Customer Reviews (1)

Two oddities that should have remained unpublished
This slender volume with its misleading title consists of the story "Jesus on Mars", and a fragment originally excised from the Riverworld series, here entitled "Riverworld War"."Jesus On Mars" is an abridgement of the novel of the same name, originally scheduled to be published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.Slow and plodding as this painful work is, one can only wonder how anyone manages to read the longer, novel version.An ominous pall hangs over this story about the exploration of Mars, with none of the rapture one might expect from an encounter with a being who may or may not be Jesus.Even though creating these grim, depressing moods is one of Farmer's specialties, the use of this tone in this context seriously undercuts the curiously equivocal ending, not to mention the sense of wonder that is the essence of good science fiction.On the other hand, the excerpt "Riverworld War" is a thrilling, action-packed depiction of the battle between the two riverboats captained by Sam Clemens and King John, all of which will be familiar (at least in general) to readers of Farmer's excellent Riverworld series.Good as it is, however, readers who are not familiar with these fine novels will find this fragment utterly confusing and ultimately pointless.Even for those who've grown to know and love these characters, the five chapters presented here, comprising about twenty pages, and all utterly bereft of context, are nothing more than an entertaining footnote to The Magic Labyrinth, from which it was originally cut due to space limitations.It's hard to see how even completists who want to read every word Farmer's ever written can find much merit in these superfluities. ... Read more

Product Description
The Green Odyssey has been called "rollicking science-fiction adventure," "uproarious," "swashbuckling," and "sheer fun," and described by science-fiction critic Sam Moskowitz as "filled with engaging humor." The adventure begins when Alan Green arranges passage on a "wind roller," a sailing vessel of the plains, by dazzling the captain with a financial scheme that offers rich profits to overcome his reluctance to help a fugitive. Setting "sale" with the captain, Green thinks he's escaped from his dominating wife--but he's wrong. Throw in pirates, floating islands, and a black cat-goddess with a taste for beer, picked up after shipwreck on one of the wandering Islands of the Xurdimur, and you have the recipe for science-fantasy adventure as irresistible as Riverworld itself. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press.Download Description
CLASSIC SF ROMP BY AUTHOR OF RIVERWORLD! When Alan Green's starship crashes on a medieval planet overrun with feudal human societies, he is instantly captured and sold into slavery.Big, handsome, blond and strong, on a planet of short, dark people, Green soon finds himself installed as a gigolo to Duchess Zuni of Tropat, the local duke's voluptuous but bath-needing wife.Lazy, cautious to the point of timidity, he soon finds himself under the thumb of Amra, an Amazon of a wife, a slave like him, who combines beauty, and intelligence with five kids, one of them Green's.With himself as gigolo and Amra, as official lernan of the Duchess Zuni, Green is doing quite well in a precarious position when he hears that another ship from the sky has landed a few thousand miles away, and the two men on board mistaken for "demons" and scheduled for execution.Determined to save his fellow Earthmen from death, and himself from Amra, Green determines to cross the grass sea of Xurdimur and get himself to Estorya in time to stop the execution - and incidentally hitch a ride home to Earth.Thus begins Philip Jose Farmer's The Green Odyssey, which has rightly been called "rollicking science-fiction adventure" . "uproarious" . "swashbuckling" ... "sheer fun" . "and by science fiction critic and by scholar, Sam Moskowitz: "filled with engaging humor."The adventure begins when Alan Green arranges passage on a "wind roller." a sailing vessel of the plains by dazzling the captain with a financial scheme that offers rich profits to overcome his reluctance to help a fugitive.Setting "sale" with the captain, Green thinks he's escaped from his dominating wife - but he's wrong. Throw in pirates and floating islands and a black cat-goddess with a taste for beer, picked up after shipwreck on one of the wandering Islands of the Xurdimur, and you have the recipe for science-fantasy adventure as irresistible as Riverworld itself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

For Farmer Fans, A Look At His Beginnings
This was Farmer's first novel.It disappeared for many years, and broke his heart when he was ripped off by his fly-by-night publisher and the manuscript was stolen. It's nice to see it back in print (and it's also available in its entirety on the web)-- it's not his best, but still very entertaining as a rollicking adventure with some fun ideas along the way.Farmer fans will want to read it to see where he began, and new readers will enjoy its simple virtues.

An old fashioned swashbuckling adventure
This book is just plain fun.There are no deep issues here, other than the love story, just an adventure that sweeps you along for 150 pages.The main character is stranded on a foreign planet with no technology and when a space ship arrives he sees his ticket back to civilization.The story that follows is filled with ships that "sail" on grass instead of water, cannibals, pirates, moving islands, and, of course, a love interest.Put simply, the book is just a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, the book is out-of-print.But if you're willing to find an old copy somewhere, it's worth the hunt.

GREEN ODYSSEY is a highly entertaining novel
A Good SF novelabout sailing over verdant alien plains with windrollers, giant vessels with wheels. A grand adventure.

This is a really good book
The storyy is about a human astronaut who crashes on a distant world. This is millenia after the collapse of interstellar travel by humans. This world had evolved into a distinct culture, which has blended in with high tech remnants of it ancestors ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Other Books
This is great.Almost mind-boggling the effort that Farmer has put in, here.Try and find the men with grey eyes. :)G-8 became schizoid after a breakdown, becoming The Shadow and The Spider.That is just fabulous.

Wolde Newton begins
At this point, Farmer's (among others) Wolde-Newton Universe is well-established, with a strong fan base.For those not in the know, the Wolde-Newton Universe chronicles the connection between almost every pulp fiction character ever created, in real-world terms, as if the fictions we know are based on a true story.This book, while centered on Tarzan, of course, is a cornerstone of the Wolde-Newton idea.The idea of Lord Greystoke as still alive and kicking today (thanks to friends and family like Doc Savage and Sherlock Holmes), and the attempt to reconcile his pulp chronicles with a real life person makes for a pretty exciting read.Farmer is always good for a read, anyway, but he is a tireless student of the pulps, and has made a strong tapestry of their characters and situations in a real-world reference.Bottom line: i dug it.That havingbeen said, Jane's measurements are a bit hard to swallow.Seriously.

