Riverworld

Riverworld is a fictional universe and the setting for a series of science fiction books written by Philip José Farmer. The five novels in the series are as follows :

Related Topics:
Fictional universe - Science fiction - Book - Philip José Farmer

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• To Your Scattered Bodies Go
• The Fabulous Riverboat
• The Dark Design
• The Magic Labyrinth
• The Gods of Riverworld

There are also several Riverworld short stories. The first of these appeared in Farmer's anthology:

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• Riverworld and Other Stories (a Farmer anthology with one Riverworld story, titled Riverworld)

In the early 1990s, it was decided to turn Riverworld into a shared universe anthology series, with numerous authors being invited to participate. Only two volumes were released:

Related Topics:
1990s - Shared universe

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• Tales of Riverworld (includes two stories written by Farmer: Crossing the Dark River and A Hole in Hell.)
• Quest to Riverworld (includes two stories written by Farmer: Crossing the Bright River and Coda.)

The Riverworld is a planet, where the landscape has been sculpted to consist of one enormous river-valley that tightly zig-zags down one hemisphere from the north pole and up the other, returning to the north pole. The banks of the 2.5 km wide and enormously deep river move onto a wide plain on each side and then climb to hills and then an impenetrable mountain range, leaving a roughly 15 km wide and 32 million kilometre long valley (Books I and II, Book III states the river is 16.09 million km long). The weather is absolutely controlled; there are no seasons, and daily variations are metronomic. There is no animal or insect life other than fish, and there is limited variety in the lush vegetation.

Related Topics:
Planet - River-valley

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The whole of humanity from the time of early humans through to the early 21st century appear to have been resurrected along the banks of the river, an estimated thirty-five to thirty-seven billion people ("thirty-six billion, six million, nine thousand, six hundred and thirty-seven"). Of these, at least 20% are from the 20th century, due to the high levels of population in later centuries compared to earlier ones. There are no people from a time later than the early 21st century, ostensibly because an accident in space wiped out the human race at that time.

Related Topics:
Human - 21st century - Resurrected

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Everyone has the same body that they possessed at the age of twenty-five, except in perfect health, and further aging does not seem to occur. Men are all circumcized and also have no facial hair.

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Children under the age of five were resurrected on another planet, Gardenworld; those children older than 5 grow on Riverworld to the age of about 25, then no further aging occurs. All the people are healthy and free from congenital or other defects (such as addictions to drugs). There is no disease. Should an individual die on Riverworld they will soon find themselves once again reincarnated, whole in body, somewhere else along the banks of the river; some people utilize the "Suicide Express" to travel randomly. In each location, there are initially three groups of people: a large group from one time period and place, a smaller group from another time and place, and a very small group of people from random times and places.

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The resurrected are provided with nearly indestructible containers, commonly called "grails", which produce food, drink, simple clothes, and sometimes other items, such as narcotics and firelighters. Grails have to be plugged into "grailstones", found along the river, which provides the energy that the grails convert into matter.

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The people are apparently left to their own devices, and set about recreating technology and empires and coming to terms with an afterlife no Earthly religion described.

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The reason behind the existence of Riverworld is initially a complete mystery. In Farmer's books a number of historical figures - including Sir Richard Burton, Alice Hargreaves, Samuel Clemens, John I of England, Mozart, and Hermann Göring - interact with fictional characters in a quest to discover the purpose behind the creation of Riverworld and their reincarnation. Another character, Peter Jairus Frigate, bears a striking resemblance to Farmer himself, and shares his initials. There are two versions of the character - one who appears early in the sequence, and another, being the "real" version, who concludes that the first was his brother who died as a baby, resurrected and used as a spy by the creators of the Riverworld.

Related Topics:
Sir Richard Burton - Alice Hargreaves - Samuel Clemens - John I of England - Mozart - Hermann Göring - Peter Jairus Frigate

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One of the themes of the series is the way historical characters change as a result of this cosmopolitan setting. The Fabulous Riverboat, amongst other threads, portrays a tormented, drug-addicted Göring who ends up as as a missionary of the Church of the Second Chance, a peaceful religion.

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Since all the languages of mankind are represented in Riverworld, Esperanto spreads as a common tongue.

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Riverworld: Derived works ►