverworld determine that there must be someone else in the tower with them and that that person - dubbed "The Snark" - is their enemy. A portion of the book deals with the hunt for the Snark and the rest describes the politics of the humans in the tower. They must decide how they will allocate power, who can use the resurrection machinery and for what purposes, how space will be shared and so forth. At the end of the book, there is another big revelation in which everything we know changes.
I found all of this a bit depressing. Much of what Farmer tackles in this book can be summed up in the old axiom, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." The humans are clearly not capable of handling the God-like powers they've been afforded. There is a lot of violence and pettiness and, as usual, Farmer spends way too much time on the nitty-gritty of combat, murder, arguments and rapes. OK. We get it. People aren't moral or ethical or ready to lead each other with civility and kindness.
The final section of the book essentially undermines much of what was defined at the end of the fourth volume. This may be what Farmer had intended all along, but it reads a bit like a false ending in a movie where the second ending is not as satisfying as the first. Farmer's dim view of human nature and potential, coupled with what felt like unnecessary plot complications made this an unsatisfying read. I just don't think I am a Farmer fan. But hey, I finished the series, so the completist part of me has been pacified.
November 13, 2020
Another very weak entry in the Riverworld story. I thought that Farmer might have gotten his fill of writing out Wikipedia entries for all his characters as part of the book, but once again about half this book is about the backstories of various historical characters.
One thing that's interesting about it, though, is that discarding all the weird obsessions with historical characters and the college dorm room philosophizing, what remains is essentially a book about hacking. There are parallels between this and Ken Thompson's famous "Reflections on Trusting Trust" paper (written 1 year after this book!), where they are in a situation where they must trust the computer to do everything, but there is a known bad agent running around in that tower. The rule for the computer, apparently, is that all permissions are default open, and you can close off permissions to anyone else for specific actions in specific contexts.
The protagonists are constantly trying to figure out whether they can trust that the computer will carry out their actions, or whether it's been subverted to appear to carry out their actions, but in fact do something nefarious. They do a few interesting hacks in there (though crude ones that the designers of the computer should have seen coming a mile away — though there's some excuse for designing things that way because they live in a high-trust post-scarcity society where giving everyone root on every computer is apparently not a big deal).
Could have been done better, but it's an interesting historical entry into this genre.
One thing that's interesting about it, though, is that discarding all the weird obsessions with historical characters and the college dorm room philosophizing, what remains is essentially a book about hacking. There are parallels between this and Ken Thompson's famous "Reflections on Trusting Trust" paper (written 1 year after this book!), where they are in a situation where they must trust the computer to do everything, but there is a known bad agent running around in that tower. The rule for the computer, apparently, is that all permissions are default open, and you can close off permissions to anyone else for specific actions in specific contexts.
The protagonists are constantly trying to figure out whether they can trust that the computer will carry out their actions, or whether it's been subverted to appear to carry out their actions, but in fact do something nefarious. They do a few interesting hacks in there (though crude ones that the designers of the computer should have seen coming a mile away — though there's some excuse for designing things that way because they live in a high-trust post-scarcity society where giving everyone root on every computer is apparently not a big deal).
Could have been done better, but it's an interesting historical entry into this genre.
August 25, 2012
I love the premise of Riverworld, and enjoyed the earlier books, but the last couple feel like either the authour, the reader or both have lost interest. It's just meandering along to an finish, any finish will do. The endless possibilities of the Tower are expressed in bursts of mindless creativity with almost no logic at all, and some of the most intriguing ideas are picked up and dropped after only cursory examination. Serious Riverworld fans only I'm afraid.
January 9, 2015
Pessimo, caotico raffazzonato.
August 11, 2025
This book turns into an escape room plot as the powerful ethical Loga seems to die, leaving the humans trapped in the high tech Riverworld tower. Most of the book is our main characters trying to figure out what happened to Loga and manipulate the advanced computer that runs most of Riverworld. You’ll soon see why this was called Gods of Riverworld. The ending was pretty bad and overall this seemed like a book that didn’t really need to be written. I didn’t like books 3 or 4 and this had a lot of the same issues for me. But if you loved the first four books in the series then you will probably like this one.
July 29, 2012
This is the conclusion to the series where the secrets of the Ethicals who created the Riverworld and who resurrected every human who lived there up until 1982. It did have some mystery to it as those surviving—Burton and Alice Hargreaves, among them, must pry deep into their own minds to solve the problem and to survive.