The straight poop on Tarzan of the Apes
Philip Jose Farmer has a lot of fun with the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs character.This book is a "biography" which supposes that the Tarzan novels tell the story of a real figure, albeit much fictionalized to protect his true identity.Farmer seperates the "fact" from the fiction and also traces the jungle lord's kinship with such other notable figures as Sherlock Holmes, Doc Savage, the Shadow, and the Scarlet Pimpernel.An entertaining read, although often very poorly written.

The Lowdown on the Earl of Greystoke
The author once indicated that the title was imposed upon him, but outside of the title, the book is thoroughly enjoyable.As with "Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street," this book is a biography of the titlecharacter.

In Farmer's case, he had to explain, among other things, howthe young Tarzan learned how to speak, when the known great apes don't. Reconciling the history of Tarzan with what was known then, and at the timeof the book's writing, was an exercise that took a lot of time and effort,and Mr. Farmer was up to the task.

A family tree, linking Tarzan to otherfamous literary figures, is included. ... Read more

Book Description
In one volume, here are the last three novels in the classic SF adventure series, The World of Tiers: Behind the Walls of Terra, The Lavalite World, and More Than Fire. These are the great originals of universe-hopping adventure that later writers, including Roger Zelazny in his Amber Series, used as models. Zelazny himself says, "I admire his sense of humor and facility for selecting the perfect final sentence for everything he writes. He can be stark, dark, smoky, bright, and any color of the emotional spectrum....put quite simply, he arouses awe," The tierworld books are full of non-stop action and typify Farmer's boundless imagination. Who else would have thought of stacking up pocket universes like a ziggurat or the layers of a cake? Join Earthlings Robert Wolff and Paul Janus Finnigan (alias Kickaha) on an unforgettable adventure to big for any single world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Farmer's reputation far exceeds his ability
This review covers both World of Tiers, Volume 1 and Volume 2, but with the second volume, the later books don't even seem to mesh well with the rest of the books. It felt as though Farmer, lacking a better idea for new novels, just kept going with this series (at least in that regard, he may have been ahead of his time). In any case, it's a downhill road after three bad novels get you going on this rocky journey. So, if you're like me, and you HAVE to finish a series once you start it, just steer clear of this one, because it's not worth your time.

I read a number of posts in Amazon's SF discussion boards that praised both Farmer and this series of books. However, I have to agree with the minority that thought these books were horrendous. There is no foreshadowing, so they read like Farmer doesn't even know where they're going. Even though the stories are going somewhere, they generally feel like they lack a plot. The characterization is so weak, it's ridiculous. The action is breakneck, but it often seems pointless. And, as others have mentioned, characters who know nothing one minute suddenly know all a few (sometimes just one) paragraphs later.
Frankly, there was a lot of pulp fiction, with its paper cutter characters and heavy action, that was MUCH better than this series. If you're looking for that kind of stuff, you'd be much better off hunting down some Doc Savage books or EE 'Doc' Smith's Lensman series, or even some of Lester del Rey's stuff. That's classic with a certain level of quality.

I also have to mention that I slogged through Farmer's Riverworld series several years back. The writing quality was better, but again, I read 5 books, and I felt terribly disappointed and dissatisfied at the end. I felt then that the hype exceeded the goods, and The World of Tiers is pure garbage compared to the Riverworld books. Again, I'd heard fantastic things about the series, and I was determined to read them through to the end, in the hope of finding... something. I have enjoyed a few of his short stories that I've read in collections, but someone's going to have to have to glowingly review every single aspect of the book AND give it to me for free, before I read another book by this author. Don't believe the hype. Eleven books in two series was about ten and a half books too many, for me.

A Super Fantasy Series
Farmer's five-book "World of Tiers" series is a classic. What an imagination Farmer has!I loved the village that slowly floats fifty-feet above the ground. It's held up by air bags. The "World of Tiers" series and the "River World" series are wonderful. Don't miss them.

Great Pulp Storytelling
Farmer is a big pulp adventure fan and tried his hand at it a number of times.I think that World of Tiers is his best attempt.The story is a great old fashioned adventure tale with a larger than life hero in a fantastic setting.Plot wise it deals with a man who discovers an apparently one way portal to an odd pocket universe.This universe consists of a planet made of several tiers like a wedding cake.Each tier contains its own distinct world.One is an idyllic world inhabited by creatures of greek myth, another is populated by medieval knights.The whole world is ruled by an overlord who resides at the top of the planet and the story revolves around our hero, eventually joined by a sidekick named Kickaha who also hails from Earth, attempting to get to the top of the world so he can get home.Like I said this is a great story, with another inventive concept from Farmer.The premise lets him explore several different pulp settings and there is a nice twist at the end which wraps things up nicely.There is a series of books which follows this one but they get progressively worse.Unless you're a completists, or dying to see some of the conceptual antecedents of Roger Zelazny's Amber series I'd recommend only bothering to pick up the first one.

Worlds Apart
The World of Tiers: Vol. One contains books 1, 2 and 3 of the series.What Philip Farmer writes best is strange worlds and strange creatures and action, action, action.All of it is found here in spades.The concept of multiple worlds controlled by highly advanced and immortal but petty and jealous "lords" gives him licence to write Doc Savage type pulp adventures on a grand scale.Not much time is spent on the past but in what happens to the characters in the here and now.

Book one intruduces us to Robert Wolff who stumbles upon a doorway to a new world.The word itself is the star of this book and the entire series is named for it as it is the World of Tiers.Not a round planet but a series of plateaus one on top of the other.Each plateau is basically a continent and instead of being separated by oceans are separated by 30,000 and 60,000 foot mountains which have to be climbed to reach the next continent.The Lord of this world lives atop it in a giant palace.Wolff gets to know this world with the help of the enigmatic Kickaha as he strives to save his new love.And Wolff is greeted by a surprize at the end of the journey.

