The Dark Design
Encyclopedia
The Dark Design is a science fiction
novel, the third in the series of Riverworld
books by Philip José Farmer
. The title is derived from lines in Sir Richard Francis Burton
's poem The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî
:
. Differing from the previous books in the series, which focused on one set of protagonists, The Dark Design features three interwoven tales.
who tell them a detailed story of the last attempt to reach the mouth of the river. This mission, which was launched by the Pharaoh
Imhotep
, included the giant whom Sam Clemens
calls Joe Miller (believed by the Egyptians to be an incarnation of the god Thoth
). This mission reached the end of the river, and found a massive waterfall. Scaling its sides, they eventually found a passage through to the polar sea. Descending a ledge which had been carved into the rock they found a cave filled with food and powered boats. While most of the Egyptians sailed to the tower, never to return, one died and took their story to the valley. Besides learning this story the group's main significant act is uncovering a pair of impostors within their midst. Under hypnosis, the neanderthal
Kaz remembers when they last encountered an agent of the people who created the Riverworld. He noted at the time that every resurrectee had marking on their forehead which Kaz and other Neanderthals could see, but which were invisible to others. The exception was this agent. At the time Kaz noticed that Monat and Frigate also lacked these markings. However, before he could tell Burton, he was confronted by the pair, who hypnotized him into forgetting his discovery. Burton quickly concludes that Monat and Frigate are agents sent to spy on him. When he goes to confront the two, he finds that they have escaped.
The second storyline deals with the real Peter Jairus Frigate
. Unaware that an alien agent has been posing as him, this Frigate, whose life story is identical in all respects to the one which the phony Frigate told, has been living an ordinary life along the river. One day a ship docks near his home and he recognizes the two men who captain it as his childhood heroes Jack London
and Tom Mix
. Accompanied by the sufi
Nur ed Din and the African warrior Umslopogas, the two men are traveling incognito up the river. Desperate to join his heroes, Frigate signs on the ship where he becomes a valued crew member, not revealing for years that he knows the men's identities. Eventually he admits that he knows who they are and the two men tell their story. They were each contacted by The Mysterious Stranger, who enlisted them to find the headwaters of the River. When the boat arrives at a metal-rich kingdom named New Bohemia, Frigate suggests that they speed their travel there by building a balloon. After a betrayal by the ruler of New Bohemia, the men eventually get their balloon and travel a good distance upriver, only to crash when they have a near-miss with another flying vehicle.
The story of that flying vehicle is told in the third stream of the novel. This details the efforts of the nation of Parolando to build an airship. The ship, the brainchild of Parolando's president, the engineer Milton Firebrass, will be able to reach the pole more quickly than the two riverboats which Parolando has already constructed. Firebrass is assisted in these efforts by Cyrano de Bergerac
, who has remained behind to work on the project. They are joined by newcomer Jill Gulbirra, an Australia
n dirigible
pilot and strident feminist
. Gulbirra, the most experienced lighter-than-air pilot in the region, quickly becomes important to the project, as does Cyrano, who, surprisingly, turns out to be the nation's best pilot. When the ship is built it sets off, under the command of Firebrass and Gulbirra, for the pole. Making its way through a massive hole in the mountains which surround the polar sea, the airship confronts the dark tower. Suddenly anxious, Firebrass, along with a few hand picked others, board a helicopter to descend to the tower. However, their helicopter is blown up shortly before landing, killing all aboard. The culprit is Barry Thorne, an engineer who had been working on the ship. While he is confined to a prison, the rest of the crew begins to explore the tower. They find an open door on the roof which leads into the structure. However, when they attempt to gain entry they become blocked by an invisible force. The only one who manages to enter the building is one of the pilots, a Japan
ese Sufi
named Piscator, who never returns. After waiting some time for him to return, the ship reluctantly departs. After they return to the valley, they are cajoled by Clemens into conducting a revenge mission against King John
. John had managed to persuade the pilot of a second Parolando dirigible to attack Clemens' ship, the Mark Twain. Seeking revenge, Clemens orders the larger airship, the Parseval, to conduct a mission to kidnap King John and return him for punishment. The mission, led by Cyrano, meets with some success, until John manages to escape as their helicopter attempts to return to the airship. Frustrated, the attackers return to discover that Thorne has escaped. He parachutes from the airship, which soon explodes from the bombs which he had planted aboard it.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel, the third in the series of Riverworld
Riverworld
Riverworld is a fictional planet and the setting for a series of science fiction books written by Philip José Farmer . Riverworld is an artificial environment where all humans are reconstructed. The books explore interactions of individuals from many different cultures and time periods...
books by Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his award-winning science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories....
. The title is derived from lines in Sir Richard Francis Burton
Richard Francis Burton
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS was a British geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as his...
's poem The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî
The Kasidah
The Kasidah of Haji Abdu El-Yezdi is a long poem written by "Haji Abdu El-Yezdi," who is widely considered an invention by the true author, Sir Richard Francis Burton...
:
- And still the Weaver plies his loom, whose warp and woof is wretched Man
Weaving th' unpattern'd dark design, so dark we doubt it owns a plan.
