As Philip José Farmer has used the characters of so many other authors in his work, it is only fitting that some do the same. The first section of this page lists books and stories by other writers that are set in Farmer's worlds and use his characters. And below that, spoofs of a master spoofer! We list a few out-and-out parodies of his work.

Shared Worlds

Also be sure to check out the fan fiction page.

Dog Day Evening, by Spider Robinson

Ralph von Wau Wau, the super intelligent, genetically mutated, talking German Shepherd with a 200 IQ that appeared in Farmer's stories "The Scarletine Study" and "The Doge Whose Barque Was Worse Than His Bight" is down on his luck and strolls into the finest bar in the galaxy, Callahan's Place. He makes new friends and wins a punning contest.

Graceland, by Allen Steele

John Lennon, Sid Vicious, Keith Moon and Brian Jones are a supergroup on the Riverworld isle of Graceland where Elvis really is the King. But what happened to all our other musical greats?

Every Man a God, by Mike Resnick and Barry N. Malzberg

The story of Frederick Courtney Selous a contemporary of Richard Francis Burton, who, whilst tracking Burton so that they can explore the Riverworld together, is himself tracked by Caligula! And then they meet Beethoven.

Blandings on Riverworld, by Phillip C. Jennings

The central figure is none other than P.G. Wodehouse, the great British humorist and his relationship with Maria Montessori, the famous educationist.

Two Thieves, by Harry Turtledove

A Basileus (monarch) from New Constantinople and his brother looks to conquer much as he did on earth to protect his dynasty but realises his nation’s survival relies on an alliance with Mayor Richard J. Daley, Mayor of the downriver state of Shytown.

Fools Paradise, by Ed Gorman

Edgar Allan Poe asks Dashiell Hammett (who was a Pinkerton agent before becoming a writer) to help him protect his beloved Lillian from an unknown assassin.

The Merry Men of Riverworld, by John Gregory Betancourt

An actor who was to play Robin Hood just before he was killed on Earth joins forces with Abraham Lincoln to save Jules Verne’s utopia from the conquering armies of Al Capone.

Unfinished Business, by Robert Weinberg

Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and Socrates aim to refight the Alamo but the Riverworld throws some unexpected characters into their plans.

If the King Like not the Comedy, by Jody Lynn Nye

William Shakespeare, Washington Irving and Aristophanes perform plays from a theatre boat that travels the great river. But what happens when they are unsuspectingly asked to perform Richard III to none other than the resurrected monarch himself?

Because It's There, by Jerry Oltion

Polar explorers Roald Amundsen and Robert Peary again race Scott to the South Pole but who will win on this new world?

A Place of Miracles, by Owl Goingback

Tantake Iyotake (aka Sitting Bull) saves a young girl from the river and nurses her back to health. The gentle Medicine man discusses philosophy and religion with the girl before running into George Custer once again.

Diaghilev Plays Riverworld, by Robert Sheckley

Russia’s greatest ballet master plans to replay his evil conquest of the dancer Nijinsky and Pizarro’s conquistadors plan their evil re-conquest of the Incas. But this is the Riverworld.

Secret Crimes, by Robert Sampson

Allan Pinkerton, the legendary detective gets involved in intrigue between Cleopatra and Tiberius.

Hero's Coin, by Brad Strickland

Father Lupian and Brother Aelfstan are two monks who spent their lives on Earth as chroniclers, writing history as it happened. They begin doing the same on Riverworld but have they met the new messiah?

Human Spirit, Beetle Spirit, by John Gregory Betancourt

A primitive tribe tries to come to terms with their resurrection and rejuvenation. Are they in the Spirit World? And what will they make of the other humans they meet on the Riverworld?

Nevermore, by David Bischoff & Dean Wesley Smith

Edgar Alan Poe finds a writers colony where Johan Gutenberg has set up a printing press. The first book they have produced is TARZAN RESURRECTED by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Already living in the writers colony are Robert Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Frederick Faust (aka Max Brand) and Lester Dent (aka Kenneth Robeson).

Old Soldiers, by Lawrence Watt-Evans

Germanicus Caesar controls a stretch of Riverworld and General George S. Patton is the head of his army. Both bemoan the sad fact that war is just not Hell anymore and so revive the gladiatorial arena.

