The Dark Design

Riverworld Saga, Book 3

By: Philip José Farmer

Narrated by: Paul Hecht

Years have passed on Riverworld. Entire nations have risen, and savage wars have been fought—all since the dead of Earth found themselves resurrected in their magnificent new homeworld. Yet, the truth about the Ethicals, the powerful engineers of this mysterious "afterlife," remains unknown. But a curious cross-section of humanity is determined to change that situation…at any cost.

Intrepid explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton leads the most remarkable voyage of discovery he has ever undertaken. Hot on his heels are Samuel Clemens, King John of England, and Cyrano de Bergerac. Spurred by the promise of ultimate answers, they chart a course across the vast polar sea—and toward the awesome tower that looms above it. But getting there will be more than half the battle. For death on Riverworld has become chillingly final....

Listen to more of the Riverworld Saga.©1977 Philip José Farmer (P)2010 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

“Charts a territory somewhere between Gulliver’s Travels and The Lord of the Rings.” ( Time)

Pick a Unit of Measurement, Please.

I want to start by clearly saying, the narration was top-notch, and I will be looking for more books read by Paul Hecht. My criticism is solely about the writing.

The book feels like it drags more than the previous books. I wasn't sure why until I walked 20 feet, or 6.096 meters, to my kitchen to put away the gallon, or 3.79 liters, of juice I had purchased earlier in the day. The constant translation of feet to meters and meters to feet was maddening. Please pick a unit of measurement and stick with it. I'll do the math and convert it myself if I feel that I must know or if it impacts the story at all.

At this point in the story, it feels like the basic premise is starting to wear a little thin (even without the measurements). At first, it sounds like a great idea. What if you could pick your favorite person from history and have him or her meet another favorite person from history? And it absolutely is fun, until it happens over and over again. It's like we need to meet every named person from the 36 billion resurrected on this world. Thankfully there seems to be a core set of characters we can try to lock onto, but it feels like we are constantly being introduced to new characters just to introduce new characters.

It's book three, and I've started book four today. I'm invested in the story, and I want to see how it ends, but it's such a slog some days. Hopefully, book four picks up the pace.

This is a great series of books!

Out of the three so far, this one seems to be one of the toughest to get through. But it does start to draw all the players together.

chapters don't match

The chapters in the book and the audio chapters don't match.
Book chapters start in the middle of audio chapters or go straight though from one audio chapter to another

Too much meandering

It just wasn't all that good. Too many characters too much hard to follow. Not enough clarity

Riverworld - the story continues

Any additional comments?

If you have enjoyed the books thus far, then you will probably enjoy this one as well. Personally, I am not sure the story is actually going anywhere any more. I love the world he has built but am waiting for the over-arching story to actually go somewhere. If you are expecting to get some more insight into that aspect of the story - this book is sure to disappoint. If you just love the world the author has created - then keep reading - I expect there is plenty more where that came from.

great series

Wonderfully read book, of an amazing world crated by the ever talented and gifted Philip Jose Farmer.

Probably 3X as long as it needed to be

Dark Desgin is the 3rd book of 5 in Farmer's Riverworld series. Bearing in mind, that the reviewer read the first 2 books over 30 years ago, book 3 was eagerly anticipated. Compared to the first 2, this is definitely the weakest of the three. In brief, Riverworld is a terraformed planet with a single river, along whose banks all of humanity has been resurrected. Exactly why is still unclear and forms the basis for much of the plot. The author has considerable license to draw from any historical figure for the storytelling and does so liberally. While the 1st book set the stage and the basic crew, the 2nd had Mark Twain buildng a riverboat to get to the headwaters. In the 3rd installment, a dirigible is the latest mode of transportation. Also building, appears to be disagreements among the aliens that are supposedly responsible for all of this. In all, this could be a compact story advancing towards some resolution and more detail regardnig the dark tower at the river's headwaters, but Farmer injects too much introspective meanderings with extensive details that either are unrelated to the plot or simply border on flower child / hippie musings.

Another consideration is that the book was originally written in the 70's. As such, in this world alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and even an LSD-like substance play a major role. In addition, feminist views are prominent, but seem out of place as if harrassment today were met with bra burnings. In short, Farmer was a captive of his era in which the writing took place and the story doesn't translate as well today.

Finally, there is a bit of a disconnect in that the environment is lacking in many resources, but an errant meteorite seems to not only provide a source of iron, but also the means to develop lasers and X-ray machines. Most of the characters also appear clueless with many of the inconsistencies that point to a more sinister state of affairs, such as cut-off dates.

Better than the Second Book

While the writing style stays much the same, there is more action in book 3 and more details offered regarding the mysteries of the Riverworld.I thought this book better than book 2 The Fabulous Riverboat.

Love Psychoanalysis

As a Psych/Neuroscience major, I love the brain. The main critiques of the story are the parts I love. The Psychoanalysis is what makes the book for me. Being the third in the series, the author has every right to dive into the nitty-gritty details that would’ve turned people off in early books. Another Farmer masterpiece.

Very difficult read

A complex read you really have to know the historical references to enjoy it I think Most young readers would never have known the characters outlined in the book including mincluding many of the writers mentioned