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[starreview]
Classification: Historical Characters
To Your Scattered Bodies Go is the first book in the Riverworld saga.
Imagine: at the end of your life, you die; but whether you expect heaven or hell, reincarnation, or simply oblivion, you find yourself waking up naked, young again, at the shores of an endless river in a strange world. And you are not alone: it appears that everybody who has ever lived has been resurrected in this brave new world. Imagine: if you search hard enough, you will find: Albert Einstein, Moses, Abraham Lincoln, Adolf Hitler, Heath Ledger, Buddha, John Lennon, Al Capone, Robin Hood, John F. Kennedy and even Saddam Hussein – they are all there! Some are prehistoric people, others are from the future – but they are all present, all in the same bewildering situation. The Riverworld saga has one of the most amazing premises I’ve ever seen. Maybe even the best premise. The number of possible stories is infinite.
In the first book, the protagonist is Sir Richard Francis Burton, the famous 19th century explorer. The last thing he expected is to die and find himself in the Riverworld. Finding himself – just like everyone – with an indestructible container that can be used to gain meals three times a day, and also contains cigarettes, alcoholic drinks, a lighter and a lipstick, sir Richard tries to make sense of his new life.
Not long after waking up, Richard and a few people he befriended, including: Alice Liddell Hargreaves (the grown up inspiration for Alice in Wonderland), a Neanderthal, a holocaust survivor, and an alien that happened to reach Earth in the 21st century, decide to build a riverboat and go up the river in the hopes of finding who has resurrected everybody – and why. But this is no simple feat since many of humanity’s worst examples (such as the Nazi Hermann Goring) have been resurrected as well.
The book is fantastic. Using so many historical figures provides an amazingly deep setting that can and is used very creatively. The first book in particular is the best as it enables us to experience the wonder through the eyes of multiple famous protagonists.
The author did a fantastic job at researching these individuals. Often we see references to anecdotes that do not make much sense, but if one searches them (say, on Wikipedia), one can understand the meaning. It makes the story so much more realistic. It feels as if we’re reading the adventures of a real pesron.
In summary: Superb! An absolute treat that all sci-fi lovers will enjoy.
Link to the book’s details on Amazon.com
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