Overview
The book was originally conceived as the final volume of the Riverworld saga, but the manuscript came in at almost 1,000 pages so Farmer split it into two books, this one and The Magic LabyrinthThe Magic Labyrinth
The Magic Labyrinth is a science fiction novel, the fourth in the series of Riverworld books by Philip José Farmer. The title is derived from lines in Sir Richard Francis Burton's poem The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî:...
. Differing from the previous books in the series, which focused on one set of protagonists, The Dark Design features three interwoven tales.
Plot
The shortest of the three plotlines is that of Richard Francis Burton and his friends. Reunited, Burton and crew once again begin traveling up river. At this point, many decades after resurrection, the stone supplies in the valley have begun to run out and technology has begun to break down. Also, for reasons unknown, the "little resurrections" have stopped, and people who are killed are not brought back to life. As they sail up river the crew encounters a group of ancient EgyptiansEgyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
who tell them a detailed story of the last attempt to reach the mouth of the river. This mission, which was launched by the Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
Imhotep
Imhotep
Imhotep , fl. 27th century BC was an Egyptian polymath, who served under the Third Dynasty king Djoser as chancellor to the pharaoh and high priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopolis...
, included the giant whom Sam Clemens
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
calls Joe Miller (believed by the Egyptians to be an incarnation of the god Thoth
Thoth
Thoth was considered one of the more important deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat...
). This mission reached the end of the river, and found a massive waterfall. Scaling its sides, they eventually found a passage through to the polar sea. Descending a ledge which had been carved into the rock they found a cave filled with food and powered boats. While most of the Egyptians sailed to the tower, never to return, one died and took their story to the valley. Besides learning this story the group's main significant act is uncovering a pair of impostors within their midst. Under hypnosis, the neanderthal
Neanderthal
The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
Kaz remembers when they last encountered an agent of the people who created the Riverworld. He noted at the time that every resurrectee had marking on their forehead which Kaz and other Neanderthals could see, but which were invisible to others. The exception was this agent. At the time Kaz noticed that Monat and Frigate also lacked these markings. However, before he could tell Burton, he was confronted by the pair, who hypnotized him into forgetting his discovery. Burton quickly concludes that Monat and Frigate are agents sent to spy on him. When he goes to confront the two, he finds that they have escaped.
The second storyline deals with the real Peter Jairus Frigate
Peter Jairus Frigate
Peter Jairus Frigate is a fictionalized version of the science fiction author Philip José Farmer, which appeared in his Riverworld series of novels....
. Unaware that an alien agent has been posing as him, this Frigate, whose life story is identical in all respects to the one which the phony Frigate told, has been living an ordinary life along the river. One day a ship docks near his home and he recognizes the two men who captain it as his childhood heroes Jack London
Jack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
and Tom Mix
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
. Accompanied by the sufi
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
Nur ed Din and the African warrior Umslopogas, the two men are traveling incognito up the river. Desperate to join his heroes, Frigate signs on the ship where he becomes a valued crew member, not revealing for years that he knows the men's identities. Eventually he admits that he knows who they are and the two men tell their story. They were each contacted by The Mysterious Stranger, who enlisted them to find the headwaters of the River. When the boat arrives at a metal-rich kingdom named New Bohemia, Frigate suggests that they speed their travel there by building a balloon. After a betrayal by the ruler of New Bohemia, the men eventually get their balloon and travel a good distance upriver, only to crash when they have a near-miss with another flying vehicle.
The story of that flying vehicle is told in the third stream of the novel. This details the efforts of the nation of Parolando to build an airship. The ship, the brainchild of Parolando's president, the engineer Milton Firebrass, will be able to reach the pole more quickly than the two riverboats which Parolando has already constructed. Firebrass is assisted in these efforts by Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac
Hercule-Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac was a French dramatist and duelist. He is now best remembered for the works of fiction which have been woven, often very loosely, around his life story, most notably the 1897 play by Edmond Rostand...
, who has remained behind to work on the project. They are joined by newcomer Jill Gulbirra, an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n dirigible
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
pilot and strident feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
. Gulbirra, the most experienced lighter-than-air pilot in the region, quickly becomes important to the project, as does Cyrano, who, surprisingly, turns out to be the nation's best pilot. When the ship is built it sets off, under the command of Firebrass and Gulbirra, for the pole. Making its way through a massive hole in the mountains which surround the polar sea, the airship confronts the dark tower. Suddenly anxious, Firebrass, along with a few hand picked others, board a helicopter to descend to the tower. However, their helicopter is blown up shortly before landing, killing all aboard. The culprit is Barry Thorne, an engineer who had been working on the ship. While he is confined to a prison, the rest of the crew begins to explore the tower. They find an open door on the roof which leads into the structure. However, when they attempt to gain entry they become blocked by an invisible force. The only one who manages to enter the building is one of the pilots, a Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Sufi
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
named Piscator, who never returns. After waiting some time for him to return, the ship reluctantly departs. After they return to the valley, they are cajoled by Clemens into conducting a revenge mission against King John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
. John had managed to persuade the pilot of a second Parolando dirigible to attack Clemens' ship, the Mark Twain. Seeking revenge, Clemens orders the larger airship, the Parseval, to conduct a mission to kidnap King John and return him for punishment. The mission, led by Cyrano, meets with some success, until John manages to escape as their helicopter attempts to return to the airship. Frustrated, the attackers return to discover that Thorne has escaped. He parachutes from the airship, which soon explodes from the bombs which he had planted aboard it.