In honor of the 50th anniversary of the first Riverworld book, I'm continuing my reexamination of the series.

"The Fabulous Riverboat" is the second book in the series, and it has a somewhat confusing publication history. The story here was originally published in four parts - two parts in 1967 and more two parts in 1971 (all in "If" Magazine). These parts were combined (and somewhat revised) for the book-length version, which was also published in 1971... the same year as "To Your Scattered Bodies Go" (the first book in the series).

Do you got all that?

I wonder if Hugo voters who named "To Your Scattered Bodies Go" best novel gave Farmer credit for the second book as well. It did beat out a very deserving novel by Ursula K Le Guin.

Anyways, this is a somewhat better book than the first. Some decades have passed since Resurrection Day, and kingdoms have popped up along the river. Our protagonist this time is Sam Clemens, who dreams of building a mighty riverboat to sail upriver where he figures he will learn the secrets of the planet. He is accompanied by a cast of historical and fictional characters, most of whom want the same thing.

Farmer's strength remains his pulpy prose, which moves along at a quick pace. For me it is weird, though, reading about a "Game of Thrones" style setting where life is cheap and characters are casually brutalized written in such a zippy style. I guess that was the norm in earlier generations, but it can be off-putting in 2021.

Speaking of "Game of Thrones," I can totally imagine this book as season of big budget genre TV. The governments, the battles and the scheming would make a great series. Alas, the Science Fiction Channel tried twice to turn this into a TV show (failing both times) so I don't think anyone will try again soon. If only they had waited a decade.