Book two continues the adventures of Wolff as we see him fight for his life though world after world of his deranged father, again trying to save his love.This time he must team up with a cadre of back stabbing relatives, other Lords who would just a soon kill each other but must try to work together to kill their father.Farmer again gives pulp style action as all the characters are placed in near constant jeopardy through the book.

Book three occurs during the events of book two but back on the World of Tiers.This time Kickaha takes the stage as our main character, a place he keeps for the next 3 books as well.Strange things are afoot and the ever tricky Kickaha must fight and think his way though them.Hunted by the Half-horse who want his scalp and the evil Bellers who want him dead so they may take over all of humanity and all of the worlds of the Lords, he has his work cut out for him.With a little help from an unlikely ally he may win.

If you want rich character development you may want to pass.But if you like adventure and pulp action this is for you.And if you love alien words and creatures look no further.It really doesn't get much more out there than Philip Farmer, that's why people love to read him.

Vintage Silver Age Adventure
For some reason, Amazon is combining the reviews of both volumes of the World of Tiers instead of storing them separately under the actually-reviewed volume...So don't be confused by reviews of the second volume appearing under the first, and vice versa.

The first volume contains the first three books of the series, the Maker of Universes, the Gates of Creation, and A Private Cosmos.People looking for realistic romances or accurate portrayals of human emotion might want to look elsewhere; those in the mood for classic world-spanning science fiction with an emphasis on action have found their grail.

The first two books center on Wolff, a man who starts on Earth and is taken through a Gate to another world where strange Lords rule pocket universes of their own creation and wage a cruel and inventive war against each other.In addition to fabulous landscapes and strange beasts, we have many vintage science fiction ideas and death traps galore.The third book introduces the Black Bellers, creations originally intended to store human consciousnesses for transferring to new bodies, which have themselves evolved consciousness and now present a major threat to all life.Farmer's forte is putting characters in horrible situations and letting them work their way out with wits alone.

The imagery in this book is amazing as we travel through multiple universes, each conceived by a Lord as either a palace of pleasure or one giant planet of destruction.Highly recommended for anyone looking for a great, imaginative thrill ride.

The second volume concludes one of the most entertaining and original adventure/science fiction series in history.The emphasis is on action, conflict, and solving puzzles with the mind alone, said puzzles usually involving Gates that take the main characters to different worlds, often landing them squarely in the middle of a mastermind's death trap.How Farmer weaves his characters into and out of these death traps provided immense enjoyment for this reader.

The second volume, containing books 4-6 of the World of Tiers, focuses on Kickaha's battle against the Lord of Earth, Red Orc.Behind the Walls of Terra is one long action/chase scene as Kickaha lands on Earth after an absence of 25 years to chase down a threat to all life everywhere (the Black Bellers) and find his friends who may have been captured by Red Orc.In the second book in this volume, the Lavalite World, Kickaha and others have been transported to a shape-changing world where the planet itself molds and morphs and breaks apart (and rejoins) like the globules in a lavalamp.You will also encounter man-eating trees with insectoid eyes set among their branches and other products of Farmer's fertile imagination.The last book, More than Fire, is the showdown between Kickaha and Red Orc.In my opinion, the books just get better and better.

Don't expect the prose of Shakespeare or the complex and masterful plots of Ludlum; this is pure action/adventure with a healthy dose of trippy sci-fi ideas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Gross yet good
Its hard to explain how this book is better than lame internet fan fiction. The author takes two fictional characters and puts them through some violent homoerotic adventures, yet this book is way better than any lame blog entry.
If you like disgusting books check this one out, it might even be more over the top than American Psycho.

Not all that good
Too many reviews have stated that one has to be "open-minded" to appreciate this book, as if resenting all the sex makes one close-minded.This book is full of Farmer's sexual ideas, and if you don't agree with those, you won't like the book. Also, the story itself isn't all that great.The idea of The Nine is intriguing, but instead of making a couple of heroes of another age more "real", the story made them a lot weirder. Stick to Burroughs or Dent, and let Farmer spin his little fantasies to himself.

Pulp Fiction on Acid-- Not For The Faint of Heart!!
Farmer likes to shock,and several of his novels-- this one and "Image of The Beast"-- are his paean to extreme violence and sex in a pulp-fiction setting.If you're open-minded, though, you'll really enjoy this (slightly twisted) Tarzan/Doc Savage story ripped from the deepest recesses of Farmer's id.A familiarity with the two characters is recommedned, though not necessary-- Farmer wrote bios of both Doc Savage and Tarzan, and clearly loves them dearly.This novel is an exorcism of all the repression in those novels: does Doc EVER get laid??No!And though Tarzan kills scores, hundreds of enemies in his novels, is he ever depicted as revelling in his happy homicide??NO!Here we get to see the dark and nasty sides of our heroes, and Farmer clearly loved writing about their most sexual and sadistic exploits.

Most people will go along for the ride and enjoy Farmer's prank-- but a few will blush a deep crimson and take offense.By now, you know which camp you're in, surely....

The Original Slash Fiction?
The Feast Unknown by Philip Jose Farmer may not be everybody's cup of tea. There is a lot of graphic descriptions of both violence andmale arousal. Yet if the reader is open-minded enough to get past these, this is a well crafted adventure novel by one of the masters of the field.

The novel pits Farmer's versions of Tarzan and Doc Savage against each other in a fight to the death over the secret of eternal life. Farmer calls these foes Lord Grandrith and Doc Caliban, and tells the story from the point of view of Grandrith. Also, it turns out there is another secret these two share that they must discover before they kill each other.

There are enough explosions, deaths, and dismemberments for a summer Hollywood adventure blockbuster, but Farmer has added a strange twist to the story that makes this risky material for the screen. As the novel opens, Grandrith finds that he becomes physically aroused to the point of climax whenever he kills someone. This is very distracting for him, as he must outwit his most deadly enemies while his body is being drawn towards other feelings.

