[net.sf-lovers] Riverworld: Farmer vs. Pynchon

macrev (02/22/83)

"Riverworld" disappointed me too, but I think pynchon would only have made
it worse.  He seems to prefer a lot of little climaxes to blowing his
wad in one big one, and as a result his stories ("V," "Gravity's Rainbow")
have a tendency to peter out at the end.  If Farmer had gone to
Zelazny with his ideas, "Riverworld" might have been a more satisfying
story.

Mike Lynch

tim (02/23/83)

The last two Riverworld books were definitely a disappointment;
The Magic Labyrinth was about as coherent as Number of the Beast.
However, the first two (To Your Scattered Bodies Go, The Fabulous
Riverboat) were excellent. Obviously, during the fifteen-or-so-year
hiatus between the second and third books, Farmer lost conviction
in the idea.

Has anyone else read Farmer's World of Tiers books? They are his
best, and a strong influence on Zelazny's Amber series. If you
haven't read these, you have no right to judge Farmer.

I disagree that Zelazny's modern output is vastly inferior to his
older stuff. Granted, there hasn't been another Lord of Light or
Nine Princes in Amber, but these books are well worth reading:
Roadmarks, Doorways in the Sand, Madwand, and Dilvish the Damned.
I do not recommend Changeling (although it would help if you're
going to read Madwand) or The Changing Land; the first is a
technology vs. magic story (eeeyuucchhh), and the second is
a plotless and rambling fantasy adventure. His collaboration with
Saberhagen, Coils, is fun if improbable, and I haven't yet read
his absolute latest, Eye of Cat.

Tim Maroney