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                                                            Welcome
                                                              to Riverworld. 
                                                              It is not like our
                                                              world - or any
                                                              world that can be
                                                              imagined by anyone
                                                              but Philip Jose
                                                              Farmer.  It
                                                              is huge and
                                                              mysterious. 
                                                              It has a central
                                                              river, rimmed by
                                                              mountains, with a
                                                              hidden source and
                                                              an unknown
                                                              end.  Reborn
                                                              there is every
                                                              last soul who ever
                                                              lived on Earth -
                                                              from prehistoric
                                                              apemen to
                                                              moondwelling
                                                              future
                                                              civilisations.
                                                              Reborn there is
                                                              Sir Richard
                                                              Francis Burton,
                                                              translator of The
                                                              Arabian Nights,
                                                              explorer, brawler,
                                                              scholar, womaniser
                                                              -
                                                              adventurer. 
                                                              His quest to
                                                              discover the end
                                                              of the river, the
                                                              meaning of the
                                                              world's existence
                                                              - and the lovely
                                                              Alice Hargreaves
                                                              (the real-life
                                                              model for Alice in
                                                              Wonderland) form a
                                                              science fiction
                                                              adventure that is
                                                              recognised as a
                                                              classic.  |