The central theme of this and the entire series, for that matter, is about power, about what humans would do when they have it. It also forced me to question that if resurrection is possible, who has power and what are the criteria for being a candidate? As in the third and fourth volumes of this series, the pacing is slow. It still is a good read. Be forewarned, reading this takes much concentration and focus.
The central theme of this and the entire series, for that matter, is about power, about what humans would do when they have it. It also forced me to question that if resurrection is possible, who has power and what are the criteria for being a candidate? As in the third and fourth volumes of this series, the pacing is slow. It still is a good read. Be forewarned, reading this takes much concentration and focus.
August 30, 2011
No ending could possibly be satisfactory with 36 billion stories to tell from the Riverworld, but still, decently done and true to the author's form. Ironically, the very day I finished this book, Farmer's theory that souls could be re-attached to bodies was theorized on Morgan Freeman's Through the Wormhole episode that aired for the first time that evening. Serendipity! If only Farmer himself was only alive to see it. I emailed the professor with the theory and told him of the Farmer series and asked if he's ever read it -- no reply, lol -- so probably not - probably offputting to find out a sci-fi author beat his theory by 40 years.
February 14, 2019
One of the best in the whole series. The truth is that such a long read can create boredom. It's not the case. Riverworld as a whole is built upon a positive philosophy. This last volume, The Gods of Riverworld is so compelling that in a way looks like a logical explanation on how our world on Earth is built. Amazing, amazing, amazing.
August 12, 2011
Read this ages ago and realize that I want to go back and read the first four books in the series. One characteristic of a good, original story is that you mentally come back to it again and again and I have thought of this work many times over the years.
August 5, 2021
Siempre que termino de leer un libro de la saga del mundo del Río quedo insatisfecho, es una sensación cuya explicación me resulta difícil de expresar desde la lógica. Son libros meramente entretenidos y no mucho mas, pero muchas otras veces ese entretenimiento me parece por si solo muy destacable, sus personajes a veces actúan de maneras poco lógicas en ocasiones, pero eso sucede en muchas novelas con las que me siento más satisfecho.
Y pensándolo bien, el gran problema de estas novelas es el podría haber sido, son las primeras doscientas páginas de su primer novela, doscientas páginas que componen uno de los grandes momentos de la ficción científica en general, pero que a posterior bajan a el mero entretenimiento, que está bien, pero no tan bien.
Nota: 5/10
Y pensándolo bien, el gran problema de estas novelas es el podría haber sido, son las primeras doscientas páginas de su primer novela, doscientas páginas que componen uno de los grandes momentos de la ficción científica en general, pero que a posterior bajan a el mero entretenimiento, que está bien, pero no tan bien.
Nota: 5/10
October 20, 2024
This is the fifth volume in a series that started with Philip José Farmer’s Hugo-winning 1971 novel, To Your Scattered Bodies Go. Every human that ever lived has been re-born simultaneously on the banks of a planet-spanning river valley. The first few novels developed the arcane explanation of how that world came to be, and it has turned out that a nearly omnipotent group of beings (the Ethicals) are responsible. Their purpose is to allow humans to evolve morally before they “Go On” to an unknown somewhere else. Because each person can easily be resurrected, all sorts of violence and mischief can go on without finality. Through the volumes, this literary experiment in moral philosophy has grown tedious, and has devolved into little more than a sandbox for Farmer to demonstrate some scholarship about some obscure historical figures he has researched and reconstructed. Now, not even the smallest decision, for example, how to decorate one’s chambers, without cycling through the band of characters, each of which weighs in with a divergent opinion rooted in their original milieu.
As for a plot, it seems that the renegade Ethical named Loga has been killed. The band of characters led by Sir Richard Burton has taken up residence in the tower at the end of the river, where they need to figure out why Loga was killed. But they become completely distracted with exploring their new capabilities granted through the access to The Computer, and scheming against each other. By the end, they still have not figured it out, but the truth is revealed to them deux ex machina.
The novel is a long sequence of events that don’t matter in the end. I read it because I found a free copy, and I remembered reading volumes 1-4 almost 50 years ago.
