Riverworld Saga Book 1
Narrated by Paul Hecht

Philip Jose Farmer picked up his third Hugo Award for this 1972 book, his first win for Best
Novel He deserved it Farmer managed to create a science-fiction novel of grand scope that wears
many different masks: it's an adventure story, an examination of the development of cultures, an
amusing literary exercise, a satire on human tendencies, and a character study Every reader will
find something here to enjoy, and because Farmer knits it all into a seamless whole, even the most
discerning and picky reader will find him or herself enjoying every dimension of the book

This novel introduces the setting of "Riverworld," a mysterious planet where the entire human race
from all time periods is suddenly a inexplicably `resurrected ' Constructs known as grails provide
food and other items for the billions of humans Who or what created the Riverworld, and why did it
reconstruct the whole of the human race? That question hangs over the entire story, as our hero,
the legendary Victorian adventurer, Orientalist, anthropoligist, writer, and swordsman Richard
Francis Burton, sets out on a quest to locate the masters of Riverworld He has some interesting
companions: a 20th century American, an alien visitor from the last days of Earth, a Neanderthal,
the woman who inspired the character of Alice in Wonderland, and Nazi leader Hermann Goring Burton
want to uncover the secrets of Riverworld, but the entities responsible for it want to find him as
well, for he holds a secret that they desperately need

"Riverworld" moves at a rapid page-turning pace Farmer lets you explore the wonder of this collision
of ALL Earth cultures in one place, and you never quite know what will happen next Sometimes Farmer
grabs you with a tense fight scene, the next he amuses you with watching the developing cultures and
colliding civilizations of this stew-pot world The emergence of many famous individuals in the story
is one of the novel's best features Farmer is one of the first authors to exploit the dramatic
potential of slamming together many different legendary figures into one story (Today this is
commonplace, such as in "Van Helsing" and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," although in
"Riverworld" the famous people are all strictly historical instead of fictional) In Richard Francis
Burton, Farmer picked the perfect hero Burton is strong, brilliant, driven, and completely egotistical,
just as he was in the real world He's the sort of hero you can't stop reading about because you enjoy
watching him overcome obstacles and constantly rankle the other characters Burton is larger than life,
the ideal hero for this larger than life setting

"Riverworld" will leave you with plenty to ponder, and fingers itching to pick up the next novel in
the series, "The Fabulous Riverboat "

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