To Your Scattered Bodies Go
by Philip Jose Farmer; Read by Richard Clarke
2 cassettes – 2 hours [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Waldentapes (1985)
Suggested Retail: $14.95 USD
ISBN: 0681327731
Status: Out of Print – RARE
Themes: / Science Fiction / Sci-Fi / Fantasy / Mystery / The Afterlife / History / Series
My biggest problem with this audiobook is that it is over much too quickly. Like most early science fiction audiobooks, this is an abridgement of a novel, in this case a great novel. Philip José Farmer’s To Your Scattered Bodies Go is a Hugo Award winner (for 1972), and this alone makes it worth a look. But the story is intiguing enough to make you wish for more, a lot more.
Set on the huge and mysterious Riverworld, a planet whose central river is the new home to every last soul who ever lived on Earth – from prehistoric apemen to moon-dwelling future civilizations (and even an alien visitor to Earth). Our protagonist is the reborn Sir Richard Francis Burton, famed translator of The Arabian Nights, explorer, brawler, scholar, womanizer and adventurer. His quest? To discover the end of the river, the meaning of this world’s strange existence, where death is a mere inconvenience and food is magically delivered. With such nasty foes like a youthful Hermann Göring and some super evolved aliens called “Ethicals” to deal with, you know its going to be fun. Burton himself is fascinating to follow and I’d like to see if there is a good audiobook biography of him out there. The story itself runs two hours, read by some fellow named Richard Clarke, with a familiar but hard to place English accent. Clarke is backed up by a nicely accenting musical score.
The package is unique to Waldentapes (a line I’m sure we’ll be looking at again) a clear soft plastic case that opens in a very convoluted manner designed for quick sales and low cost it nevertheless has an interesting cover depicting actual events of the novel. While it is long out of print it is not impossible to find, copies turn up on a semi-regular basis on eBay, selling for very reasonable amounts. Since I wished this book was longer, I was happy to find an unabridged version from Recorded Books. Hopefully we will be able to post a review of that version here soon. All in all this is a good find and a valuable addition to any science fiction audiobook collector.
Jesse just informed me that the Caedmon version of “Green Hills of Earth” is included in 
He also let me know that “Green Hills of Earth” was done by Waldentapes, a label that is generally excellent. Pic at left there… And speaking of Waldentapes, I have Childhood’s End and To Your Scattered Bodies Go from them. Childhood’s End is wonderful, and I just recently acquired To Your Scattered Bodies Go from an eBay auction – haven’t listened yet.
Green Hills of Earth/Gentlemen Be Seated by Robert A. Heinlein, read by Leonard Nimoy, Caedmon, 1977
I type that from memory, hearing Leonard Nimoy’s voice in my mind’s ear. These two stories make my favorites list probably for nostalgic reasons, though Leonard Nimoy is an excellent narrator. This was one of the first audiobooks I listened to as a youth – it was one of the tapes in my local library’s small collection. I found it one day while looking through the few old time radio cassettes. This was also my first exposure to Robert A. Heinlein, and I was hooked. I was struck (and still am) by Heinlein’s ability to make his future so normal to all the people in it. 
In the news… Neil Gaiman continues to collect well-deserved awards. A couple of weeks ago, he accepted the Nebula Award (Best Novel) for his American Gods. He’s on the list of Hugo nominees (Best Novella) for Coraline. The 
In 1999, Del Rey published Vector Prime by R.A. Salvatore. This novel was the first in a projected 22 novels in a series called The New Jedi Order. This week, the 
These books have an overriding story, which readers (and listeners) like me really appreciate. Most media tie-in series are held in a tight grip – stuff is not allowed to happen. Each novel must end exactly where it began, allowing the next author’s tale to make sense. But in the New Jedi Order series, there was an overall plan to the 22 volumes to start with. Each author wrote his or her part of the story arc, and the results are excellent. In short, stuff happens in these books.