Philip José Farmer Books In Order

Publication Order of World Of Tiers Books

Publication Order of Herald Childe Books

Publication Order of Doc Caliban and Lord Grandrith Books

Publication Order of Opar Books

Publication Order of Dayworld Books

Publication Order of Riverworld Books

Publication Order of Tarzan Books

Publication Order of Philip Jose Farmer's The Dungeon Books

Publication Order of The Further Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes Books

Publication Order of Thieves' World Books

Publication Order of Philip José Farmer Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Philip José Farmer Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Philip José Farmer Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Philip Jose Farmer was a prolific American novelist well known for writing fantasy and science fiction books and short stories. He had written several mind-blowing book series in his career and is best remembered for the Riverworld and World of Tiers series. Farmer is regarded as one of the pioneers of using religious and sexual themes in his stories. He is noted for the reworking of, and for being fascinated towards the mythology of celebrated pulp heroes as well as his tongue-in-cheek works written using pseudonyms that appear to have been written by the fictional characters. He was believed to have used over a dozen pen names. Author Farmer was known for mixing classical and real worlds and fictional characters and fake and real authors. He would often describe the fictional characters as real people & blood relatives and the outcome of a secret alien conspiracy. Farmer was often compared to Ray Bradbury. A literary critic named Leslie Fielder saw both the authors are provincial eccentrics and as writers who loved to strain science fiction’s classic limits.

Farmer is seen as more distinctive out of the two as he managed to be sophisticated and naive in his unusual blending of adventure, pornography, and theology. Author Farmer was born on January 26, 1919, in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States, while his death occurred on February 25, 2009, in Peoria, Illinois, US. Some of his popular works include the book series WOld Newton, Dayworld, World of Tiers, Secrets of the Nine, Riverworld, etc. Farmer was brought up in Peoria, where he studied at the Peoria High School. When he was small, he used to be a voracious reader. He found his interest in writing as early as in the 4th grade. At 14 years of age, Farmer turned into an agnostic. He entered into marriage and subsequently became the father of a couple of kids by the time he reached the age of 23. Farmer continued his education while working in a steel mill and eventually obtained his BA degree in English in 1950 from the Bradley University. He tasted literary success for the first time with his 1952 novella called The Lovers. This novella helped him to win his first Hugo Award in the category of the most promising new author.

The success encouraged him to take up writing as a full-time job and quit working in the steel mill. Later, Farmer participated in a publisher’s competition and won the first prize and $4,000 for the book, Owe for the Flesh. This book later served as the basis for his Riverworld series. Even though Farmer earned a lot of literary success in the early days of his writing career, he could not gain financial security. So, he chose to leave Peoria with the intention of becoming a technical writer in 1956. For the next 14 years, he worked on that post for many defense contractors in Syracuse, Los Angeles, and various other places. He continued to write science fiction during his free time. In 1967, Farmer won his 2nd Hugo Award. This success motivated him to start writing full time again. He returned to Peoria in 1970. This decision proved to be the most beneficial one for his life and career as Farmer published a total of 25 books in a period of 10 years. A year later, he won the Hugo Award again and went to write many more successful books. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by World Fantasy and was made the SFWA Grand Master in 2001. After his death in 2009, Farmer left behind his wife Bette, 2 children, 5 grandchildren.

The Riverworld series written by author Philip Jose Farmer is comprised of 5books in total published between 1971 and 1983. The first 4 novels of the series constitute one story, while the fifth book is a sequel to the first story. The novels feature the main character in the form of Richard Francis Burton, Hermann Goring, Sam Clemens, John Lackland, Joe Miller, Cyrano de Bergerac, La Viro, Alice Liddell, etc. The debut book of the series is entitled ‘To Your Scattered Bodies Go’. It was published by Del Rey in 1998, after its first release in 1971. The novel begins by introducing Sir Richard Francis Burton as a well-known adventurer. After his death, he awakens near the shore of an endless river on an alien planet with no clothes on his body.

Sometime later, Burton discovers that all the humans who die on Earth get resurrected on the foreign planet. And every individual is provided with a non-destructible container, which provides them with alcoholic beverages, regular meals, cigarettes, a strange lipstick tube, and a lighter. Burton wonders why they are provided with all these stuff and who has provided them. Determined to unravel the mystery of the Riverworld saga, Burton joins several other adventurers to make a boat. They set out to find the source of the river, which is believed to be many million miles away. During the course of their journey, the adventures face many hardships. With the arrival of the Mysterious Stranger, the quest gains strength and moves forward. After interacting with the mysterious being, Burton learns that he belongs to the group that is responsible for the creation of the Riverworld. He also comes to know that the adventures must make it the headwaters of the river to prevent an experiment from taking place which will ensure that all the dead humans will achieve death in the real sense.

The next book in the series is called ‘The Fabulous Riverboat’. It was also re-released by the Del Rey publication in 1998. This novel introduces Sam Clemens as a riverboat captain and the man uniquely suited for finding the river’s headwaters. Clemens comes across a mysterious being called X, who was a part of the Riverworld creators’ group, but turned into a rebel later. He informs him where he can get large iron deposits and other required materials for building the greatest riverboat. Clemens thinks that it will help him greatly in battling the difficulties in the path. Later, he learns that he is not the only one looking to get hold of the giant meteorite. When he considered surrounded on all sides by enemy forces, Clemens decides to enter into a deadly pact with John Lackland, a notorious English monarch. He gets help from a guardian angel named Joe Miller, a big subhuman. He proves to be an invaluable aid as he provides necessary information about the hiding place of the Riverworld creators inside a mysterious tower. He also assists in the making the riverboat and sets himself on the important mission with Clemens.