As for a plot, it seems that the renegade Ethical named Loga has been killed. The band of characters led by Sir Richard Burton has taken up residence in the tower at the end of the river, where they need to figure out why Loga was killed. But they become completely distracted with exploring their new capabilities granted through the access to The Computer, and scheming against each other. By the end, they still have not figured it out, but the truth is revealed to them deux ex machina.
The novel is a long sequence of events that don’t matter in the end. I read it because I found a free copy, and I remembered reading volumes 1-4 almost 50 years ago.
April 25, 2024
I actually didn’t mind this, a murder mystery with a twist. It wasn’t great, or remotely, sublime. There was too much philosophizing. I guess some Science Fiction writers should stick to Science Fiction.
I suppose Farmer’s goal was to clean up some loose ends. He didn’t do a terrible job of that here.
Overall, I’m glad I finally finished this series.
I suppose Farmer’s goal was to clean up some loose ends. He didn’t do a terrible job of that here.
Overall, I’m glad I finally finished this series.
August 27, 2017
Man, this series did not age well at all.
March 11, 2021
Survival of the fittest was what he does very well. We don't even question the end line up of what turns out to be only a handful of his magical (combinatorial universe culled) cast of characters. We blindly accept it as smoothly statistically plausible.....
January 8, 2018
Riverworld series (books 1-5) Review
An “IMO” review, if you’re looking for a description of the Riverworld or plot summary Wikipedia does the trick.
I enjoyed Riverworld (1-4 at least), though its not the kind of series that left me scrambling for the next book. The premise is unique and very interesting, the author does a lot with it. However, as the series progresses the pacing and narrative quality declines with an almost geometric exactness. If the first book is “five stars” the last book is “one star”.
OK, so the series starts out strong and declines over time. As a reader I have zero patience for filler or fluff. That is, expository digressions that have little or nothing to do with advancing the story. If these narrative departures serve to fill out a character that’s one thing, but if I find myself 20 pages into a meandering trip down some nobody's memory lane I start to get frustrated. That’s the primary weakness of the later books in my opinion, and what made the last book “Gods of Riverworld” all but unreadable.
I can overlook impossible technological leaps (of which there are many), nonsensical economics, or improbable motivations because, hey, its science fantasy! But I cannot stand filler! The whole story comes to a standstill for dozens of pages at a time (40+ pages in one case I bothered to count in “Gods”) because a trivial character who does nothing important gets demented-old-lady-on-the-bus levels of exposition. Filler! Fluff! Aimless boring irrelevant drivel! That’s why the last book gets only 1 star, it’s a poor conclusion to a series that started out so strong.
Nearly all the characters with dialog are genuine historical figures. Some of these characters behave true to their historical selves (Burton, Rotten John), some undergo intriguing changes (Herman Goering becomes a pacifists after years of spiritual/moral anguish), and others seem to have a cartoonish quality or just plain retarded (such as Sam Clemens aka Mark Twain).
I’m not familiar with all the historical characters, but I do know a thing or two about Clemens and Burton. Burton was a sort of real-life Indiana Jones, only much much cooler. He’s one of those larger than life people for whom the saying “you cant make this stuff up” seems to have been invented. His character is the backbone of the five-book series, making most of the important discoveries, outwitting or fighting the antagonists etc., which is fitting.
But then we also get Mark Twain/Sam Clemens… Clemens is perhaps the second most important protagonist, and one of the book series’ greatest weaknesses. Clemens is portrayed as a dithering, avaricious, childish man who seems to run his own advanced eponymous nation (Twain-land in Esperanto) on the Riverworld just because the author wanted it to be so. In fact, he is far less interesting or likeable than Rotten John with whom he shares power for a time.
Clemens makes all the wrong moves, alienates all the wrong people, snatches defeat from the jaws of victory so many times I nearly gave up the series because of him. While the author’s prose are seldom elegant, Clemens’ lines and actions make him appear to have brain damage, which is frustrating since the actual historical Clemens was justifiably famous in his own lifetime for wit and human insight. In the books, he is thoroughly unlikable and not in a rascally Southern way either. Eventually he dies for good, to the reader’s indescribable relief…
Riverworld is a passable five book series that could have been made great if heavily abridged into a two or three book series. Don’t bother with the last book “Gods of Riverworld” at all, just don’t…
An “IMO” review, if you’re looking for a description of the Riverworld or plot summary Wikipedia does the trick.
