The Riverworld series consists of five science fiction novels (1971–1983) by American author Philip José Farmer (1918–2009). The Riverworld is an artificial, or heavily terraformed, planet where all humans (and pre-humans) who ever lived throughout history have been resurrected. The novels (and a few shorter works) explore interactions of resurrected individuals from many different cultures and time periods. The underlying theme is quasi-religious. The motivations and ethics of the unknown intelligences that created the Riverworld and its inhabitants are explored. The series' cast of characters includes (among others) Cyrano de Bergerac, Richard Francis Burton, Hermann Göring, John, King of England, Alice Liddell, Jack London, Tom Mix, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Odysseus, and Mark Twain. Source: Wikipedia (en)