{"product_id":"riverworld-odyssey-hardcover-signed","title":"RIVERWORLD ODYSSEY Hardcover Signed","description":"\u003cp\u003eClocking in at almost six hundred pages, \u003cem\u003eRiverworld Odyssey\u003c\/em\u003e is a journey through every piece of associated fiction, every pertinent essay, letter, article, and speech, every item of ephemera the editors at Meteor Press could gather, in one \u003cem\u003eBrobdingnagian\u003c\/em\u003e volume, to tell the story — \u003cem\u003ethe history\u003c\/em\u003e — of one of science fiction’s greatest series!\n\nIncluded: The early history of \u003cem\u003eRiverworld\u003c\/em\u003e; the journey from \u003cstrong\u003ePhillip Jose Farmer’s\u003c\/strong\u003e last-minute decision to enter the ill-fated Shasta Prize Novel contest in 1952, to the publication of \u003cem\u003eTo Your Scattered Bodies Go\u003c\/em\u003e, almost twenty years later; and the series beyond the end of the fifth and concluding novel, \u003cem\u003eGods of Riverworld..\u003c\/em\u003e. much of it in Farmer’s own words.\n\nThe odyssey through Riverworld is a riverboat tour with four stops: \u003cem\u003eThe Contest\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Relaunch\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Quest Completed\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eRiverworld Revisited\u003c\/em\u003e. At each stop along the \"river,\" we are invited to go \"ashore\" to partake of the aforementioned fiction, essays, and speeches.\n\nFiction by Farmer includes the novel \u003cem\u003eRiver of Eternity\u003c\/em\u003e, first written in 1952, but not published until 1983 by science fiction specialty publisher, Phantasia Press; the earliest published \u003cem\u003eRiverworld\u003c\/em\u003e stories, “The Day of the Great Shout,” and “Riverworld”; the excerpt “Riverworld War”; and the stories Farmer wrote for the two shared-world anthologies in the '90s: “Crossing the Dark River,” “A Hole in Hell,” “Up the Bright River,” and “Coda.”\n\nIntroductions, essays, and speeches by Farmer provide significant historical insight to the series. Letters to luminaries such as Fredric Pohl, Ejler Jakobsson, Richard Posner, Phyllis Grann, and Roger Zelazny include four different outlines describing forthcoming \u003cem\u003eRiverworld\u003c\/em\u003e tales.\n\nFellow \"shipmates\" on the riverboat odyssey have kindly supplied essays exploring different aspects of Farmer’s celebrated series and career, including \u003cstrong\u003eAlex Berman\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eJohn Gregory Betancourt\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eMichael Croteau\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eTracy Knight\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003ePaul Spiteri\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eBruce Sterling\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003eMary Turzillo\u003c\/strong\u003e.\n\nThe gorgeous wraparound cover painted by \u003cstrong\u003eMark Wheatley\u003c\/strong\u003e features Peter Jarius Frigate, Alice Hargraves, Sir Richard Frances Burton, and Joe Miller attempting a shortcut across Riverworld in a hot air balloon.\n\nAvailable in both a Softcover and a Signed Hardcover Limited Edition. Signed by Berman, Betancourt, Croteau, Knight, Spiteri, Sterling, Turzillo, and Wheatley, the hardcover features a leatherette cover with gold foil stamping and custom printed color endpapers. This is another high-quality collectible in the tradition of Meteor House’s prior limited-edition hardcovers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"vendor-unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59643967504670,"sku":"RIVODYHS","price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0999\/0684\/7006\/files\/RIVODYHS-riverworld-odyssey.jpg?v=1784523675","url":"https:\/\/shop.budsartbooks.com\/products\/riverworld-odyssey-hardcover-signed","provider":"Bud's Art Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}