To Your Scattered Bodies Go

Science fiction-roman.

Richard Francis Burton attempts to fight his way out of the Riverworld in which he finds himself trapped after death.

From award-winning author Philip Jose Farmer comes his most famous science fiction work: the first combined edition of the first two Riverworld novels, To Your Scattered Bodies Go and The Fabulous Riverboat. The basis of the 2010 television miniseries from Syfy. Imagine that every human who ever lived, from the earliest Neanderthals to the present, is resurrected after death on the banks of an astonishing and seemingly endless river on an unknown world. They are miraculously provided with food, but with not a clue to the possible meaning of this strange afterlife. And so billions of people from history, and before, must start living again. Some set sail on the great river questing for the meaning of their resurrection, and to find and confront their mysterious benefactors. On this long journey, we meet Sir Richard Francis Burton, Mark Twain, Odysseus, Cyrano de Bergerac, and many others, most of whom embark upon searches of their own in this huge afterlife. "Charts a territory somewhere between Gulliver's Travels and The Lord of the Rings."--Time

All those who ever lived on Earth have found themselves resurrected - healthy, young, and naked as newborns - on the grassy banks of a mighty river, in a world unknown. Miraculously provided with food, but with no clues to the meaning of their strange new afterlife, billions of people from every period of Earth's history - and prehistory - must start again. Sir Richard Francis Burton would be the first to glimpse the incredible way-station, a link between worlds. This forbidden sight would spur the renowned 19th-century explorer to uncover the truth. Along with a remarkable group of compatriots, including Alice Liddell Hargreaves (the Victorian girl who was the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland), an English-speaking Neanderthal, a WWII Holocaust survivor, and a wise extraterrestrial, Burton sets sail on the magnificent river. His mission: to confront humankind's mysterious benefactors, and learn the true purpose - innocent or evil - of the Riverworld . . . Winner of the Hugo Award for best novel, 1972

A New York Times bestsesller, The Dark Design is the third novel in Hugo and Nebula award-winning science fiction legend Philip José Farmer's Riverworld series. Milton Firebrass, once Mark Twain's enemy and now his greatest ally, plans to build a giant airship that can fly to the North Pole of Riverworld. Once there, he hopes to learn the secret of the mysterious tower that dominates the landscape and find the answer to his most urgent question: could the tower contain the Ethicals, the enigmatic beings that created Riverworld? Meanwhile, Jill Gulbirra is challenged for the job of piloting the airship by none other than Cyrano de Bergerac. As if there were not enough challenges facing the crew, they soon suspect there is an agent of the Ethicals among their number, plotting their destruction.... At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Thirty billion people from throughout Earth's history have been resurrected along the great an winding waterways of Riverworld. Most began life anew - accepting without question the sustenance provided by their mysterious benefactors. But a rebellious handful burned to challenge the unseen masters who controlled their fate Now, these adventures of Riverworld have penetrated the great tower which rises from the amazing planet's north polar seas - and within it is the mighty computer which controls the resurrection of billions of human beings. It is inside this giant tower that Sir Richard Burton, Alice Liddell Hargreaves, Peter Frigate and Li Po meet their greatest challenge - and their deadliest foe. The incredible secret behind the Riverworld is about to be unveiled . . .