Philip Jose Farmer Trivia

1. The novel's title, "To Your Scattered Bodies Go," alludes to a poem by what noted author?

From Quiz To Your Scattered Bodies Go

Answer: John Donne

This is from "Holy Sonnets" no. 7, which contains the line: "... arise From death, you numberless infinities Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go..." This of course refers to the Biblical belief in the resurrection of the body, which Farmer cited as an inspiration for the premise of this novel, in which the human race is mysteriously resurrected.

From Quiz Looking behind The Unreasoning Mask

Answer: Moby Dick

Before the beginning of the novel is a quote from Moby Dick which states that "all objects... are but as pasteboard masks" and goes on to refer to "some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the moulding of its features from behind the unreasoning mask."

From Quiz Adventures on the Riverworld

Answer: Richard Francis Burton

Burton was a famous (or infamous, depending on whom you ask) British explorer. He translated the Kama Sutra and sought to find the source of the Nile River. He died in 1890 at the age of 69, and in the series, was one of billions of people to be resurrected on Riverworld.

From Quiz Looking behind The Unreasoning Mask

Answer: They are of gigantic proportions compared to humans

The Urzint are described as "pachydermoid" (elephant-like). The bed Ramstan slept in, designed for the Urzint, was half the size of a basketball court. The last time the Urzint visited Kalafala they promised that they would keep returning regularly, but at the time of Ramstan's visit they had not been seen in years. The remaining answers refer to other races featured in the novel.

From Quiz Adventures on the Riverworld

Answer: Joe Miller

Joe is an eight-foot subhuman who lived millions of years ago. He protects Sam Clemens, alias Mark Twain, with his great size and strength.

From Quiz To Your Scattered Bodies Go

Answer: He is a Neanderthal

The inhabitants of the Riverworld appear to span all periods of human history from prehistoric times until the modern day. Burton decides that Kazz's survival skills, such as his ability to make stone tools, will be of value to him and his companions, as conditions on the Riverworld are primitive in many ways. Burton's group did include an extra-terrestrial named Monat, who turned out to know a lot more about the Riverworld than he was letting on.

From Quiz Looking behind The Unreasoning Mask

Answer: The glypha told him that if he became its partner together they could save the world

The glypha also told him that it had witnessed the death and rebirth of the pluriverse - the multitude of universes - twice. The glypha did offer Ramstan immortality but he turned it down. It also induced in him a powerful mystical experience in which he identified with Muhammad during the latter's ascent into the seven heavens. However, Ramstan later concluded that this experience was an illusion. Ramstan denied that the glypha had hypnotised him, although he admitted that it amplified his pre-existing desire to possess it which influenced his decision to steal it.

From Quiz To Your Scattered Bodies Go

Answer: She was the model for "Alice in Wonderland"

Alice Liddell Hargreaves was born to an aristocratic family in Victorian England. As a child, she was friendly with Charles Dodgson (pen-name Lewis Carroll) who created the story of Alice in Wonderland for the young girl's entertainment. In the novel, she develops a rather tempestuous romantic relationship with Burton, whom she seems to find both charismatic and offensive at the same time.

From Quiz Looking behind The Unreasoning Mask

Answer: The Tenolt had surgically implanted an explosive substance into her body and threatened to detonate it if she did not cooperate

The explosive device consisted of artificial flesh implanted into her vaginal wall, which could be detonated by a radio signal. Davis later mentions that one of the implications of the location of the bomb is that she would not be able to have intercourse again lest the explosive be detonated.

From Quiz Adventures on the Riverworld

Answer: 25

All humans who died after 25 were resurrected in bodies that were 25 years old. Those who died before 25 were resurrected in bodies equivalent to their age at death, which then age until they hit 25. Children who died under the age of five were brought back to life on a separate planet.

From Quiz To Your Scattered Bodies Go

Answer: Hermann Goering

When he first appears, Goering's character is pretty much what one would expect from a former Nazi. However, later in the novel and its sequels he undergoes a remarkable moral and spiritual transformation and becomes a man of peace dedicated to spreading a message of non-violence.

From Quiz Looking behind The Unreasoning Mask

Answer: Alaraf

Al-Buraq is the name of the ship commanded by Ramstan, named after a fabulous animal that transported Muhammad to Heaven in Islamic mythology. Al-Sirat is also a name from Islamic lore which refers to a razor-thin bridge between Heaven and Hell, which was one of the many wonders glimpsed by Ramstan during a mystical vision. Alaraf is also the name of a chapter in the Qur'an. When the alaraf drive was first developed, the mechanism behind it was not understood. One incorrect theory was that it involves time travel. The glypha reveals to Ramstan that the alaraf drive actually pierces the walls between universes, weakening their integrity in the process, and leading to their eventual collapse.