This is difficult material to handle and Farmer does it superbly, and with a touch of humor, while keeping the excitement level high. Leave it to the creator of Riverworld to invent such a fantastic story line and carry it off superbly from beginning to end.

Is this the original slash fiction (fan writings involving fancied romantic liaisons between fictional male companions)? Most articles about slash trace it back to 1970s fan fiction depicting romantic adventures between Star Trek's Kirk and Spock. A Feast Unknown was first published in 1969, a date that precedes the earliest dating for slash so far. However, regardless of whether this novel has anything to do with slash fiction, it is a great work on its own terms that was certainly groundbreaking at the time and can still be controversial to this day.

Tarzan - ratedX
Long before The Da Vinci Code, Philip Jose' Farmer was making shocking revelations about some of our childhood heroes.This, "the IXth volume in the Memoirs of Lord Grandrith" (hisversion of Tarzan), is a very difficult book to judge.On the one hand, it is certainly a very fast-paced, action-filled adventure, the kind that used to keep me turning thepages in the best tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs or Lester Dent--and I can't say that about many novels lately.Farmer certainly can imitate the style of the old masters very well.On the other hand, there can be no denying (Theodore Sturgeon's arguments in the postscript not withstanding), that A Feast Unknown is pornography.Or maybe it is beneath pornography, more like scatology.This is not the robust sexuality of a Robert Silverberg or Norman Spinrad, but rather adolescent locker room snickering.Further, although Farmer implies he is trying to add depth to the character of the two fictional superheroes of his youth, Tarzan and Doc Caliban (read Savage), one wonders if we really need to know that Tarzan is a cannibal, practices bestiality, and was once sodomized by an Albanian?Or that Doc Savage has sexual relations with his cousin?The failings of real men have been made to obvious to us.At least the purity of our fictional heroes could be preserved, even if it meant sacrificing a little realism. Thus,to my mind, this novel is less satisfying than its sequel, Lord of the Trees/The Mad Goblin where Farmer thankfully did not attempt to exorcise his Puritan Peoria upbringing.That said, the speculation on the links to sexuality and violence are interesting.One only wishes Farmer had given more details about the "Immortal Nine," their origins and their manipulation of the world's affairs, instead of just leaving broad hints.It's probably too late to hope that Farmer (given his health) will write more adventures ofLord Grandrith and Doc Caliban.If he does, hopefully he will leave out all the gory details. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A parody of action/adventure classics
This book is comprised of three self-contained adventures, each of which was originally published separately.All three feature the same main character, a redoubtable airship officer named Greatheart Silver, and there is enough continuity between the three adventures to create the illusion of a novel, but not the actual impact of one.The first episode opens with Silver's fall from grace as an airship officer, then goes on to detail his revenge at a wild shootout.The Shootout is easily the most memorable section of the book; Farmer gives his playful imagination free rein in a reunion of major adventure heroes and villains from the past century, including not-so-subtle variations of Doc Savage, James Bond, the Lone Ranger, and countless others.Comic effect is heightened by presenting all these characters as past their prime physically, and down on their luck financially, but the end result is more humorous for its madcap concept than for the quality of its execution.Still, it cannot be denied that Farmer handles this kind of mass combat scene as well as any writer in the field, and the pleasure he takes in gathering all these characters together for one final mad brawl comes across well, especially if the reader is also (like Farmer) an aficionado of the action/adventure/detective thrillers of the past.Part Two is a fairly straight kidnapping yarn, although the mad scientist who plans to take over the world via the high-tech distribution of pornography is somewhat over the top, and the publishing house where writers are shackled to their typewriters must have struck a chord with Farmer's writer friends.In Part Three the technical details of the airship come to the fore as several gangs of ne'er-do-wells simultaneously attempt to wrest control of the ship from newly promoted Captain Silver.Since neither of these sections is quite as funny as its predecessors, the book does not so much build to a climax as drift until it collapses.Farmer demonstrates a good command of parody, a rare skill with action, and some facility with mystery/detective stories, but serious science fiction fans will find little to maintain their interest, and the book's weak technical structure undercuts the overall effect.Fans of action/adventure classics will find some delightfully droll moments in this book, but many other readers will not be amused. ... Read more

Book Description
Philip José Farmer, the wildly creative author of thebestselling Riverworld series, here delights his wide readership with acompelling new novel. All the skills and the soaring imagination which havewon Farmer over a million dedicated fans are abundant in this highlycharged, far-future, space adventure story. The Unreasoning Mask is the story of Ramstan, captain of al-Buraq, a raremodel starship. It is capable of alaraf drive: instantaneous travel betweentwo points of space. Three of these special ships were built to explore andmake contact with the many sentient races inhabiting the universe.Suddenly, one of the ships mysteriously disappears.And then it isdiscovered that an unidentifiable "creature" is marauding through theuniverse, totally annihilating intelligent life on planet after planet.Ranstan, a thoughtful and moral man, becomes a fascinated yet reluctantpawn in the hands of the strange forces which arise to fight the deadlydestroyer. Ultimately, he is the one man who, in a fearful race againsttime, can stop the destruction. But what price must he pay for becoming thesavior of intelligent-kind? The Unreasoning Mask is Farmer at hisbest--fast-paced, complex, slightly mystical, high-action adventure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Plenty of imagination, but decidedly unpleasant
In this sci-fi/fantasy adventure Ramstan is captain of the al-Buraq, one of the few starships fitted for instantaneous travel through space, when he impulsively risks everything to steal the glyph, an egg-shaped artifact that is worshipped by an alien civilization.Fleeing from the religious indignation of the aliens, and following the hints he receives from the glyph, Ramstan hops from planet to planet until he encounters the bolg, a terrifying engine of destruction with world-breaking power.With the help of the immortal beings known as the Vwoordha, Ramstan resolves to take a stand against the bolg before it destroys the Earth.