Legends, by Esther M. Friesner

Medea’s legend precedes her, appalls her, dominates her and may save her from the vengeance of the children she murdered. But there are other legends loose on Riverworld.

Stephen Comes Into Courage, by Rick Wilber

Author Stephen Crane leads a band of travelling baseball players and ponders the enigma that gives him a steady supply of baseballs in his grail.

Riverworld Roulette, by Robert Weinberg

Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett travel with Socrates and the Spartan Lysander along the river. More a band of travelling entertainers than anything else until they encounter a nascent Nazi state. Their leader, Adolf Eichmann is intrigued by Bowie’s metal knife and the prospect of similarly arming his men.

Shades of Pemberly, by Win Scott Eckert

Set in the 1920s, this short story is a standalone "prequel" to Phil's unfinished 1970s novel THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE. Phil's novel and the story make extensive use of the genealogies from TARZAN ALIVE and DOC SAVAGE: HIS APOCALYPTIC LIFE, firmly setting both tales in the Wold Newton Universe.

A Kick in the Side, by Christopher Paul Carey

In the second Opar novel, FLIGHT TO OPAR, one of Hadon's companions is lost during a great fire. Hinokly is presumed dead and never mentioned again. In this short story Chris tells us what in fact befell the scribe Hinokly after he left Hadon's side.

The Doc Ravage Presidential Campaign, by Rick Lai

This very timely parody of the 2008 presidential campaign is set in 1940 as America's favorite pulp hero, Doc Ravage tackles his greatest opponent; American Presidential politics.

The Pollinators, by Rhys Hughes

This story is set in the Earth society that Phil created when he expanded "The Lovers" into a novel in 1961. It shows the struggle several citizens have as they flee Sturch run territories, only to get more than they bargained for in the wilds of Africa.

Is He in Hell?, by Win Scott Eckert

This story, set in France in November 1795, begins to tell of events that lead up to Sir Percy Blakeney being in Would Newton, England on a certain fateful day.

No Trees of Earth, by David Bischoff

This story is set on the World of Tiers, just after the events of THE MAKER OF UNIVERSES. While Jadawin and Chryseis expect that Arwoor, the Lord who occupied Jadawin's palace in his absence, may have left traps behind, they could never guess what is waiting for them behind a mysterious door.

Flesh Endures, by Dennis E. Power

Philip José Farmer has written more than one book depicting mankind's future as primitive, bleak and hard. In this story Dennis brings some of these different stories together and shows how these different cultures might blend together, or clash violently.

Here is a map showing the different future nations side by side.

The Final Flight of Greatheart Silver, by Chris Roberson

Years after his last recorded adventure Greatheart Silver is living a quiet life of semi-leisure in retirement. Lured back into the air for one last adventure, nothing is as it seems, and of course, nothing goes according to plan.

For the Articles, by Bradley H. Sinor

Another mystery for Farmer's Private Detective Kent Lane. Just as in his first adventure, Skin Burn this story has a bit of a science fiction twist.

The Wolff that One Hears..., by Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier

This story takes place before the events of THE MAKER OF UNIVERSES while Robert Wolff is still on earth and does not remember who he really is. The Lofficiers make good use of historical events to bring a certain artifact to Wolff's attention, and bring him to the attention of...

The Beast Erect, by Mary A. Turzillo

Noted Farmer expert Mary A. Turzillo revisits the world Farmer created in the x-rated novel IMAGE OF THE BEAST. Things are much better for the next generation of as the Togs and Ocs still want to get offworld, and will do anything to get what they want.

Into Time’s Abyss, by John Allen Small

Farmer left the door open at the end of his novel TIME'S LAST GIFT and John Small steps on through to see just what happens to the crew of the H.G. Wells the second time they attempt to go back to 12,000 BC.

EXILES OF KHO, by Christopher Paul Carey

Having completed the third novel in the Khokarsa cycle, THE SONG OF KWASIN, Christopher Paul Carey may be considered the world's foremost expert on this ancient civilization. Based on clues from all three novels in the series, EXILES OF KHO, tells the story of the warrior priestess Luopeth and her founding of a very important city.