From Quiz Looking behind The Unreasoning Mask

Answer: An agonisingly loud whistle that seems to come from everywhere at once

Ramstan compared the sound to "the universe crying out in a death agony." The whistling noise is apparently caused by the disruption in the fabric of space-matter caused by the sudden appearance of the bolg and lasts for about two minutes. The other destructive phenomena mentioned begin soon afterwards.

From Quiz Adventures on the Riverworld

Answer: Hermann Goring

In the event of someone's death, they are brought back to life in an identical body miles away from the spot where they died. This way, it is impossible to die, at least until much later in the series. Goring, the notorious Nazi criminal, is killed several times by Richard Francis Burton.

From Quiz To Your Scattered Bodies Go

Answer: He can perceive certain symbols appearing on people's foreheads that no one else can see

Burton's friend Peter Frigate suggested that Kazz could see a little further into the electromagnetic spectrum than other people, allowing him to see what were supposed to be invisible markings. Burton's friends thought the symbols might have been used for identification purpose by those responsible for the Riverworld. Spruce did not have any symbols on his forehead, which made the others suspicious that he was not what he seemed.

From Quiz Looking behind The Unreasoning Mask

Answer: The Vwoordha

At one time, the Vwoordha were more numerous, but only the three sisters remain. The Raushghol is the name of another race who were escorting the marine creature Wassruss to their homeworld when they were attacked by the bolg. The Tssokh'azgd is the name that Wassruss gives to the bolg, and refers to a chaos monster in her ancestral religion. "The Weird Sisters" is a reference to the witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth. The Vwoordha certainly were quite weird!

From Quiz To Your Scattered Bodies Go

Answer: To record human history and customs as part of a sinister scientific project

At the end of the novel, Burton meets the leaders of the Ethicals who explain that the purpose of the Riverworld is the ethical rehabilitation of the human race. However, the mysterious stranger claims that this is a monstrous lie and that once the resurrection project has run its course the resurrectees would be annihilated permanently. Afterwards, Burton remains unsure who is telling the truth.

From Quiz Adventures on the Riverworld

Answer: Cyrano de Bergerac

Cyrano and Olivia wander into Parolando one day only to find Sam Clemens, Olivia's husband on Earth. This sets up a love triangle which plays itself out in the second book, "The Fabulous Riverboat".

From Quiz To Your Scattered Bodies Go

Answer: They believed he had the potential to wreck their plans

The Ethicals reveal that their super computer has warned them that certain individuals, of whom Burton is one, could derail their whole project. However, they are not willing to keep him in suspended animation to get him out of the way as this would represent "unforgivable violence" against him.

From Quiz Looking behind The Unreasoning Mask

Answer: Webn

Wassruss was the first Webnite to leave her homeworld. Her ship was destroyed by the bolg and she was fatally injured while visiting the planet Walisk. Tolt is the homeworld of the Tenolt people who are pursuing Ramstan. Kalafala is the setting where the novel begins.

From Quiz Adventures on the Riverworld

Answer: "The Dark Design"

"The Dark Design" is the third book in the series and was originally published in 1977. It combines the tales of the first two books, with both Burton's group and Clemens' group trying to find the source of the river.

From Quiz To Your Scattered Bodies Go

Answer: They claimed to have a "chronoscope" with which they could look back in time and make recordings of people, who they were then able to resurrect using energy-matter converters.

A persistent theme of the Riverworld books is that the resurrections are accomplished by scientific and not supernatural means. Although the Ethicals told Burton they had a chronoscope, a later book in the series indicates that they actually have a machine that can collect a person's "soul", also known as a "wathan" or "psychomorph", when they die. The concept of using a "tesseract field" to resurrect people is explored in a novel called "Last Legends of Earth" by A.A. Attanasio.

From Quiz Looking behind The Unreasoning Mask

Answer: She was chosen by the three ancient sisters to become one of their successors

when the three sisters escape from the bolg at the end of the novel, they take with them three women, including Davis, whom they intend to train to be their successors. They offer to take Ramstan with them as well, but he chooses to go down with his ship, so to speak.

From Quiz Adventures on the Riverworld

Answer: The Ethicals

One Ethical, called the Mysterious Stranger, recruits several teams to find the source of the River, because the Stranger disagrees somewhat with the mission of the other Ethicals.

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