The book itself is good. It's part of a series that is a single story, so the ending isn't the end, and therefore somewhat unsatisfying. I assume that will resolve itself as I finish the series. But I've been meaning to rant about 'introductions' for quite some time now, and the introduction t...
Every now and then I'm confronted by a novel that falls into a category I like to call the "What the fuck?!!?" books, and I recently read one that's still kicking me in the skull for a good number of reasons.Philip Jose farmer is an author who's had quite an impact on science-fiction thanks to be...
Here's the premise: all of mankind is reborn, all at once, on a planet custom made for the purpose. If you think about this for a few minutes, you'll probably come up with all sorts of possibilities: anthropological exploration, meeting famous historical figures, fights with savages from variou...
"Dayworld" by Philip Jose Farmer (1985) has elements that remind me of a lot of other classic sci-fi books. For example, some of the police procedural, hi-tech dystopian world elements and pulp sci-fi & action story tropes of "Dayworld" remind me of "Bladerunner", (the Ridley Scott movie more so ...
WARNING: This review contains spoilers! Read at your own risk!"This fourth book in the classic Riverworld series continues the adventures of Samuel Clemens and Sir Richard Francis Burton as they travel through Farmer's strange and wonderful Riverworld, a place where everyone who ever lived is si...
What a bleak view of humanity this book presents! The only semi-believable emotion portrayed is anger and there is a LOT of violence, especially since these are supposed to be the new & improved humans who finally made it to the mysterious tower on Riverworld. They soon prove themselves to be as ...
As an exercise in world building, World of Tiers is very interesting. That's about it, though. I enjoyed it on a pulpy quick read level. However, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a deep involving novel. The PlotRobert Wolff is a retired linguistics professor looking at homes to b...
While reading The Unreasoning Mask by Philip Jose Farmer I was reminded of a science fiction novel from the preceding century, Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. In Verne's novel the powerful character of Captain Nemo and his mighty submarine, The Nautilus, develop a relationshi...
Dayworld Rebel (1987) 313 pages by Philip Jose FarmerThis novel picks up where Dayworld left off. Jeff Caird is in custody, but has created a new personae for himself. He is now completely William St. George Duncan, with no memory of Caird or the other six personae that had been him in Dayworld. ...
Dayworld Breakup (1990) 365 pages by Philip Jose FarmerThis book started with a synopsis by Caird's daughter of the first two volumes of the Dayworld trilogy. So I was thinking, "OK, sometime during this book he'll have a daughter, or we'll learn where she came from." About three quarters the way...