Book Review: Riverworld and Other Stories by Philip Jose Farmer
On Riverworld, no one ever dies… well, at least not permanently.
Those who do are resurrected a few hours later elsewhere on the planet. Former
western movie star, Tom Mix, found himself on Riverworld after his Earthly demise,
along with billions of others from various eras in human history. Mix, along
with his companions Yeshua and Bithniah, are on the run from a marauding conqueror
Kramer when they join forces with John Wickel-Stafford, the lord mayor of New
Albion and enemy of Kramer. Together, Mix and Stafford lead their forces in an
attempt to stop Kramer’s next invasion…
“Riverworld” is, of course, one of the better stories in this
collection of eleven. My other favorites include:
“J.C. on the Dude Ranch” – At the XR Dude Ranch in Big Wash,
Arizona, two imposing cowboys—the heroic J.C. Marison and the sinister Mr.
Bales Bub—square off against one another, but it is truly a battle of Biblical
proportions or something more cosmic?
“The Volcano” – Detective Curtius Parry investigates an
impossible volcano recently formed in the backyard of Henry and Bonnie Havik. The
eruption occurred shortly after hired hand and Mexican immigrant Juan Tizoc
vanished. Could there be a burning connection between the two?
“The Problem of the Sore Bridge” – In Victorian England, journalist
Harry Manders and gentleman burglar A.J. Raffles team up to investigate the disappearance
of enigmatic rare gem dealer James Phillimore. At every turn, Manders and
Raffles are merely seconds ahead of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, who are
also on the case. Manders and Raffles soon learn that Phillimore is not at all
what he appeared to be, nor are teardrop sapphires in his collection…
“Brass and Gold” – A hilarious romp focusing on a love
affair between a Jewish wife and her eccentric Gentile artist neighbor that
begins after her husband locks her in the bedroom with three meals per day in
order to curb her gluttony and force her to lose weight…
Other stories include “The Jungle Rot Kid on the Nod,” “Monolog,”
“The Leaser of Two Evils,” “The Phantom of the Sewers,” “The Henry Miller Dawn
Patrol,” and “The Voice of the Sonar in My Vermiform Appendix.”