I enjoyed Riverworld (1-4 at least), though its not the kind of series that left me scrambling for the next book. The premise is unique and very interesting, the author does a lot with it. However, as the series progresses the pacing and narrative quality declines with an almost geometric exactness. If the first book is “five stars” the last book is “one star”.
OK, so the series starts out strong and declines over time. As a reader I have zero patience for filler or fluff. That is, expository digressions that have little or nothing to do with advancing the story. If these narrative departures serve to fill out a character that’s one thing, but if I find myself 20 pages into a meandering trip down some nobody's memory lane I start to get frustrated. That’s the primary weakness of the later books in my opinion, and what made the last book “Gods of Riverworld” all but unreadable.
I can overlook impossible technological leaps (of which there are many), nonsensical economics, or improbable motivations because, hey, its science fantasy! But I cannot stand filler! The whole story comes to a standstill for dozens of pages at a time (40+ pages in one case I bothered to count in “Gods”) because a trivial character who does nothing important gets demented-old-lady-on-the-bus levels of exposition. Filler! Fluff! Aimless boring irrelevant drivel! That’s why the last book gets only 1 star, it’s a poor conclusion to a series that started out so strong.
Nearly all the characters with dialog are genuine historical figures. Some of these characters behave true to their historical selves (Burton, Rotten John), some undergo intriguing changes (Herman Goering becomes a pacifists after years of spiritual/moral anguish), and others seem to have a cartoonish quality or just plain retarded (such as Sam Clemens aka Mark Twain).
I’m not familiar with all the historical characters, but I do know a thing or two about Clemens and Burton. Burton was a sort of real-life Indiana Jones, only much much cooler. He’s one of those larger than life people for whom the saying “you cant make this stuff up” seems to have been invented. His character is the backbone of the five-book series, making most of the important discoveries, outwitting or fighting the antagonists etc., which is fitting.
But then we also get Mark Twain/Sam Clemens… Clemens is perhaps the second most important protagonist, and one of the book series’ greatest weaknesses. Clemens is portrayed as a dithering, avaricious, childish man who seems to run his own advanced eponymous nation (Twain-land in Esperanto) on the Riverworld just because the author wanted it to be so. In fact, he is far less interesting or likeable than Rotten John with whom he shares power for a time.
Clemens makes all the wrong moves, alienates all the wrong people, snatches defeat from the jaws of victory so many times I nearly gave up the series because of him. While the author’s prose are seldom elegant, Clemens’ lines and actions make him appear to have brain damage, which is frustrating since the actual historical Clemens was justifiably famous in his own lifetime for wit and human insight. In the books, he is thoroughly unlikable and not in a rascally Southern way either. Eventually he dies for good, to the reader’s indescribable relief…
Riverworld is a passable five book series that could have been made great if heavily abridged into a two or three book series. Don’t bother with the last book “Gods of Riverworld” at all, just don’t…
November 28, 2019
This book provided a disappointing end to a series that had made such a promising start. The original idea - the recreation of human life on a purpose built planet - was exceptionally original in scope. However, the delivery fell short because the tale, moving from a simple adventure yarn, lost itself in a cloud of metaphysics. This volume followed the same trajectory as the series as a whole.
The book has a promising start - an adversary, a challenge, a quest to overcome the adversary, overcoming the adversary, followed by the discovery of a new challenge. At that point the book disappeared up itself. The narration lost its way a bit and then a device was found to introduce a whole new cast of characters. That didn't work. It would have worked better had the cast remained restricted and the plot limited to overcoming the challenge the group faced.
I had the overwhelming feeling, reading this book, that the author was trying to be too clever. He fails in this. All he has ended up doing is write page upon page of unintelligible nonsense. We are presented with a third rate treatise on the metaphysical nature of being that really ought to come with some form of health warning. I don't know if the author tired of writing the series - this is the fifth volume - or if he wanted to get it out of the way quickly, but we are presented with a book that could do with a severe edit.
I enjoyed parts of the book - the adventure parts - but really struggled to appreciate a good part of the book once the first quest had been completed. To my mind, that would have been a good place to end the story. I'm afraid that I found the book over long and too abstract for my taste.