Unfortunately, Ramstan is not a particularly likable character, nor even a very convincing one, and his actions are often controlled by non-human (and even non-living) forces, which does little to make him sympathetic.The myriad Islamic references, although perhaps considered suitably exotic at the time, may even grate upon the sensibilities of some Western readers in our post-9-11 world.And the story certainly takes its time getting started, although it does pick up eventually.There's almost none of the swords-and-shields, hand-to-hand combat that Farmer is so good at; most of the conflict is space chases and puppet manipulation.There's certainly no shortage of imagination here, and fans of far-out cosmic speculation should be intrigued by the concluding chapters, but ultimately this book is more successful as fantasy than science fiction.

One of the 100 best science fiction novels
I've read all of Philip José Farmer's books, and of his stand alone sf novels, this is one of his best.Apparently I'm not alone in thinking this.Interzone editor David Pringle included The Unreasoning Mask in his book, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels, and sf author Ian Watson called it "a masterpiece, Farmer's finest."

This novel might be viewed as a thinking person's version of Star Trek's "The Doomsday Machine" or "The Immunity Syndrome"; but it's really much more than that, with its metaphysical themes and implications, as well as its well-conceived world building of alien cultures and psychological examination of human motivations.

Captain Ramstan commands a rare alaraf drive starship which allows it to jump instantaneously to distant regions of space.Just as Ramstan sets off an interstellar incident by stealing the god-idol of an alien world (called the glyfa), he is alerted that one of the alaraf ships has disappeared, a victim of a world-killer called a "bolg."What is the mysterious connection between the glyfa and the bolg, and why does Ramstan begin to have waking visions of a mystical being from his long extinguished Muslim faith?Ramstan, chased by the aliens who worship the stolen god, races across the pluriverse to find the answers.

The Unreasoning Mask is a gripping, captivatingly disturbing book.Even at his most fantastic, Farmer manages to entrance with a compelling degree of realism, in particular as regards his portrayal of human nature, which in his fiction seems to carry at least as much bad as it does good.Don't miss this darkly riveting sf adventure.

The uninteresting adventures of a spacefaring lad
In the 70s Farmer published a novel as "Kilgore Trout," taking his pseudonym from the beloved science-fiction writer who appears in several Kurt Vonnegut novels.The Trout character is notorious for combining fantastic ideas with an almost pathological inability to write them into compelling stories (and for publishing almost exclusively in pornographic magazines).

After reading "The Unreasoning Mask," I find the irony too rich; it's a book over-flowing with promising ideas, but hampered by grating prose, inconsistent and impatient plotting, and weirdly chauvinistic attitudes.If you pick this up you'll find yourself saying "it can't really be this bad - I must be missing something."You're not. It is.

When reading this book, I was not glad
I've read quite a bit of science fiction, and was rather surprised at how disappointing this book was.While the central premise of the book is potentially intriguing, the way the reader learns of it is certainly less than elegant (I won't say what it is so as to not spoil the experience if you dare to read the book yourself).The main character of the book (a starship captain) isn't someone you can bond with, or even care about most of the time, except to wonder how someone so dysfunctional could wind up being in command of an elite ship.The author seemed to have wanted to cover a LOT of territory in a fairly short book, and the result is a book where the plot is disjointed, character development is lacking, and most of the core themes of the book are revealed in essay-like sections, just to get them out there.

Having an interesting idea for a science fiction story is an important start, and 50 years ago that was probably enough to get a book published (keep in mind this book was published in 1981).However, I've come to expect good sci-fi authors to develop the story, have some interesting characters, and draw the reader into the book.You should too.

Disappointingly, surprisingly bad
The best that can be said for this book is that there are a lot of interesting ideas in it.Or, rather, there are gestures toward a lot of interesting ideas; there is absolutely no follow-through.One gets the sense of an author with attention deficit disorder:He sat down to his typewriter every day and wrote down the great new idea he had, but never got back to doing anything with the previous day's ideas.

The result is an incoherent book, in which the plot developments seem to just happen, the characters--such as there are any; we really get to know only one--are never developed, and there are several glaring holes in the world-building that are never addressed.By the end, I simply didn't care what happened.I'm not opposed to science fiction that focuses on the ideas at the expense of extensive character development, but for that to work you actually have to, well, focus on the ideas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

1922 French African adventure fantasy finally translated
Ironcastle claims to be more than a translation of an original French fantasy novel by J. H. Rosny. It is retold by the award-winning author Philip Jose Farmer, a person who has written his own variations on Tarzan and Doc Savage African adventures.

In this book Hareton Ironcastle gets a message from an explorer who is in a little explored region of Africa and has found plants and animals fantastically different than any others on Earth. Ironcastle gathers together a small group of adventurers to check out the fantastic claims and his only daughter convinces him to take her along.

In their attempts to find the lone explorer and to discover the eerie secret of this remote land, they face strange hostile tribes as well as domineering plants and hairy reptiles. It is a well-written adventure that moves along with well crafted characters and settings. A good read for anyone interested in this genre. ... Read more

Amazon.com
At the end of The Fabulous Riverboat, Sam Clemens finally set out in the great iron riverboat Not for Hire to reach the headwaters of the massive river on whose shores humanity has been resurrected. After 33 years on the river, Clemens and his crew--including the giant subhuman Joe Miller--are finally near the end of their journey, and only one obstacle remains: the evil Earthly king, John Lackland. John is waiting just upriver in the Rex Grandissimus, the first riverboat that Sam constructed and the one that John and his crew hijacked, and he's hell-bent on sinking Sam's boat (and vice versa). Complicating the battle is the fact that both ships likely contain agents of the Ethicals, the group of advanced beings who created Riverworld for reasons unknown.One or more of the Ethicals themselves may even be on board, as are various humans that the rebel Ethical, known as the Mysterious Stranger (but known to Clemens simply as X), enlisted in his cause, which may or may not lead to humanity's salvation.

