The first book is really interesting, mysterious and keeps you engaged. After that, the tension dissipates. ( )

Scattered Bodies was good but I don’t think Riverboat did the series any favors. ( )

Loved "To Your Scattered Bodies Go," but got seriously bogged down in "The Fabulous Riverboat." It took me months to finish because I lost all enthusiasm for the story. Interesting concept for setting and characters, with a good mystery to boot, but I'll probably never read the rest of the series. So, 4 stars for the first story and 2 stars for the second, for an average of 3 stars. ( )

This book contains two novels so I will be reviewing each one separately.

TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO
Humanity has been resurrected on another planet. Not just a few people, but all of humanity, from every time period. They wake up in a new world with a long river running through it. Each one carries a cylinder, or a grail, on a chain around their wrist which when inserted in a device called a grail stone that produces whatever a person might need such as food, clothing, and even cigarettes and joints. On the first day people go through a variety of emotions; shock, anger, fear. One man, Richard Burton, the explorer, gathers together a motley crew that includes Alice Liddle, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," an alien, a neanderthal man, an American from the twentieth century, and a jewish man who lived through internment in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. We follow this group as they explore their new world.

This is the first novel in the Riverworld series. Farmer uses his characters to explore the new land and set the ground rules. Using a real explorer as the main character was a good idea.

The main theme of this story is what would you do if you could start your life over in a young healthy body, in a whole new place and with all your memories intact? Would you do things differently or would you do everything the same as before? When any of the characters in the novel dies they come back whole and healthy at a different spot on the river. In a way it's like the theory of reincaration with each character coming back again and again until they get their life right. A religious movement starts called the Second Chancers with the idea that this is a second chance for humanity.

I really enjoy reading this book. It's a social studies lesson, a psychology lesson, and a treatise on spirtuality and eastern religion all rolled into one.

THE FABULOUS RIVERBOAT
Sam Clemens has a dream. His dream is to build a fabulous riverboat and travel up the river to the misty tower. To build this boat he needs iron, luckily a meteorite crashes up river and Sam is there to take advantage. He starts a new settlement called Parolando with King John Lackland. This new nation becomes an industrial powerhouse. Soon they have engineers building a dam for electrical power and every kind of industrial building that can spew pollution into the air. Parolando trades with other states for wood and minerals. Other nations along the river threaten to invade Parolando so they manufacture guns and an amphibious tank. Sam starts to wonder if they will ever get his riverboat built.

This is the second book in the Riverworld series. Much like the first book, Philip Jose Farmer has written an intelligent story with historical characters. Among these characters are; Samuel Clemens, John Lackland, and Cyrano de Bergerac. Odysseus and Mozart make small guest apearances. My favorite character is a giant prehistoric man named Joe Miller. He is a gigantic ape like man, but he is the wisest person in the story. He puts up with Sam's wisecracks and is a loyal friend.

The author covers issues of racism, religion, and politics. As in the first novel, people are haunted by the lives they lead on Earth. They bring with them their bigotry, greed, and brutality.

I didn't like this story as much as the first novel in the series. The setting was mostly in Parolando. I enjoyed Richard Burton's adventures along the river in the first novel better because we were on the move and meeting different cultures and getting to know Riverworld. This story was about how an obsession can ruin a persons life and the lives around him. I got tired of the political intrigue and the wars and invasions. Sam Clemens builds this huge industrial complex just because he wants to build a riverboat. It is shear madness. The Second Chancers have it right, just get along and love one and other. Don't push or fight just live. ( )