BooksOfTheMoon

Supposedly the final book in the Riverworld series, where all the questions would be answered, the final few pages of this were actually quite frustrating as a lot seemed to be resolved right at the end of Burton and co’s trip up the River to the tower at its headwaters. And the final few sentences had me tearing my hair out as one of the characters thinks he hears footsteps and then dismisses it as his imagination. Gah! Well, I guess I’ll be looking out for Gods of Riverworld now, won’t I?

Apart from that, it was a good book, with lots of elements of dark humour scattered throughout the book. The book does explain the reason behind the creation of the Riverworld itself and some of the philosophy which makes for interesting reading. So I guess it did answer the questions that had been building up, it just hasn’t necessarily concluded the story.

The third volume in the Riverworld saga, this book starts interleaving the stories of the characters from the previous two volumes (leaving the final volume to bring them together), adds some new ones, and has some shocking revelations of its own, including the return of death to the Riverworld.

I enjoyed this book, following the slight disappointment of the previous volume I felt this one brought the series back on track, keeping up a good pace even if it felt like some characters got more screen time than others. The mysteries of the Riverworld continue to intrigue both the reader and the characters and even the mysterious stranger who is bringing Richard Francis Burton, Samuel Clemens, Peter Jairus Frigate and the others together is shown to be fallible. I look forward to the final volume and the conclusion of this rather excellent series.