The battle is set to take place along the shores populated by members of the Church of the Second Chance, a group that believes they must attain ethical perfection in order to proceed to the next phase of existence. The Second Chancers are not violent, but their charismatic leader, La Viro, may attempt to sink one or both of the iron ships in order to prevent the battle.Among the Second Chancers is former Nazi officer Hermann Goring, who had a run-in with Sir Richard Francis Burton in the first Riverworld novel, To Your Scattered Bodies Go.Burton and his companions--among them several people who were contacted by the Mysterious Stranger--are reluctantly serving on John's boat in order to reach the headwaters of the river.But will any of the humans working for X survive the coming battle?And if so, how can they possibly hope to penetrate the tower in the North Sea where the Ethicals are thought to reside?And what could lowly humans hope to do against a race so advanced that they can reshape entire planets and resurrect all of humanity? --Craig E. Engler Book Description
The answers behind the enigmatic origins of Riverworld lie at last within reach, as the remarkable gathering of Earthlings--including Sir Richard Francis Burton, Samuel Clemens, Alice Liddell Hargreaves (the real-life Alice in Wonderland), Cyrano de Bergerac, Ulysses S. Grant, and Baron Von Richtoven--finally breaches the stronghold of Riverworld's extraordinary super-race.

But answers would lead to more enigmatic questions . . .

Who is the Mysterious Stranger who taunted the Riverworld resurrectees with hints of the truth? What is the key to the gargantuan computer that wields the power of life and death? The astonishing secrets lie within the Dark Tower--but only for those brave enough to seek them and wise enough to decipher them . . . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

A terrible ending for a declining series
The first book in the series, "To Your Scattered Bodies Go" was fantastic - filled with original ideas and interesting concepts. Unfortunatley, it was all downhill from there. The second book, "The Fabulous Riverboat", maintained interest by introducing Sam Clemens. But then the rot set in. The only thing that got me though the third volume, "The Dark Design", was the hope that in the end a satisfactory conclusion would be reached, and reading that book was the only was to get there. Finally came "The Magic Labyrinth". The best thing that can be said is that it was obvious Farmer had no conception of how to end the series. The important characters, the ones you care about, are killed off with no apparent purpose except to create an artificial shock. The ending, involving secondary characters, in incredibly weak and shows a complete case of, "Well, I have to end it, so let's do THIS". A total disappointment, not at all worthy of the promise the first book showed. I pity the people who followed this series all the way to the end only to be confronted with this. There is a lesson to be drawn here - never start a series if you have no idea how to come to a competent ending. This has all the hallmarks of a book that was written to fulfill a contract. I would give it no stars except that I have to give it at least one. My advice: read "To Your Scattered Bodies Go" for good Scifi; read "The Fabulous Riverboat" for enjoyment; but forget "The Dark Design" and definitley do not read this book. Whatever explanation you may conjure in your imgaination can not help but be infinitely superior to what is in this book. Without doubt, one of the most disappointing books I have ever read, in any category. Avoid at all costs.

jaman57

Mind-Numbing
I thought the fourth installation in the Riverworld series would be exciting. At last, they are going to reach the tower and confront the unknown entities who have done this to humans! But first, unfortunately, Farmer drags on endlessly about the final gathering of the main characters and the battle between the two paddle wheelers, which drags ON and ON, chapter after chapter, describing each turn and blow ad nauseum. I couldn't even finish it. If my husband would let me, I would donate these books to Goodwill.

The Only Weak Link In the Riverworld Series, 2-1/2 stars
Don't believe the book jacket when it says this is the final book of the Riverworld series.It is not, there are so many loose ends, that the Gods of Riverworld is necessary reading to conclude the series.Although the events in this novel will probably piss you off and this novel is the weakest of what I would consider a 4-1/2 star series, it's a necessary novel to read to really conclude the series in the very satisfactory Gods of Riverworld.

Uneven - with Great Potential Left Unfulfilled
The Magic Labyrinth is the fourth of Farmer's five volume Riverworld series, and was originally the final book in the series. Here all the various quests of those travelling to the headwaters of the river end for better or worse. Here to, the mysteries of the Riverworld planet and how and why all humanity was resurrected there are revealed.
This is a most uneven book. There are episodes of thrilling action and adventure, and long sections of mind-numbing boredom. There are characters who have been well developed throughout the books, and others that are barely sketched out, but still are central to the action. The writing is often barely competent, yet many of the ideas presented are still fascinating.
The strongest part of the book is its middle, which recounts the final drama of a forty-year, up river chase of two rival riverboats. The first boat, The Rex, captained by King John Lackland, who stole it from Sam Clemens, is pursued by The Not For Hire, the boat Clemens built to chase down his hated enemy. Clemens' quest for the headwaters of the river, to storm the mysterious tower there that may contain the answers to this world's riddles, has been subsumed by his thirst for revenge against King John. Most of the action of the book takes place when these two mighty boats, both heavily armed and manned by crews of Earth's famous and near famous, have their final clash. Two great set pieces have French ace George Guynemer, and German ace Werner Voss fighting a last fantastic dogfight over the river, and an awe-inspiring fencing duel to end all duels between Cyrano de Bergerac and Sir Richard Francis Burton. It is here that Farmer works his grand concept for all that it is worth, and shines.
The quality of the book drops sharply after the resolution of this battle. A handful of survivors continue on to complete the quest to the great tower at the end of the river. Several in this final group are not characters who were previously fleshed out, but new characters who have hardly been lined at all by the author, and with whom the reader feels little connection. Almost the whole last fourth of the book is composed of chapter after chapter of explanations of the how, why and who of the creation of Riverworld and the resurrection of 36 billion humans there. These explanatory chapters are stilted, as the information is delivered like a lecture from a perfectly dull professor. After reading through four books to get to the big revelations, this lame technique is a real let down.
This book and series suffer from great potential, unfulfilled. The concept on which Riverworld is based had promise as a grand epic masterpiece of sci-fi. It began well, but faltered and fell with books three and four. Though I contemplated giving this book only two stars, for its occasional flashes of brilliance I will give it three.

