Riverworld by Philip José Farmer

[booksforlunch]

Today I found a pamphlet in a newly purchased book, showing the new releases of the publisher´s Fantasy - line.
They are putting out new german paperback editions of the Riverworld series, and ever since I, when I was around twelve, read a short summary of the series in an old Science - Fiction Lexicon, I wanted to read them. But the summary also stated that Farmer dropped the ball later on, and that especially the fourth volume is quite a disappointment.
Is that true, and if yes, is the series still worth reading ?

I just ask, because I made the experience, that sometimes, what I imagined when reading about a book was far more enjoyable than reading the book itself.

Thanks in advance.

Edit : I looked it up, and there are more than just four Riverworld volumes, but the old Lexicon I mentioned was printed 1982.

 

[chrispenycate]

I agree totally that the books get less impressive as the series goes on, but "To your scattered bodies go" was good enough to read on its own (in fact, it didn't really need all the sequels; the concept was all there. All the others are just filling in details, and the last one is a rather unfortunate attempt to explain away all the mysteries.

Cast of every human who has ever lived; who could resist it?

 

[The Ace]

Unfortunately, I couldn't. I found, 'To your scattered Bodies Go,' just about bearable, but by the time I got to the fifth volume I was ready to break something.

 

[GOLLUM]

I've got the series but am yet to read it. I'll be interested in anyone else's thoughts on this one...

 

[JDP]

I love the series; it's one of my all-time favourite serieseses. I can't say I noticed a particular decline throughout (though I was pretty young when I read them, so maybe would think differently now).

As Chrispenycate has said, the premise is awesome - I think it's no mean feat that Farmer managed to pull this off (well, he managed it in my opinion, anyway ). I'd say read the series. In fact, I'd be tempted to shout it from the rooftops.

 

[Ragnar]

I read the first one and quite enjoyed it but only got half way through the second before giving up. Highly over-rated IMO.

 

[JDP]

I should probably add to my previous comment that I love 70/80's SF. This particular deviancy might explain why noone seems to agree with me on this one .

 

[booksforlunch]

Thanks for the answers everyone.

I decided to check out the first two in any case.

 

[steve12553]

I really enjoyed the series but I do agree it got weaker toward the end. Still, it was well worth it.

 

[j d worthington]

While I agree that the series became weaker toward the end, there are enough interesting ideas still going on to make it worth it, IMO. Another thing that may add to the impression of the series falling off is that it takes a somewhat different tack (as I recall, after 20+ years) to the beginning, which may leave some readers feeling a bit flat....

 

[williamjm]

I read the first book a few years ago but wasn't too impressed. It is a fantastic premise for a book, and I'd say the book is worth reading just for the basic idea, but I didn't think Farmer managed to produce a story worthy of the premise. The main character, Richard Burton, was interesting but most of the supporting cast seemed a bit under-developed and several characters seemed to be introduced, looked like they'd be a major part of the book, but then completely dropped out of the story. The number of historical cameos was a bit over-done as well, I know it is tempting to include major historical figures in such a story, but far too high a proportion of the cast of characters were famous to be plausible.