The book has a promising start - an adversary, a challenge, a quest to overcome the adversary, overcoming the adversary, followed by the discovery of a new challenge. At that point the book disappeared up itself. The narration lost its way a bit and then a device was found to introduce a whole new cast of characters. That didn't work. It would have worked better had the cast remained restricted and the plot limited to overcoming the challenge the group faced.
I had the overwhelming feeling, reading this book, that the author was trying to be too clever. He fails in this. All he has ended up doing is write page upon page of unintelligible nonsense. We are presented with a third rate treatise on the metaphysical nature of being that really ought to come with some form of health warning. I don't know if the author tired of writing the series - this is the fifth volume - or if he wanted to get it out of the way quickly, but we are presented with a book that could do with a severe edit.
I enjoyed parts of the book - the adventure parts - but really struggled to appreciate a good part of the book once the first quest had been completed. To my mind, that would have been a good place to end the story. I'm afraid that I found the book over long and too abstract for my taste.
August 3, 2017
It's sad to see this series end, and it's sad to see it end with a rather modest novel. My guess is the author intended originally to end the series with book #4, and had it written in that way, then, suddenly 50 pages before ending that book, he decided to leave it ambiguous, and continue to add a fifth book to expand on the final explanation offered.
Just like the first book was different in tone from the next three, this fifth is also different. Yea it offers more details on some things left unanswered, but also a kind of alternate explanation of others. The characters are as suddenly possessed by different motivations, and the reasoning behind their actions in book #4 now appears forgotten.
Overall can't go below 3*, as the entire series has been exceptionally good. Let's indulge the author's few oops moments for the quality of the prose, for the pleasure of having to walk around in Mark Twain's or Richard Burton's shoes, or for the grand idea behind it all.
Just like the first book was different in tone from the next three, this fifth is also different. Yea it offers more details on some things left unanswered, but also a kind of alternate explanation of others. The characters are as suddenly possessed by different motivations, and the reasoning behind their actions in book #4 now appears forgotten.
Overall can't go below 3*, as the entire series has been exceptionally good. Let's indulge the author's few oops moments for the quality of the prose, for the pleasure of having to walk around in Mark Twain's or Richard Burton's shoes, or for the grand idea behind it all.
August 6, 2015
Bien, con esto termino la saga del mundo río (no voy continuar con los otros, creo que siguen 2 volúmenes). En general es una buena historia, pero se me hizo necesario saltar algunas páginas que se me antojaron de "filosofía barata", y lo mismo sucede con la narración de la "vida pasada" de personajes secundarios en los que, creo, no venía al caso que el autor se explayara tanto. Resumiendo las experiencia de todos los libros... buena historia, original y necearia de leer para los amantes del sci-fi; pero demasiado larga, algunos libros me parecieron estar de más, bastaría leer un buen resumen de ellos o sencillamente obviarlos.
March 28, 2018
The previous negative reviews cover the plethora of problems with this book. I have only read this book of the series. So while I cannot agree or disagree as to whether the characters have grown or evolved from the first, I believe those that have observed a distinct lack of growth. The author's style along with lack of any interesting plot or creation characters that I can care about, means that I will not be seeking out any of the author's other works. I think he had a desire to make people think more deeply about significant issues. Unfortunately, he delivers the message is such a heavy-handed pedantic manner that I doubt most readers were open to listening.
June 25, 2010
This is, at once, a satisfying and frustrating book. It answers most all of the questions that remained open after the fourth installment of the Riverworld series, but had an unsatisfying ending. I still admire the overall premise of the series: the rebirth of humanity on another planet where death is not final. I enjoy Farmer's use of actual historical figures - even obscure ones - to populate his stories. I really enjoy the philosophy, sociology, and psychology Farmer deploys in the stories as well. All of this holds true, and then some, for number 5, but for that ending...
July 14, 2016
I didn't mind the introductory novel of this series, though did not agree it was 'Hugo' deserving. However, the following novels, I thought were a little too much and added little to the original intent.
August 17, 2022
I loved and hated it. Loved, because it continued the story of the characters and hated, because the story took a bitter turn.
Although it’s not the ending I would have loved to read, it is a true and honest ending – considering the faults of humanity.
Although it’s not the ending I would have loved to read, it is a true and honest ending – considering the faults of humanity.
shelved
October 4, 2011Philip José Farmer - Riverworld series #5, The Gods of Riverworld
Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews