Customer Reviews (1)

Two oddities that should have remained unpublished
This slender volume with its misleading title consists of the story "Jesus on Mars", and a fragment originally excised from the Riverworld series, here entitled "Riverworld War"."Jesus On Mars" is an abridgement of the novel of the same name, originally scheduled to be published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.Slow and plodding as this painful work is, one can only wonder how anyone manages to read the longer, novel version.An ominous pall hangs over this story about the exploration of Mars, with none of the rapture one might expect from an encounter with a being who may or may not be Jesus.Even though creating these grim, depressing moods is one of Farmer's specialties, the use of this tone in this context seriously undercuts the curiously equivocal ending, not to mention the sense of wonder that is the essence of good science fiction.On the other hand, the excerpt "Riverworld War" is a thrilling, action-packed depiction of the battle between the two riverboats captained by Sam Clemens and King John, all of which will be familiar (at least in general) to readers of Farmer's excellent Riverworld series.Good as it is, however, readers who are not familiar with these fine novels will find this fragment utterly confusing and ultimately pointless.Even for those who've grown to know and love these characters, the five chapters presented here, comprising about twenty pages, and all utterly bereft of context, are nothing more than an entertaining footnote to The Magic Labyrinth, from which it was originally cut due to space limitations.It's hard to see how even completists who want to read every word Farmer's ever written can find much merit in these superfluities. ... Read more

Product Description
This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. Indian Child Life is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Edwin Willard Deming is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Edwin Willard Deming then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
Though Earthmen first landed on the planet Dare 300 years earlier, they were still bound by the same standards of snobbery and fear...until Jack Cage, eldest son of a wealthy human, found himself strangely drawn to a spectacularly beautiful native. To consort with her meant death. But why? And what were humans doing on the planet anyway?Philip Jose Farmer's award-winning masterpiece is brought back to life in this beautiful package. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

159 pages of inter-species love (good), racism (bad), and war (ugly)
In the sixteenth century some English colonists and American Indians were kidnapped by space-faring aliens called the Arra and put on a planet inhabited by another race of aliens known as the hostrels.The hostrels look like the fauns and satyrs of Greek myth and are far more sensitive, ecologically aware, and peace-loving than the humans.It is suggested that the two races have been thrown together by the Arra as an experiment to see if human beings can learn to not be so violent, greedy, and racist as they are on Earth.The reader will not be surprised that the wealthier humans form a KKK-style organization and conspire with the human government to launch a genocidal war on the hostrels, nor will the reader be surprised, if he is at all familiar with Farmer's oeuvre, that, Romeo and Juliet fashion, a human and a hostrel fall in love.About half way through the novel Farmer switches gears a bit, and we shift from the anti-witch hunt/anti-racism theme to something akin to an adventure story and then a military story that addresses issues of imperialism and technological change.Not bad.

I read the 1965 Ballantine paperback with the surprisingly racy pink cover.

wished it were longer
very interesting premise with colorful characters.the book is short and leaves you wanting more storyline.an enjoyable read that ends a bit abruptly. ... Read more

Product Description
Sent into the world of Tiers by a well-meaning doctor in the mental hospital where he is incarcerated, teenage troublemaker Jim Grimson finds himself in a world of fantasy and danger. Reprint. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Idiotic is the best thing I can say about
I absolutely love Farmer and that is why it came as something of a shock to me to read this.Everything is just wrong with this book but if I had to nail down a few specific things my criticism would start off saying something like this.Constantly having a character that is SO smart and SO intelligent and SO insightful that characters CONSTANTLY have to tell him about it is something I would expect from Clive Cussler or some of the really bad Ken Fosiet books.I guess even Farmer is not above stroking his ego.

The parts with the therapy in the "real" world is actually the good part, the other parts of the book that take place in the pocket universes are nonsensical to the point of lunacy.I couldn't read this part and skipped to the end hoping for some improvement there had not been.

Overall-When a main character starts crapping diamonds it is time for this reviewer to put the book back on the self after he stops laughing.If you're a Farmer fan stick to Riverworld and the first five books of this series pass on this one.

How was this published?
Perhaps I bought a beta version of this novel (After all, the cover fell off before I started reading, and the teaser page breaks off mid-sentence). That would explain the preponderance of rookie mistakes in a veteran writer's novel.

This book is phenomenally bad. It is weak writing like this which gives science fiction a bad image.The worst is Philip Jose Farmer has written many good books and stories. Where did he go wrong?

To begin, the story centers on a form of psychology that uses Farmer's World of Tiers series to resolve personality problems in teenagers (This is apparently based on an actual test study).But Farmer's first misstep is in letting his characters slavishly praise his literary genius--over and over. Second, the dialogue is unbelievable.When father and son are arguing, they take time to list as many nasty names as they can come up with (e.g. "you drunken bum, hopeless welfare case, parasite, loafer, loser"). This doesn't display anger. It displays bizarre and casual forethought. Third, while the pocket universes are a fascinating concept the description is awkwardly done.Too many things in Anathema, the first of several worlds explored by Orc, smell and taste "like rotten potatoes," and having Orc rhapsodise (aka explain to the reader) that the kamanbur are a genetically engineered mix of dog, monkey, spider, and termite should be unnecessary.

Then there is the overall confusing sensation of whether or not _Red Orc's Rage_ is in fact supposed to be the long-awaited WOT book that every character seems to wonder about while seething irony.It is very disconcerting to read about Farmer writing about a character thinking about Farmer himself. As with much of this book, it could be clever, but it hasn't quite gotten there.

The world of tiers
A great addition to the world of tiers.Philp jose farmer is truly one of the best.I could almost see the things he was describing.An oringal book! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

MAKER OF HIGH ACTION/ADVENTURE!
I have read this book series at least 3 times over the past two decades.This unique sci-fi/fantasy series is a great and fun read.Its too bad the last couple of the "newest" of the series were so horribly bad.I waited years for LAVALITE WORLD and it was for nothing!
Oh, well.The best of the series are book #1, 3 and 5.

Action, adventure, and precious little else
This first volume in the World of Tiers series features fast-paced, non-stop action/adventure from one of the finest practitioners of such in the fantasy genre.There's no time for character development or detailed scientific explanations in this one - once Robert Wolff hears that trumpet call and pops through a hole into another world, everybody's too busy swinging and ducking to philosophize much.But as with Farmer's truly brilliant Riverworld series, the extreme breadth of physical settings and social groups keeps readers constantly wondering what comes next.The whole adventure takes place on an other-dimensional world shaped like a giant wedding cake, with different societies existing on each tier, and the quest structure ensures constant movement from one locale to another.The plot is painfully simplistic, and quickly breaks down into a pattern of travel sequences followed by fight scenes, whereas more space could've been devoted to establishing motivations, and explaining various phenomena.The ending seems particularly rushed and the surprising twists are revealed so hastily they have almost no impact - by the time we know who's who and what's what, the book's already over.Of course there are plenty of other books in the series, so maybe this story is just the beginning, but having read just this first volume, I would not be quick to recommend this book to science fiction fans.Fantasy/adventure addicts should enjoy this book for Farmer's mastery of slam-bang action, but overall, it's really only a little better than average.

Never fails to pick the trite cliche
"The Maker of Universes" begins Philip Jose Farmer's "The World of Tiers" series of novels."The World of Tiers" features a host of alternate universes, all "next door" to Earth and accessed through hidden gates, created and ruled by a decadent and technologically advanced race of Lords.This first novel opens with the Earthman Robert Wolff summoned to one of these parallel universes, to discover his Lordly heritage and to set right the evils of his world.Later installments introduce the human hero Kickaha and other members of Wolff's family.These books are fantasy yarns in the spirit of Edgar Rice Burroughs's John Carter of Mars adventures, and Farmer's Machiavellian family of Lords prefigures Corwin and relatives in Roger Zelazny's Amber chronicles.By comparison with these two siblings, "The World ofTiers" is certainly the runt of the litter.Farmer never fails to choose the trite cliche when confronted with a plot decision.The third novel in the series features the Lord Anana falling in love with the human Kickaha, overcome by his masculine charm, despite her "murderous" nature and previous disdain for lowly humans.No convincing argument for this transformation is presented, and it is clearly intended as a sop for Farmer's predominantly male audience.Similar teenage male pulp fiction conventions crowd the plot, never reworked artfully, and the action drags almost unbearably after several hundred pages.The story also suffers from an odd disjointedness; the characters in the novel periodically become possessed of vast knowledge concerning newly encountered races and cities, unbeknownst to the reader.A paragraph will suddenly contain a multitude of unintroduced terms and names with which the protagonist is intimately familiar, despite his complete ignorance of the landscape in the previous paragraph.

Readers who enjoy this style of fiction might derive a few afternoons of enjoyment from Farmer's "The World of Tiers."I'd much rather rejoin John Carter and the lovely Dejah Thoris on Barsoom, or travel with Corwin and Random through Shadow.

Breakneck Speed Leads to Fatal Crash
Meet Robert Wolff: 66, fat, balding, married to a shrew, and ready for retirement - but perhaps not on on earth. Everything starts out promisingly enough when our likeable hero with the unfortunate gap in his past is drawn by a magic horn to a paradise in another universe. Sadly, things go down hill from here as Wolff sort of accidentally gets drawn into a journey and quest of heroic proportions to rescue said horn, win the girl of his dreams, and topple the Lord of the universe.
The main problem here is that Farmer bit off more than he could chew, shoving a plot that Robert Jordan would have spun out into a dozen massive volumes (at least 6 of which would have been worth reading) into a bare 270 pages. I kept finding myself looking for the name of the abridiger on the cover! As a result, there is no time or space for niceties such as character development, suspense, or an examination of motivations, let alone some inkling that the book might *mean* something. The plot rushes on and on, with frequent references such as "3 months later" or "after a long hard journey." Foreshadowing, flashbacks, and other key revelations are handled clumsily at best - as if Farmer had forgotten to tell you something earlier (say, about Wolff's near super-human strength) and is slipping it in now in hopes you won't notice the omission. When he bothers with motivation or character development at all, his characters are likely to spill in one succinct paragraph their longstanding battles with alcoholism and apathy to a perfect stranger. And when he stops for breath, it is only to describe in gory detail a battle of some sort in which characters are killed off like so many Starfleet Redshirts (except for the important ones, of course, who escape with nary a scratch.) When we reach the inevitable confrontation between Wolff and the Lord, it is as if Farmer suddenly realized he needed to finish up in just 20 more pages, and shoves in the last dozen revelations in anywhere he can cram them, tying up everything in a neat little package as he reaveals that.... no, I won't ruin the plot for you. I'll just say that if you didn't see it coming, it's probably just because like me you were reading too fast so you could finish and pick up something with a little more meat.

This is the book that started my adiction to PJF.
This book was the first in my collection (my colection numbers around 60 books and different printings of many). I have worn out two copies of this book already reading it over and over.This adventure introduces the best of Farmers characters and one of his alter-egos, Kickaha. This is a must read for anybody who has read one Farmer book and wants to try another.Ill warn you now though, if you get this to book, you should consider getting the other books in the series at the same time because you will not want to pause for a second before moving to the next book.The order goes: The Maker of Universes, The Gates of Creation, A Private Cosmos, Behind the Walls of Terre, The Lavalite World, and More than Fire. Also try Red Orcs Rage. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Very good
First I should mention that it is my personal feeling that P. J. F. is thebest living Fantasy writer.I think he is better than Rowling or Weis, andMUCH better than Piers Anthony or Tracy Hickman.

I suppose what I mean isthat, of those authors I know,I like PJF the best...there is probably afantasy writer out there I don't know who is better.

Moving on, TheLavalite world is a novel in the "World of Tiers" series that canactually be appreciated without having read all the previous books.Irecommend it for anyone who likes fantasy.

Great descriptions!
A great read! The descriptions of the floating palace was done very well.But I think we should have gotten to it faster,instead of endless confrontations with boring tribes and plants.And for once I want the Lordsto win once in a while. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (13)

Very good...however...
Great new edition of a terrific book.This Bison Books edition adds Farmer's "exclusive interview with Lord Greystoke (from Esquire) and "Extracts from the memoirs of "Lord Greystoke" (from "Mother Was A Lovely Beast"). The problem being, the editors placed these at the start of the book, instead of added as appendices, and I feel they slow the book down.Also, this edition does not include the Wold Newton family tree from earlier editions.Great cover art by "Jean-Paul Goude", also originally from Esquire (1972).
Still, recommended for any Farmer, Burroughs, or Tarzan fan.

Super Reader
This is great. Almost mind-boggling the effort that Farmer has put in, here. Try and find the men with grey eyes. :) G-8 became schizoid after a breakdown, becoming The Shadow and The Spider. That is just fabulous.

The House of Tarzan
Edgar Rice Burroughs put out 24 books on the adventures of Tarzan. I enjoyed most of these and would recommend them without a doubt. What we get here from Philip Jose Farmer is the 'biography' of Tarzan written as if he were an actual real person. The bio looks at ERB as a novelist given a 'based on actual events' type of writing with embellishments added when needed. PJF looks into the life of Tarzan and the novels letting you know what are 'true events of Tarzan's life' and what is 'completely made up by ERB'. The best part of this book is that PJF chronologically orders the multitude of books put forth by ERB which has always been a concern of the readers with the time frame inconsistencies.

PJF, using the Wold Newton Meteor theory also gives an extension of the Greystoke family tree to include the likes of Sherlock Holmes, The Shadow, Doc Savage, James Wilder, Nero Wolfe and many many other literary characters. The addendums help to attempt to clarify this convoluted ancestory. I think an actual Family Tree Graph could have been included to help visualize the genology put forth which still gets a bit confusing after the addendum pieces. Addendum 5 is particularly nice as it goes through and again summarizes the timeline for Tarzan based events.

If you have the 24 Tarzan books, this is well worth including with them. After reading 'Tarzan Alive', you will have a different perspective on the ERB books should you reread them. A must for the Tarzan fan, but you may scoff at some of the things and people that PJF includes in this biography.

Good book... but...
I greatly enjoyed the tales of Tarzan as presented in Tarzan Alive. The problem I have is this... I haven't read the original source material. I thought the Definitive Biography would include a real biography, when instead it often just contrasts events with the original stories. Thus, it would have been helpful if I had read all the original stories before delving into Tarzan Alive. That being said, this book was a very good read, and I look forward to someone reprinting Phillip Jose Farmer's His Apocalyptic Life so I can see the true life of Doc Savage as well. Thank you Bison Frontiers for helping me find this book that I had heard so much about!

Fun biography, even for casual fans of Tarzan and/or Farmer
Farmer's direct tribute to Edgar Rice Burroughs is a fictional biography of Tarzan. It is probably not going to be interesting to those who have never read one of Burroughs' Tarzan books, but those who have will find "Tarzan Alive" a treasure of entertainment. It is nice to see that this book has returned to print, being an important reader's guide to the most famous fictional character of the 20th century.

It would be very easy to dismiss the Tarzan books as simple entertainment saturated with ignorant descriptions of Africa. Farmer takes on the task of making the reader regard Burroughs more seriously, by insisting the Tarzan is a real person and Burroughs a biographer. All the inaccuracies and obvious fiction are attempts by Burroughs to protect the still-living Tarzan. Farmer never uses a cheap "you're in on the joke" device and saturates the book with meticulous research. Instead of annoyance, the errors in Burroughs' narratives becoming interesting in their own right: soon the reader is drawn into Farmer's quest for the "real" story behind the Tarzan books. Burroughs' theme of the nature of man vs. nurture by man's environment is more appreciated. Farmer insists that he has interviewed the Ape-man himself, and this edition contains that interview.

This is a nice companion to any of the Burroughs Tarzan books, and a key to appreciating Farmer's own Tarzan-spired fiction ("Lord Tyger," "Dark Heart of Time," the Opar books, etc.).

... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

The Riverworld series and the Foundation series...
are the best of SF series.

Scattered across the years, I have bought two or three sets of Riverworld. Just thinking about the series - far from my home base in MInnesota - makes me want to read it again. Unfortunately, the series is now out of print.

Make the effort to find a copy of this series in either a used book store or a library. It WILL be worth it.

Tim Niles

Would make a better religion than Scientology
If the premise of this book does not grab you, the intelligently written stories will. This series is one of my all time favorites, even though I do not really enjoy Science Fiction. The Riverworld series takes you realisically through what could be the afterworld. Farmer manages to put historical figures in to realistic fictional stories and draw on how they would really react. If L Ron Hubbard can spawn a religion with Dianetics, why can't Farmer's Riverworld?

Thinking Man's SF- Innovative Idea in Science Fiction A++
After death, wake up on the banks of a giant river-along with virtually everyone who has ever lived! Incredible story of ordianry people and famous historical figures on a quest to find the source of the river and the mysterious "Ethicals" who control it all.Great interaction between historic figures of different eras. One of the Farmer books you must have in your library-along with the other 4 in this mind-boggling series. Will become one of your alltime favorites

Meet every famous person in history.
You wake up to find yourself in a strange world, with a river that is rumoured to have no end. Climb aboard as Genghis Khan, Hitler, Mark Twain, Winnston Churchill and other great people from history try to find the source of the river. With nothing but raw materials a crew of all of history's greatest people build a steamboat and embark on the most incredible journey. This book may not be available as a box set but there are only five books in the series.This series will keep you on the edge of your seat. What do they find at the river's mouth? You'll have to read them and find out ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Very good!
I've read this book often.I think it's great!It's an easy and quick read, yet very worthwhile.It's fun, it's exciting, and, I think, well written.I would recommend to anybody.

Plot-twists and surprises make this time travel novel a fun read.

When four elite scientists journey 14,000 years into the past, mysterious questions about the journey, one of the crew members, and the very nature of time threaten to destroy the landmark mission, and with it, the lives of the four scientists.

Though Farmer's piece is packed with interesting questions and suprising answers about time travel, the novel actually starts out pretty slow.The first 60 pages mostly detail the group's encounters with prehistoric man and the prehistoric world in general.Though it is well written and features above-average character development, it did not grab my attention like the rest of book.Perhaps anthropology types would enjoy this part of the book more than I did.

After getting acquainted with the four scientists, all highly regarded in their respective fields, Farmer picks up the pace.Marital problems between two of the scientists and the unusual habits of another raise some peculiar questions about the psychological effects of time travel and about the possibility that one of the travelers is a scientific anamoly.

Throughout the book, there is action and gradual foreshadowing.

The grand finale of the book is masterfully done and has a surprise that I won't give away.

Though perhaps not the definitive time-travel novel, Time's Last Gift still has enough plot twists and suspense to be called a real page turner.

All Tell, No Show
I picked this up the other day, not expecting too much, but hoping that, considering the fame of the author, it would be a decent read.

Woe upon me!This book is hardly printworthy.I would give it 0 stars, if I could.

While the premise of the story is quite interesting, it is exceedingly poorly written.Perhaps this book was meant as an outline for a longer, fleshed out work, and someone accidentally forwarded to the printers.The prose is sloppy and nondescript, the characters are paper-thin, and the dialogue - though there is plenty of opportunity for it - is sparse and uninspiring, and what was no doubt meant as a surprise at the end was neither surprising nor particularly original.As the title of this review indicates, in this book, Farmer is all tell and no show.

Not recommended except as an example of how NOT to write fiction for writing teachers to give their students.

Excellent!One of the best books I've ever read!
This story takes place both in the future and our distant past, and binds them together through the incredible experiences of the main character.I've read it twice and will certainly read it again.A terrific story frombeginning to end! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

I suppose in 1966 this was cutting-edge stuff...
I read this book because of its obvious influences on Roger Zelazny's AMBER books, but Farmer's material suffers mightily in comparison.The characters in GATES are caricatures--I've seen characters developed much more fully in the space of a single comic book than this-- and the plot consisted of nothing more than a series of hokey hurdles for the main character to jump--even as he repeatedly, redundantly, insults and criticizes his relatives.Over and over.Farmer also suffers here from "tell, don't show."Rather than watching the characters figure things out, we are often simply *informed* of this by the text.How disappointing.Unlike a previous reviewer, I don't wish to spoil the ending, but I have to question how someone can claim Urizen is a great villain when he scarcely even appears in the book.This is pulp material at its most mediocre and only the last few pages saves it from utter failure.Read the Amber books instead.

Good, but not his best
The plot is intriguing, the characters are well-developed, the worlds are delicately designed, and you don't even suspect Vala (if you're like me) until Jadawin starts mentioning her.Matter of fact, I would have suspected Theotormon more than her.Not that that's a bad thing - you look back and notice things that she'd done that had been suspicious, and wonder why you missed them, when Jadawin didn't.All in all, a very well-written book, that I would reccommend, but it's not the best he could have done with it.

Farmer at his best.
The idea of private universes is an idea I like very much.The villan Urizen was fantsic! I recommand this book to everyone! ... Read more

Product Description

The Hidden City: Nearing the zenith of their quest, Clive and Neville Folliot and their comrades from time and space are scattered through a ruined city. Beneath the decaying streets waits the greatest danger of all: the Ren and the Chaffri, inscrutable masters of the Dungeon! The Final Battle: Fleeing from the mysterious creators of the Dungeon, Clive breaks through to the ninth level. Stranded in a freezing polar wilderness, he struggles to find his missing comrades and to triumph at last against the murderous masters of the Dungeon! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Totally agree with last review
Of the 6 books

1 and 2 are wonderful
3 is ok
4 is very good
5 is ok again
6 is awful, clearly was written without reading books 2-5, destroys the continuity, is confusing, and just bad.

A weak end to a good series
This is just a short warning for those interrested in this series. The series as a whole is excellent! For most of the series, I didn't want to put the book down... BUT. The end (second half of this book) was AWEFUL. Opening "book 6" was like starting a new story. It was as if the writer never read the previous ones! I had ignored the reviews that said to skip the second half of this and read on, hoping it would all turn out to be a dream, a test or something else... but sadly nothing happened to redeem the story. So, the short version - Read the first half of this book, skip the second. ... Read more

Product Description
"A human head crashes through a window.A naked womanzooms by on a motorcycle.A sleazy lawmaker gets an arrow in theback."That's life in central Illinois--or at least the twistedversion of central Illinois concocted by 13 writers collaborating on atongue-in-cheek mystery."So writes Christopher Wills of theAssociated Press in his recent article covering the new serial book,NAKED CAME THE FARMER.Building on the success of NAKED CAME THESTRANGER--a collaborative effort of 20 Newsday staffers back in1969--and on the success of NAKED CAME THE MANATEE--a suspensethriller cooked up by 13 Miami-based writers in 1995--now comes NAKEDCAME THE FARMER, a satirical, round-robin murder mystery drawing onthe talents of some of Illinois' top writers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Farmer ain't naked
Philip Jose Farmer makes an excelent job as always. Farmer known primarily for his Science Fiction, but has produced two Fantasy series World of Tiers and Riverworld, the latter an afterlife fantasy in the tradition of John Kendrick Bangs. Farmer words flow as easy as ever and this novel is a work of art. It aint as sexy or shocking as 'An exorcism: ritual one/two' or as deeply involving as 'The river world saga', but he builds his story up as the SF/horror/fantasy master he is. God fun, and with a nice climax as always. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

What an Adventure!
If you are looking to buy this, it is part of a multiple book saga.Don't buy it, buy a more complete edition.

THE WORLD OF TIERS: The Maker of Universes; The Gates of Creation: Volume One. contains this volume (#2) and the first one.

The World of Tiers: Volume Two has the next three in the series.

Previously, I read Farmer's 'Dungeon' series in which he plays the role of editor (The Black Tower (Philip José Farmer's The Dungeon, Vol. 1)), and the plot structure is essentially the same.

An unlikely or reluctant hero is thrust into a diabolical maze spanning universes or realms or dungeon levels, whereby he must overcome unique puzzles and dangers while being alert for treachery by his companions, who would very like to kill him.While this is a pulp science fiction novel from 1966, Farmer manages to make it read like an adventure story by making his characters ignorant scavengers.They don't understand how their own supra-advanced universe making technology works, but they can use it to live like immortal Lords.

Plotwise, our hero Wolff-Jadawin, former cruel Lord now become human as of book one, must defy his father Urizen to rescue the woman he loves.Urizen somehow spirited her away from Jadawin's fortess inside his own universe, despite the impenetrable defenses and traps therein.Inside his demented father's trap, he encounters his brothers and cousins, similarly lured, and together they must band together to save themselves.One has been turned into a seal-man for cowardice, and the rest are essentially useless.

They must cross through the hexagonal golden world-gates inside a maze of worlds, hoping that they'll encounter the correct entrance to their father's fortress, full of deadly perils.There, they must kill him and save themselves.Oh, and all their wondrous technologies have been striped from them; they must rely on wits alone.(Jadawin has a blaster, Vala a sword, and seal-man has a knife.)

I didn't expect to like this as much as I did, but it's a great adventure with plenty of twists.The characters are so flat that Farmer gets the various expendable brothers mixed up himself.(One is 'alive' instead of another after being killed off in an earlier trap).This doesn't matter!If you want to read an enjoyable adventure story with weird realms, strange challenges, and an end based on out-thinking a superior opponent who holds all the cards, you'll like this story too.Truly one of the great pulp novels from the '60s.

An unpleasant, pointless diversion
This is the second volume of the pulp-style fantasy/adventure series known as the World of Tiers.This time around, Wolff's evil father has kidnapped his beautiful wife Chryseis.To find her, he sets off through a series of hexacular gates, each of which takes him and his fractious siblings to a new and more challenging world where an endless series of traps, dangers, and
difficulties await.Will Wolff be able to rescue his wife from the horrible fate that awaits her?Was there ever any doubt?

The specific ploy Wolff comes up with to defeat the villain is pretty clever, and is probably the best part of the book, which overall is just the same old same old.Instead of displaced societies, this volume's worlds feature geographic problems that the group has to overcome in order to get through the next gate. The result is a lot less swordplay and a lot more death trekking, not really Farmer's forte.The excitement level is pretty low, and the suspense level is almost non-existent, since many will guess the kidnapper's secret well before it is revealed, and many more will have stopped caring long before then.Farmer's characters are painfully flat; some of the siblings are no more than cannon fodder, while even the more important characters just strike the same single note over andover.As a result, the reader never cares whether the party succeeds in their venture or not.(This reader was even tempted to start hoping the villain would just kill them all off and spare us all any more unpleasantness).Wolff is a capable leader and combatant, but he has few other human qualities of any interest, and his siblings are plain irritating.So even though this book starts much faster and has a stronger ending than its predecessor, there still isn't much to like about it. Younger readers who can handle brutal, pointless violence may find this book a welcome diversion, but so far, this is the weakest series Farmer has written.Will A Private Cosmos be any better?This reviewer is disinclined to even bother to find out. ... Read more