To Your Scattered Bodies Go
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 Cover of first edition (hardcover) |
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| Author | Philip José Farmer |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Riverworld |
| Genre(s) | Science Fiction |
| Publisher | Putnam Publishing Group |
| Released | June 1971 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 9-997-51198-0 |
| Followed by | The Fabulous Riverboat, 1971 |
To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971) is a science fiction novel and the first book in the Riverworld series of books by Philip José Farmer. It won a Hugo Award for best novel in 1972 at the 30th Worldcon. The title is derived from the 7th of the "Holy Sonnets" by English poet John Donne:
- At the round earth's imagin'd corners, blow
Your trumpets, angels, and arise, arise
From death, you numberless infinities
Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go.
[edit] Plot introduction
The novel is set on a world terraformed into one large river, where every person who ever lived is resurrected. The book follows the adventures of Sir Richard Burton, Alice Pleasance Liddell Hargreaves, and others through several years as they try to survive, including being attacked by Hermann Göring. The story also revolves around the recruitment of Burton by a mysterious stranger who is attempting to subvert the purpose of the Riverworld.
This novel, and the Riverworld series itself, is based on Farmer's earlier, unpublished novel Owe for the Flesh.