Theo Logos

ok, but needs lots of editing
both book 3 and 4 should have 100 pages ripped out of them. Much higher quality product then. And really very little would be lost.

"explanation" at end is a bit goofy, but ok. The war and the tower were pretty decent overall. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Old Testament Martians
This is probably one of the better examinations of religion to be found in the sci-fi universe, but it's only partially fulfilling. Philip Jose Farmer does a fine job here integrating theological exploration with space exploration, via a pretty interesting premise. In the story, the first manned mission to Mars finds that the planet is inhabited, by humans and some affiliated aliens, in large underground cities. And amazingly, these Martians are Orthodox Jews who live in a highly structured and ethical Old Testament society. It turns out that aliens visited Palestine in A.D. 50, perhaps explaining some of the more supernatural stories in the Bible, collected some of the revered Jewish and early Christian personalities of the time, and took off for Mars. Also, the underground Martian city is ruled by an all-powerful immortal who claims to be Jesus Christ. But is He the real deal, or some alien impostor?

Farmer utilized this interesting premise for many ruminations on the nature of Jewish and Christian belief. There are some especially good discussions on how Christianity has severely diverged from its original tenets and how its modern aspects are flawed by conjecture and misinterpretation. However, Farmer's explorations of these intriguing topics run out of steam in the second half of the book and start meandering. Another problem here is the characters, especially Danton, a cloying and stereotypical mouthpiece for unyielding intellectualism; and Bronski, the conveniently-placed science fiction standby – the mission member who just happens to know ancient languages and multiple scientific disciplines, in order to conveniently explain things to other characters and to the reader. Meanwhile, several main characters tend to speak in portentous monologues that keep going for paragraphs and paragraphs. And finally, the novel ends in a rather unsatisfying "decide for yourself" fashion (as other reviewers have noted), but in the end you are left with some pretty good food for thought. [~doomsdayer520~]

Could have been better
Although the story was quite enjoyable, the level of realism was reduced by the swiftness with which ideas are run through and the lack of detail given. For example the main protagonist watches lots of videos but we never get any details of what's in the videos, merely overviews or generalities. In this way it was hard to read, because so much simple stuff you wanted to read about is kept at arm's length.

The ending is dubious, like the first review said it is an ending of the "make your own mind up" type, but it does imply that if something is good what does it matter what the truth is behind it.

Only got two stars because of the concept, I did not find this book fulfilling.

a great Farmer read
I found the book to be very interesting and could not put it down until I found out if indeed it was Jesus on Mars.The end is a bit rushed, leaving the reader to decide who 'Jesus' really is and what his intentions are.On the whole, it was a good read and wish a follow-up could one day come from Farmer himself.

Liar, Lunatic, or Lord?
The first manned mission to Mars discovers a civilization living underground on Mars.About half are human, the other half are an alien race.They speak ancient Greek and Hebrew, and live by Jewish law!

The visitors learn that two thousand years earlier, an alien spacecraft visited Earth and collected many samples of Terran flora & fauna, including humans, some of whom were early Christians.Soon after settling on Mars, Jesus appeared and everyone, including the aliens, became Christians.

Jesus lives with the Martians still, and performs miracles for the visitors.

But is he really the same Jesus described in the Bible?He he really the Son of God?Or is he an alien masquarading as the human religious figure to gain trust and take over?Or all of above?

That's what the visitors and all of Earth must decide as they examine their own religious beliefs as Jesus prepares for his return to Earth.

I found this a fascinating book that I still often think about years later.I hope it is brought back into print. ... Read more

Book Description
Dr. Chapmanprovides the first comprehensive examination of Farmer's major themes and fiction, from his earliest writings to his bestseller, The Gods of Riverworld. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Old Testament Martians
This is probably one of the better examinations of religion to be found in the sci-fi universe, but it's only partially fulfilling. Philip Jose Farmer does a fine job here integrating theological exploration with space exploration, via a pretty interesting premise. In the story, the first manned mission to Mars finds that the planet is inhabited, by humans and some affiliated aliens, in large underground cities. And amazingly, these Martians are Orthodox Jews who live in a highly structured and ethical Old Testament society. It turns out that aliens visited Palestine in A.D. 50, perhaps explaining some of the more supernatural stories in the Bible, collected some of the revered Jewish and early Christian personalities of the time, and took off for Mars. Also, the underground Martian city is ruled by an all-powerful immortal who claims to be Jesus Christ. But is He the real deal, or some alien impostor?

Farmer utilized this interesting premise for many ruminations on the nature of Jewish and Christian belief. There are some especially good discussions on how Christianity has severely diverged from its original tenets and how its modern aspects are flawed by conjecture and misinterpretation. However, Farmer's explorations of these intriguing topics run out of steam in the second half of the book and start meandering. Another problem here is the characters, especially Danton, a cloying and stereotypical mouthpiece for unyielding intellectualism; and Bronski, the conveniently-placed science fiction standby – the mission member who just happens to know ancient languages and multiple scientific disciplines, in order to conveniently explain things to other characters and to the reader. Meanwhile, several main characters tend to speak in portentous monologues that keep going for paragraphs and paragraphs. And finally, the novel ends in a rather unsatisfying "decide for yourself" fashion (as other reviewers have noted), but in the end you are left with some pretty good food for thought. [~doomsdayer520~]

Could have been better
Although the story was quite enjoyable, the level of realism was reduced by the swiftness with which ideas are run through and the lack of detail given. For example the main protagonist watches lots of videos but we never get any details of what's in the videos, merely overviews or generalities. In this way it was hard to read, because so much simple stuff you wanted to read about is kept at arm's length.

The ending is dubious, like the first review said it is an ending of the "make your own mind up" type, but it does imply that if something is good what does it matter what the truth is behind it.

Only got two stars because of the concept, I did not find this book fulfilling.

a great Farmer read
I found the book to be very interesting and could not put it down until I found out if indeed it was Jesus on Mars.The end is a bit rushed, leaving the reader to decide who 'Jesus' really is and what his intentions are.On the whole, it was a good read and wish a follow-up could one day come from Farmer himself.

