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World of Tiers - Philip Jose Farmer's World of Tiers

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From: Mich...@xenite.org (Michael Martinez)
Subject: WorldFAQ: Philip Jose Farmer's Tier World
Date: 1998/12/24
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                            WorldFAQ:
                 Philip Jose Farmer's Tier World

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1].  Quick Reference

     The Lords are an advanced race of humans who construct
     universes and populate them with creatures of their fancy.
     Jadawin constructed a world of tiers -- plateaus rising
     rising from a central core in a pyramid-like fashion.  He
     populated it with creatures from Earth, other universes,
     and creatures of his own science.  His world was stolen
     from him by another Lord and when he finally returned
     he found himself a different man, befriended by Paul
     Janus Finnegan, known as Kickaha on the Amerindian tier.
     Primary sources are the various novels Farmer has written
     (see bibliography below).
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2].  Printed Sources Bibliography

I only have some of these books in the form of a two-volume Doubleday
Book Club edition.  Any other references will be appreciated.
The covers for those volumes I own were done by Boris Vallejo.

THE MAKER OF UNIVERSES, Ace, 1965.  Included in Doubleday's THE
WORLD OF TIERS, Volume I.

THE GATES OF CREATION, Ace, 1966.  Included in Doubleday's THE
WORLD OF TIERS, Volume I.

A PRIVATE COSMOS, Ace, 1968, ISBN 020-07724-050.  Included in
Doubleday's THE WORLD OF TIERS, Volume II.

BEHIND THE WALLS OF TERRA, Ace, 1970.  Included in Doubleday's
WORLD OF TIERS, Volume II.

THE LAVALITE WORLD, Ace, 1977.  Included in Doubleday's
WORLD OF TIERS, Volume II.

RED ORC'S RAGE, Tor, 1991, ISBN 0-812-50890-4.  This is a paperback

MORE THAN FIRE, Tor, 1993, ISBN 0-312-85280-0.

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3].  Visual Sources Bibliography

No known adaptations.
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4].  Related Materials Bibliography

THE READERS GUIDE TO PHILIP JOSE FARMER, Mary T. Brizzi,
Starmount Press Readers' Guide series, 1986 (paperback).

I've been told that Farmer has acknowledged the influence of
books written by William Blake
(http://virtual.park.uga.edu/~wblake/).
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5].  Online References

     A)   News Groups

          None.  But Farmer's works can be discussed in
          rec.arts.sf.written, alt.books, rec.arts.books, and
          alt.fan.created-worlds.

     B)   Mailing/Discussion Lists

          None.

     C)   Web sites

          The Philip Jose Farmer Books
          http://www.mindspring.com/~ledzep/books.htm
          Extensive bibliography with descriptions of Farmer's
          books and stories.

          Miles' Philip Jose Farmer Page
          http://www.bam.com.au/miles/pjf.html
          Not much content but he's got links to other pages.

          The Unofficial Philip Jose Farmer Page
          http://www.mindspring.com/~ledzep/index.html

          World of Tiers -- Review
          http://www.rhein-neckar.de/~mips/reviews/WorldOfTiers.html

     D)   Online services

          Miles' Philip Jose Farmer Discussion Forum
          http://lit.bam.com.au/cgi-bin/forum/pjf_forum.cgi
          A web-based message board.

     E)   IRC

          None.

     F)   Comprehensive lists of resources

          None.
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6].  Description

     The Lords are ordinary mortals possessed of sufficiently
     advanced technology to do whatever they wish.  They are
     self-made immortals who survived terrible struggles in
     their ancient past.  Becoming both arrogant and bored they
     created worlds as playgrounds which eventually became
     private kingdoms.

     The tier world has five levels: the Garden, Amerindia,
     Dracheland, Atlantis, and the Lord's Palace.

     The Garden level is populated with fantastic creatures
     out of Greek myth and legend, and other creatures
     unrelated to anything but the Lord's imagination.  Many
     of the creatures are artificial constructions, but some
     are humans taken from Earth and transformed into satyrs,
     nymphs, mermaids, etc. They are quite capable of
     reproducing and some have bred true.

     Amerindia, located several thousand feet above the Garden
     Level, is populated with North American Indians who have
     established a rich civilization in what is essentially
     the Happy Hunting Ground (as Kickaha describes it).

     Dracheland is populated with Nordics taken from Europe.
     Their culture is medieval with castles, armored knights,
     and all the attendant cultural dispositions.

     Atlantis is based on the advanced civilization, but the
     Lord destroyed the city when they became too inquisitive.
     Eventually he agrees to let them rebuild.

     The Lord's Palace is a complex of machinery, grandiose
     living quarters, control rooms, factories, laboratories,
     etc. where the Lord monitors the Tier world, performs
     experiments in bio-engineering, as well as hide out
     when he is attacked.

     The sun travels around this world, rather than the world
     travelling around the sun.  As such, "night" occurs only
     when the sun is on the far side of the central mountain.
     At least one moon, altered to resemble Edgar Rice
     Burroughs' Barsoom, orbits the Tier world as well.

     Gravity is somehow constrained to work "normally" for all
     levels of the Tier world.  Thus, if you manage to find your
     way to the bottom (through a crack or cavern), you can fall
     out of it.

     Primary characters are Robert Wolff and Kickaha, also known
     as Paul J. Finnegan.
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7].  Maintainer Information

FAQ owner: Michael Martinez 
Last Updated:  November 8, 1998

Other information was supplied (knowingly or otherwise) by:

Pat Banchy 
Ryan Haksi 
Jens Kilian 
Geoffrey A. Landis 
Scott R Sadusky 
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