RIP, Philip Jose Farmer

[Ross]

From PJStar:

Science fiction author Philip Jose Farmer died this morning at his home. He was 91.

The Peoria-based writer had written more than 75 books and was awarded the top honors in his field. That includes the Grand Master Award for Science Fiction in 2001, an award also given to noted authors such as Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein.

I "discovered" Philip Jose Farmer when my I was a kid - my father owned or gave me a copy of the first book of his Riverworld series To Your Scattered Bodies Go, and I remember really enjoying it, even though there was no way I was mature enough at that age to comprehend much more than the main plot of the book. Any novel whose scope is so great that it includes all 36,006,009,637 people ever born on earth (from to origin members of homo sapiens through the 21st century) is sure to make a lasting impression that stays with you. My father told me that he read all of the Riverworld series and some of the other Farmer novels, and I planned to follow suit.

Somewhere along the way I couldn't find any more books by Philip Jose Farmer at the library and forgot about searching for them until my interest was rekindled this month when I began to re-read the Riverworld series all over again (as you'll see from my GoodReads profile, if you're following me there). Although the series does have some minor issues, it's as awe-inspiring now as the first time I read the novels. Maybe even more so as I'm catching philosophical, theological, and historical references that totally blew by me when I was younger.

The world has lost a great author today, and is a little bit darker for it. Farmer was one of those great authors whose works I could read over and over again. There's a lot of his novels I haven't yet read, but now each one that I pick up will remind me of the passing of a writer who had such a strong influence in developing my love for reading in general, and sci-fi in particular.

[Stephen]

Ever read "The Unreasoning Mask"....? The "glypha" had to be one of the better sci-fi plot devices I can remember....

Stephen H. Turner
The Last Voyage of the Cassiopeia
Almagest The Adventures of MarsShield
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The Avedon Question

[Jim]

He will long be remembered, especially for his humor. His Venus on the Half-Shell was lots of fun. After reading Vonnegut for years, it was great to read a real book by 'Kilgore Trout'.

Lord Tyger, a modern day Tarzan, was great too. I loved ERB's Tarzan & to read a book about a 'realistic' one was fun.

His 'World of Tiers' series wasn't finished as well as I hoped, but the first book was always one of my favorites.

[Andre]

Wow...that hits me hard. I seriously admired him. I can remember reading Tarzan Alive and Lord Tygre when I was a very young and impressionable kid...LOL...but as a Tarzan fan from the time I was small (loved the T.V. series--used to be the only one I was allowed to stay up late to watch), I ate it up, but I remember thinking as I read Lord Tygre, especially the crocodile heart scene, if my mom knew what I was reading, I'd never be allowed to check out a book from the library on my own again :-)

Thanks Phil...may your rest be easy and your adventures never ending.

[Jim]

That crocodile heart scene was memorable. I remember thinking similar thoughts. The sexual experimentation was part of what made the book so realistic to me, though.