THE WORKS OF PJF

Excerpts, Abridgements & Serials

The following list contains serializations of novels that were printed in scifi mags before the novel was published. Also a couple of excerpts from books, an unprinted abridgement and two unpublished chapters.

A complete riverworld short story. Starts off with Richard Burton waking up on the river (ala To Your Scattered Bodies Go). This story nearly identical to the first half (or so) of TYSBG. See The Suicide Express.

Riverworld story number three. This story is nearly identical to the second half of To Your Scattered Bodies Go, with The Day of the Great Shout being the first half.

Parts 1 and 2 comprise chapters 1-14 of THE FABULOUS RIVERBOAT which was published as a novel in 1971. I'm not sure if the text was altered. This first half of the novel was written long before the novel was printed.

The Felled Star (Part 2)

See part 1.

Pages 92 - 103 were excerpted from the novel and printed in this adult magazine which was published by the same company that printed Brandon House books. Phil says he never knew these excerpts had been printed.

  • Late Date, Vol 7 #3 April/May/June 1970 (First appearance)

Pages 175 - 189 were excerpted from the novel and printed in this adult magazine which was published by the same company that printed Brandon House books.

  • Secret Hours, Vol 8 #1 June/July/August 1970 (First appearance)

Parts 1 and 2 comprise chapters 15-28 of THE FABULOUS RIVERBOAT which was published as a novel in 1971. I'm not sure if the text was altered. This second half of the novel was writen for the novel and printed just before it was released.

The Fabulous Riverboat (part 2)

See part 1.

A short excerpt from Riders of the Purple Wage. A long absurd play on words.

The infamous story by "Kilgore Trout" was the first of the Fictional Author Series in F&SF magazine. This comical scifi adventure was later printed as a book.

See part 1.

A short excerpt from A FEAST UNKNOWN. Farmer puts forth his theory that Jack the Ripper was both Tarzan and Doc Savage's father.

Abridged version of the novel which was supposed to be printed in Isaac Asimovs Science Fiction Magazine. The novel JESUS ON MARS was released before the abridged version was ready so it was never run.

This is a chapter about a naval battle that was cut from THE MAGIC LABYRINTH.

This is the first draft of a chapter from a Doc Caliban book that was never published (or finished as far as I know). This story would have picked up where Lord of the Trees/Mad Goblin left off. Now that four of the Nine are dead Doc discovers that they have a monster suspended between worlds, or universes, that is breeding children to be sent after Doc and his friends. If the children fail the Nine may send the monster after Doc so he decides to make the first move and attack the monster.

The Looking Forward section of the magazine has a short introduction by Bill Fawcett, and then roughly the first 6 pages from THE CATERPILLAR'S QUESTION.

  • Amazing, September 1992 (First appearance)

This book is about such early science fiction writers as Edward Bellamy, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Aldous Huxley, C.S. Lewis, Jack London, etc. Each chapter is a series of short essays by notable authors about the above authors. Farmer's contribution is an extract from pages 43-44 of TARZAN ALIVE, which talks about Tarzan being able to talk to animals.

This book is is a collection of quotes from many science fiction authors grouped in several categories. The quote from Farmer reads: Dullard: Someone who looks up a thing in the encyclopedia, turns directly to the entry, reads it, and then closes the book.

This is installment one of a ten part serial, and is the first three chapters of the novel. An oil rig drilling a few miles off the coast of California blows up leaving millions of gallons of oil gushing towards land.

In this second installment, chapters 4 and 5, the people in charge are quickly coming to realize just how big a disaster they have on their hands.

In the third installment, chapters 6 through 9, we focus on the protagonist Jim Cable; is he beginning to crack under the pressure of dealing with this crisis?

In the fourth installment, chapters 10 through 12, the whole world is getting anxious about whether or not the well can be capped as the strain is being felt everywhere. Measures are being taken to control the damage but there is still no plan for stopping the gusher.

In the fifth installment, chapter 13, the first attempt is made to cap the oil flow but things go horribly wrong. Was it bad luck, or sabotage?

This nearly 6000 word fragment is Farmer's first draft of the story that, much changed, eventually became Some Fabulous Yonder.

In the sixth installment, chapters 14 and 15, Cable returns to the company headquarters to discover utter chaos. He then has to convince everyone of the necessity of leaving not only the office but downtown Los Angeles entirely. Will they now have to battle all of LA to make their escape?

This excerpt is from the beginning of chapter four and sees the protagonist, who is on the run from the Feds and trying to fit in with his strange surroundings, captured by "outlaws." 1250 words that are certain to pique your interest in this novel.

This excerpt is from an uncompleted quasi-autobiographical novel about a science fiction author. Here the protagonist thinks up a science fiction story that he will submit to an editor that has always rejected his stories.

In the seventh installment, chapters 16 through 18, all hell has broken loose as everyone is trying to flee Los Angeles. With streets and highways clogged with cars, most people start abandoning them and begin walking and running out of the city. But in some places, it is too crowded to even do that.

In the eighth installment, chapters 19 through 22, the mass exodus continues, and continues to get more difficult. Cable eventually manages to get out of the city and spends a few days recovering from the ordeal before he is called back to duty.

In the ninth installment, chapters 23 through 25, smoke from the fires becomes a bigger problem daily and plans to cap the hole become more and more difficult as everyone suspects everyone else of sabotage.

In the concluding chapters, 26 and 27, Cable tries one last time to cap the hole. Security is tighter than ever but does someone already on the inside want the project to fail?

This article contains an original typed page by Phil which is a lost excerpt of an addendum from TARZAN ALIVE.

This is a page of notes regarding a novel Phil had planned on writing about the space industry.

Similar to "The Monster on Hold" above, this is the first three chapters of a unfinished novel about Doc descending below the earth for an epic battle.

This excerpt is chapter four of the third novel in the Khoharsan cycle. The long exiled Kwasin returns to his home city as it is being attacked. Will his exploits on the battle field win him favor with the queen who had him exiled?

This excerpt, from the middle of the book shows the protagonist, Patricia Wildman dealing with the current residents of Pemberley House.

Several pages of notes about ideas for more Greatheart Silver stories.

The first two chapters of this Western novel set the stage with some colorfull characters discussing a "job" that needs to be done for a Senator.

An outline of a novel with Phil's great-grandfather, Dr. Andrew Paxton Davis as the protagonist. A similar idea was eventually used by Phil in the short stories "Crossing the Dark River" and "Up the Bright River."

A page of typed notes for a story (or stories) with a religious theme. Phil used some of these ideas in other novels.

Chapter five from an unfinished novel titled STRANGERS & BROTHERS. In this chapter the protagonist, Tim Howller, first encounters Francis Uquart, the girl of his dreams who played a pivotal role in the story "The Face That Launched a Thousand Eggs." Tim also has his first experience with alcohol.