THE SCARLET JAGUAR, by Win Scott Eckert

A sequel to THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE. Pat Wildman and her crew race against time deep in the wilds of the Central American jungle to face the menace of Scarlet Jaguar’s weird power to eliminate his enemies from afar, marked only by a wisp of crimson smoke—smoke resembling nothing so much as the head of a blood-red screaming jaguar. But who—or what—is the Scarlet Jaguar? A power-mad dictator determined to reclaim power? A revolutionary movement bent on taking over the country, and the rest of Central America? Or a front for something even more sinister...?

PHILEAS FOGG AND THE WAR OF SHADOWS, by Josh Reynolds

Philip José Farmer’s, THE OTHER LOG OF PHILEAS FOGG, the “true story” behind the events of Jules Verne’s AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, was only the beginning! When an old foe disrupts Fogg’s retirement, seeking his aid against an enemy which threatens them both, Fogg finds himself once more thrown into the white-hot crucible of war.

HADON, KING OF OPAR, by Christopher Paul Carey

This novella picks up fourteen years after the novel THE SONG OF KWASIN (coauthored by Philip José Farmer Christopher Paul Carey) and the great calamity that threw the mighty queendoms of Khokarsa from their foundations. Hadon is king of Opar, charged with protecting his far-flung jungle city against the myriad dangers that threaten it.

PHILEAS FOGG AND HEART OF OSRA, by Josh Reynolds

Volume #3 in the Phileas Fogg series and a followup to Josh Reynolds exciting novella, PHILEAS FOGG AND THE WAR OF SHADOWS. A new and more deadly conflict has begun in the Central European country of Ruritania. Drawn to the city of Streslau by a mysterious letter, Fogg finds himself caught between old allies and new enemies in a struggle for survival.

BLOOD OF ANCIENT OPAR, by Christopher Paul Carey

This novella begins immediately after the events of HADON, KING OF OPAR chronicling Hadon’s further adventures in the fallen empire’s last remaining queendom. Using Farmer’s own notes, Carey at last fills in the missing history of a civilization lost to the mists of time...

MAN OF WAR, by Heidi Ruby Miller

This novella follows the continuing adventures of Roger Two Hawks, WWII pilot and “gate” traveler. Heidi Ruby Miller’s sequel to Two Hawks from Earth, “Dakota’s Gate,” paired him up with Dakota Cummings, another gate traveler who takes him back to her home Earth to help save her world.

Parodies of Philip José Farmer's Work

This section is surprisingly small and if there is any work out there that parodies Farmer's that we don't know of, please let us know!

To Your Battered Scotties Go or Grail, Grail, The Gang's All Here, by Walt Liebscher

In this parody of the first Riverworld novel, The Maquis De Sade wakes up pre-resurrection and sees himself floating in a sea of naked bodies. He also parodies A FEAST UNKNOWN as Doctor Sauvage battles Tarzun of the Rapes. Since the stream where everyone is being resurrected is only two miles long, and there are 37 billion bodies, things are very chaotic.

The Fabulous Showboat or I've Been Working on the Grail Road, by Walt Liebscher

In this installment of the Riverworld spoof, Mark Twain is resurrected along the banks of the creek with a bunch of famous performers so they build a showboat. They have battle after battle after battle (each one getting a chapter) with many famous people. They do say to keep subscribing to Moebius Trip so you won't miss the next installment but I don't know if there were any.

STAR WARPED, by E.C. "Doc" Lisic

At first glance this appears to be an R-rated spoof of Star Wars and Star Trek. With characters like Nuke Slybanger and Capt. James T. Jerk, it certainly is. But sprinkled throughout the book are references to dozens of other science fiction authors and their characters and/or worlds. Fortunately, E.C. "Doc" Lisic is not just a fan of science fiction movies and television, he is obviously widely read in both science fiction and fantasy. One character outside of the movies who keeps popping up is Philip Jose Finnegan, also known as, Kicka-ass. And there are other Farmerian references in the book; how would you like to beam down in a red shirt and meet the same fate as Richard Stagg in FLESH?

You can read a sample chapter of the book and if you are interested, order the book from Buy Books on the web.