Howdy turtleboy-ga,
You are not talking about one novel, but rather, a series of five novels, that
being what is called the "Riverworld Saga," written by Philip José Farmer.
The following is an excerpt from a review written by Steve Lazarowitz, of the
four of the five novels, as presented on the SF Site web site.
http://www.sfsite.com/12a/riv46.htm
"Imagine if you will, a race of beings powerful enough to build a planet and
wind a twenty-million-mile-long river around it. A race that is able to record
Earth's past and resurrect everyone that had ever lived along the banks of that
almost endless river."
The Riverworld Saga consists of the following five novels.
- To Your Scattered Bodies Go
- The Fabulous Riverboat
- The Dark Design
- The Magic Labyrinth
- Gods of Riverworld
This Geocities based Riverworld site has some good summaries of the series.
http://www.geocities.com/simon750_1999/
"The idea is very roughly this:- Every single person who has ever lived from
100,000 BC to the present (well, not quite - read on!) is
reincarnated. They awake naked on the banks of the river, a river that
snakes back and forth
across a world that is definitely not Earth."
In that site's summary of the first novel in the series, "To Your Scattered
Bodies Go," the Hitler connection is mentioned.
http://www.geocities.com/simon750_1999/toyour.html
"Every time Burton [Richard Francis Burton, the explorer, not the actor] dies,
he awakes in a new location. His unwanted companion on these travels is Hermann
Goring, whose conscience is extracting a heavy price for the power that he once
sought under Hitler."
Some good links on Philip José Farmer can be found on this Google Directory
listing.
http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Literature/Genres/Science_Fiction/Authors/F/Farmer,_Philip_Jose/
Included on the above list is a link to the "Official Philip José Farmer Home
Page."
http://www.pjfarmer.com/
"Features detailed lists of all works by Philip Jose Farmer, including
fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Includes regularly updated news on
the author and
biographical information in the form of personal letters, interviews and
photographs."
The above site has some information on the other "Riverworld" works.
http://www.pjfarmer.com/riverwld.htm
The Sci Fi Channel made a strange mixed movie version based on the first two
novels.
http://www.scifi.com/onair/scifipictures/riverworld/
If you need any clarification, please free to ask.
Search strategy:
I have read the "Riverworld" novels many times, and have greatly enjoyed them
every time.
Google search on: Riverworld
://www.google.com/search?q=Riverworld
Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher |
