This is the most amazing book.

It has been YEARS since I read Sci-Fi - "To Your Scattered Bodies Go" is simply awesome. Burton was a good action hero - and the plot moved along making the world unfold and the mysteries maddening.

However, I was not impressed with "The Fabulous Riverboat" for a lot of reasons.

1) The plot didn't 'move' along. I kept wondering when something was going to happen. As a writer I've heard of 'sagging middles' this was a good example.

2) Sam Clemens didn't act his age - niether his mental age or his physical age. He came across as more of a weasle than King John - not like someone witty enough to have written all that satire.

3) I got the feeling that Joe Miller was gay - or that Farmer gave Miller the personality of Sam Clemens. It wasn't the lisp (I hated having to de-code his dialog) as much as the words he used - it sounded like he had eaten a theasaurus.

I'm very disappointed and will not buy the rest of the series. I am glad that the first book was worth the $10 I paid for both books. This was originally 5-stars, but I'm knocking it down to 2-stars.