Liar, Lunatic, or Lord?
The first manned mission to Mars discovers a civilization living underground on Mars.About half are human, the other half are an alien race.They speak ancient Greek and Hebrew, and live by Jewish law!

The visitors learn that two thousand years earlier, an alien spacecraft visited Earth and collected many samples of Terran flora & fauna, including humans, some of whom were early Christians.Soon after settling on Mars, Jesus appeared and everyone, including the aliens, became Christians.

Jesus lives with the Martians still, and performs miracles for the visitors.

But is he really the same Jesus described in the Bible?He he really the Son of God?Or is he an alien masquarading as the human religious figure to gain trust and take over?Or all of above?

That's what the visitors and all of Earth must decide as they examine their own religious beliefs as Jesus prepares for his return to Earth.

I found this a fascinating book that I still often think about years later.I hope it is brought back into print. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not Free SF Reader
A ship captain returns to a very different earth. A quite amusing religious satire, with the odd sport joke, too.

A strange Earth religion has started, with priestesses holding the power. Other political systems do exist, including one that is very straitlaced and rejects this new, female based, sexual worship.

Wiccan\Radical Ecologist Must-have!
If you root for the monster in monster movies, this one's for you. I lovedCommander Stagg's opponents in this "voyagers return from the stars to a strange future world" story.Of all the post apocalytic futures in sci-fi, this is one of the most palatable--a racier version of Robt. Graves' Watch the North Wind Rise.PJF can spin a terrific, fast reading tale!Take a ride with an old time writer who puts the modern genre stuff to shame.

Typical Phillip Jose Farmer, Incredible
Thrilling post-apocalyptic America at it's best. The new order thrown away science and it's ecology damaging side effects and gone back to mother earth. Imagine what happens when a starship lands after an 800 year voyage of exploration. Don't miss it ... Read more

Book Description
In his classic biographies of fictional characters (Tarzan Alive and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life), Hugo- and Nebula-award winning author Philip Jose Farmer introduced the Wold Newton family, a collection of heroes and villains whose family-tree includes Sherlock Holmes, Fu Manchu, Philip Marlowe, and James Bond. In books, stories, and essays he expanded the concept even further, adding more branches to the Wold Newton family-tree. MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE: PHILIP JOSE FARMER'S WOLD NEWTON UNIVERSE collects for the first time those rarely-seen essays. Expanding the family even farther are contributions from Farmer's successors-scholars, writers, and pop-culture historians-who bring even more fictional characters into the fold. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

A Wold Newton heroic delight
This is a further exploration of the relationships in Philip Jose Farmer' s Wold Newton Universe, as seen in books like Tarzan Alive, Doc Savage - His Apocalyptic Life, and the Other Log of Phileas Fogg.

Myths for the Modern Age is worth it for the Captain Nemo is Moriarty piece alone, not to mention the fabulous cover, complete with Modesty Blaise!

Here you have a collection of essays that inter-relate various characters, families and other information, by several different authors, including a compatriot, as well as Eckert himself, not to mention Farmer himself, so you could call this an anthology.
Please be aware that this is not a novel, if that is what you are looking for.

Eckert has a passion for this stuff, yes, you could call it obsessive monomania, but that is what collecting, which is really what this is all about, 'collecting' characters into universes and relationships, and utter, utter, fandom.

He is also a Philip Jose Farmer expert, to boot.

This is just fantastic stuff.Check out his and Farmer's various websites too, they are great.There are also related mailing lists that are worth it, if you are interested to this level.

Something else I have found : if you ask these authors a question, or anything like that, they will answer.They are completely devoted.

Outstanding book, in presentation, content, and participation.I am sure Farmer is quite pleased.

5 out of 5

What a fantastic book!!
I'm so glad that all these bits about The WNU have been collected in one volume. I first got interested in PJF's concept when I read his Doc Savage bio. I've been lucky enough to track down a mint HC version of it...at a very reasonable price! This book has made me almost miss my Metro stop on more than one occasion. If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, pulp heroes, or just want to read some very creative writing then you must buy this book. I plan on giving a couple as gifts this year.
I am also lucky enough to have been accepted into the Johns Hopkins University's Master of Arts in Writing Program. I showed this book to one of my instructors and he was fascinated by it. I gave him the nutshell explanation of WNU and told him that, after I get my degree, I would like to teach a course or two about it. If you are already an English/Writing teacher, please do the same. Let's srpead the fun around!!!

Welcome to the universe!
Philip Jose Farmer had created the Wold Newton Universe. The 'stargate' necessary to access that Universe is the book in question. Read it fast and by the end of it, you would be hooked. Read it slowly, you might feel sleepy. Neverthless, the book is wonderful.

Chris Davies is WRONG!
Having read both this book from cover to cover and the reviews that are posted on this sight, I can only conclude that one of the reviewers has an axe to grind with one or more of the writers responsible. Don't let that sway you; this is an excellent book that, yes, occasionally offers up contradictory information - if you take the time to read the introductory portion CAREFULLY, you will note that not only does Mr. Eckert acknowledge as much, but goes on to state that this is part of the fun in the game these writers are playing. Some people should lighten up and learn how to have fun already!

It Opened up the Farmer World to Me
The contributors for this book provide a wonderful look into the world of Philip Jose Farmer. I had only read one Farmer book (The Tongues of the Moon) before delving into Myths. The excitement and intelligent discussion of Farmer's works in this volume prompted me to order several other titles. I am now on my third. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A very good end for a great series(or it's not the end?)
Khichaka and Anana are absolutely unique:a goddess so human,a human so godlike.The pocket universe idea is wonderful,provided it's not used for making the heroes wander pointlessly from one zany universe to another.Andthe solution is so bizarre,so farmerish,one would say,but very humane.Ionly think that the petty wars between the immortal supergods who made theWorld of Tiers made me wonder about the desirability of immortality.Andwhat happened to Wolff and Chryseis,by the way? ... Read more