brendan%gigi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (05/13/85)
From: brendan%gigi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (From the terminal of Brendan E. Boelke)
*** SPOILER WARNING ***
I have just finished the Riverworld series (better late than
never), and have a VERY large question about the ending. Once Burton,
X, Alice, Frigate, et. al. save the life of the computer and convince
it to start doing resurrections again, et. al. and Farmer seem to have
forgotten one thing - half (?) the Grailstones along the River DON'T WORK!
Now, I suppose you could say that they'll get around to fixing
them (ah, but who is they?), but in the meantime the 17 Billion or so people
who are still alive are going to figure out what's going on and probably
start killing the resurecties (?) before they can even wake up.
Does anyone know if Farmer takes care of this anywhere? If so,
where? Is Riverworld and Other Stories worth reading? Arghh!! I'm not
usualy a detail picker, but that one was just too obvious/ridiculous.
Brendan E. Boelke
p.s. If I missed anything that explains this (I finished the book at 2
a.m) my humble apologies - but I don't think I did.brendan%gigi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (05/14/85)
From: brendan%gigi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (From the terminal of Brendan E. Boelke) Ahem. The previous message I sent concerning the Riverworld series was sent as soon after finishing the series as was possible. I have now had over 24 hours to reflect on the books. [Asbestos on] Yechh. My recommendation to anyone thinking of reading this series is to read the first book and the last chapter of the third book and skip all drivel 'tween. *** Mild Spoiler *** Was there really any purpose to entire chapters being devoted to Burton talking to himself or Clemens having a conversation (?) with Twain? Was this supposedly 'character development'? The only truly likable character in whole series was Joe, and he gets bumped off (again) just when it was getting interesting! The battle between Rex and Not For Hire was ridiculous, although I thought the dogfight was well done until the finale (All four in a row?!). Is this really considered a 'classic'. Maybe I wasn't getting SFL when it suggested NOT reading this series. Arghhhh! I read all that junk in the middle for one good chapter! Oh well, read and learn. Brendan E. Boelke 'Tham! Get me the thell outha here!'
scifi@ukc.UUCP (I.P.Gordon) (05/21/85)
When I read Riverworld 6 ,but a week ago, I assumed that the computer fixed the grails when it was repaired.This is the only explanation I could think of
.Maybe I was 'asleep'when it was explained, it was rather boring
THE REAPER
Beware the fruitbats their music is WEIRD