I totally agree. Plus it would be a BIG tongue in cheek poke at the publishers. lol When I first read that book I was confused as hell as to what Tomb tey were referring to. I think its a brilliant idea!

When I first read the Tomb, I thought that FPW meant the freighter. "A tomb among tombs, the grave of a thousand beasts" or something to that effect. But "Rakoshi" is a better title, definatly. Maybe the one after By The Sword can be The Tomb.

How did you find out about such things in the days before the internet?

We used to have these places called "libraries", where they kept these things called "card catalogs".

There was also a reference tool called "Books In Print".

I got along just fine without the Internet...but I enjoy having it.

my first FPW book was Nightworld, i received it in a paper bag full of paperbacks. i read about a page when i realized it was a sequel, so i looked it up, and BAM, it was the 6th of 6...holy cow! i read a LOT so to find a series that looks interesting is quite a coup for me. so i found all the books of this series before i started reading any of them...that was the only time in my life i practiced self discipline, i think, and when i started to read, i was hooked! i have most of FPW's books now, used, new, none that are autographed, unfortunately, but when i am less poor i will work on that....
i have a hard time citing which is my favorite, i have loved them all. i am now waiting for by the sword, i can't afford the advanced signed copy...so i am waiting. in the meantime, one of the threads i read suggested to somebody to re read the RJ series, so i did. wow, the details i missed before. it was worth it to re read. i hope to read some others soon, catch up on the short stories, and i hope to read the teen series soon! i just want to thank the team that started this site, and everyone who posts, it's wonderful to read and write about my favorite author, and i hope to learn to navigate this site better, i am learning slowwwwly.

I second that, mate. The Tomb is a mandatory read if you are going through the rest of the series. I FULLY understand your eagerness, but if you're going the full length You HAVE to read The Tomb, as there are important things in it.

Sorry for the delayed response and absence to the boards....I have been away at sea enjoying more RJ books. I agree and have stopped for the time being till I can get around to the tomb. Yes I know I still havent read it yet. I am going to start tonight and from the way things have been going I should finish it in a day or so. I have been burning through books like crazy the past few weeks. So when I get done with it I will def have to post about it. Till then keep up the good fight. Your brother in arms Unlikely hero

I started with the movie "The Keep" and became intrigued by FPW. (I have since watched it again and wonder what I saw in it). I then found a copy of The Tomb at the local library and fell in love. Unfortunately from there I could not find anything else to read despite regularly checking bookstores and libraries. Many years later I came across an copy of The Tomb at a used book store and with the help of ebay I was able to get all 6 books in the Adversary Cycle. Now I am fully up to date in that I have a copy of all of them (thanks to Gauntlet Press and Borderland Press for their regular emails). I tend to take my time reading them so as to savour evey word (like fine wine??) so although I have read the Adversary Cycle I have just finished Gateways.

If I remember correctly, the first book by the Man that I read was "Wheels within Wheels", followed by the rest of the LaNague books - Even at the tender age of 14 or so, the libertarian under and over tones of the series spoke to me. Within a few years, I would have picked up "The Keep" as well. Because I knew/was familiar with FPW primarily as a SF writer, I remember not really being sure what to make of it at the time. Over the years, I read some of his other books ("Sims" for example), but I never really gravitated back to the Adversary/RJ are until a few years ago, when I gave "The Keep" a new read, followed up by "The Tomb". My literary sensibilities had matured over the intervening years, and I saw the spark of something very interesting going on in these books. Since then, I have consumed the entirety of the RJ series (waiting on the less pricy Trade edition of "By the Sword"), as well as some of FPW's other works (Sibs, The Select). I haven't read Reborn/Reprisal/Nightworld as of yet, in part because part of me would like to have Nightworld, at the least, unfold at the right time in the sequence, and on a more practical note, I don't have a copy of Reprisal as of yet...

So, my first RJ book was "The Tomb", but it was by no means my first or earliest exposure to FPW.

I was lent a copy of The Tomb and The Keep by a friend 3 years ago and was so blown away I went and went to the bookstore right after finishing The Tomb and bought the next 3 RJ books in the series and have steadily read every book in including he AC since. I thought now heres a real character not just another played out tough guy clone.

I was never a real avid reader. My son who was 17 at the time was going through a rough time in his life( You know first love, first lost love, depression etc.) He got out of it by reading. One day he gave me a book and told me "Dad I think you will like this. and there is a whole bunch more in the series." It was The Tomb. I have since read the whole series and then some. I have recommended all FPW's books to anyone and everyone. Jack is the person that everyone wants to be. No one can lie and say they don't.

After reading all the Repairman Jack books, I have found that there is nothing else thats as good. I even went to Stuart Woods and his Stone Barrington novels and got totally board.

So Now at the age of 56 I have decided to write my own novel. It wont be as good but I hope it will be interesting. ( Im up to chapter 3)

Linus

I was never a real avid reader. My son who was 17 at the time was going through a rough time in his life( You know first love, first lost love, depression etc.) He got out of it by reading. One day he gave me a book and told me "Dad I think you will like this. and there is a whole bunch more in the series." It was The Tomb. I have since read the whole series and then some. I have recommended all FPW's books to anyone and everyone. Jack is the person that everyone wants to be. No one can lie and say they don't.

After reading all the Repairman Jack books, I have found that there is nothing else thats as good. I even went to Stuart Woods and his Stone Barrington novels and got totally board.

So Now at the age of 56 I have decided to write my own novel. It wont be as good but I hope it will be interesting. ( Im up to chapter 3)

Linus

Good luck!

I started with The Tomb just over a year ago. I was lucky that someone that knew what he was doing started me out, even though I had to wait for it to come in at Borders (they had almost every other RJ book). I was hooked from the start! I read through the series fairly quickly, with some breaks for The Keep and The Barrens and Others. I've read a few others also, and have started collecting FPW books seriously.

I love the RJ series, and have almost completed my Adversary cycle collection. That's next on the reading list once I finish Soft and others.