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Capsaicin posted:I need some help looking for a book that I saw discussed on io9 a while back. I honestly can't remember if it was a graphic novel or traditional novel, so maybe you all can help? It's kind of a late response, but I was browsing back in the thread and saw it was unanswered. Is this the book you were seeking?
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Apr 24, 2016 23:46
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XBenedict posted:It's kind of a late response, but I was browsing back in the thread and saw it was unanswered. Or maybe "The Girl Who Would Be King?"
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Apr 25, 2016 03:02
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I'm trying to remember the name of a sci-fi novel I read in the late 90's, about a girl who somehow time travels to the end of time. She then witnesses the universe collapse on itself, be reborn with a Big Bang, and watches everything repeat at an obviously fast-forwarded speed, to when she sees Earth again, humanity again, and eventually her own life again (or something like that). Then she watches the cycle again I think? I can't remember if she is dying or something. Sorry for the vagueness. Another one, again late 90's, has two points of view; one from the human astronauts aboard a space station in orbit around a planet where they have discovered sentient life, with the other POV from the aliens' perspective, where time passes much differently. A day in their life is like a minute to the humans, or maybe even more than that, because they are made of solar energy or something? My memory fails at this point, although I think the humans were dealing with some kind of crisis aboard the space station I think. Thanks in advance if this rings a bell for anyone.
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Apr 25, 2016 04:08
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The second one is by Robert L. Forward, either Dragon's Egg, or its sequel, Starquake.
Hobnob fucked around with this message at 05:55 on Apr 25, 2016 |
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Apr 25, 2016 04:13
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Jcam posted:I'm trying to remember the name of a sci-fi novel I read in the late 90's, about a girl who somehow time travels to the end of time. She then witnesses the universe collapse on itself, be reborn with a Big Bang, and watches everything repeat at an obviously fast-forwarded speed, to when she sees Earth again, humanity again, and eventually her own life again (or something like that). Then she watches the cycle again I think? I can't remember if she is dying or something. Sorry for the vagueness. This could be The Starlight Crystal by Christoper Pike.
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Apr 25, 2016 06:03
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I'm glad this thread exists. I read a book about virtual reality, this was back in the late 90s though. I have the impression the book was written in the 80s. The basic premise involved a male protagonist jumping from game to game, the book for certain involved at least a medieval castle attack/defend scenario as well as a more modern scenario involving guns and cars (the fact that they were manual transmission was an important point in one scene). Some note was made that the male protagonist was particularly skillful with a gun in this setting due to being a military veteran of some sort. Another relevant bit I can recall is that allocating skill points in one of the scenarios involved transferring liquid from one container to another, while being careful not to overfill/spill. The book also had a female character in a fairly typical romance interest/damsel in distress role. I'd be grateful if anyone has any ideas.
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Apr 26, 2016 12:31
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Amstrad posted:I'm glad this thread exists. Sounds like Piers Anthony's "Killobyte". So very, very 90s.
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Apr 26, 2016 13:01
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Killobyte by Piers Anthony possibly. Did it have stuff about Druze? If it did that's definitely it. ^^Dang. That's totally it though.
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Apr 26, 2016 13:03
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Lemniscate Blue posted:Sounds like Piers Anthony's "Killobyte". Peztopiary posted:Killobyte by Piers Anthony possibly. Did it have stuff about Druze? If it did that's definitely it. Yes, this must be it. I did go through a period where I read anything by Piers Anthony that was on the library shelf. I guess I just forgot it was one of his due to it not being one of the Xanth books.
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Apr 26, 2016 16:25
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Ok, I read this back in the 80's, probably. This space-thief crash-lands on an alien planet, is thrown from his space-car and is space-paralyzed. He lands near a colony of bug-sized aliens who end up worshipping him as a god because his bodily fluids end a drought and the peeling skin from his sunburn serve as roofing materials (I swear to god). At one point, he manages to move his mostly paralyzed arm 6 inches to wipe out an invading bug tribe. It ends with the bugs blasting off into space and there's a huge monument to him in the background as the founder of their civilization. I got nothin
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Apr 26, 2016 20:37
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navyjack posted:Ok, I read this back in the 80's, probably. This space-thief crash-lands on an alien planet, is thrown from his space-car and is space-paralyzed. Gift of a Useless Man by Allen Dean Foster.
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Apr 27, 2016 07:16
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Captain Monkey posted:Gift of a Useless Man by Allen Dean Foster. This is it!! Thanks! Can't believe I didn't remember it was Alan Dean Foster!
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Apr 28, 2016 10:08
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navyjack posted:This is it!! Thanks! Can't believe I didn't remember it was Alan Dean Foster! No problem! I can't find it anywhere except supposedly in some old anthologies you'd have to buy the physical book for and good luck finding them. Which is a shame as I want to reread it now that I've been reminded that it exists.
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Apr 28, 2016 15:31
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Hobnob posted:The second one is by Robert L. Forward, either Dragon's Egg, or its sequel, Starquake. wheatpuppy posted:This could be The Starlight Crystal by Christoper Pike. You were both right on the money, Dragon's Egg and The Starlight Crystal. Thanks a lot.
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Apr 29, 2016 01:46
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Hopefully someone can help me identify this book that I barely remember.... the main character is a lonely (female?) nerd who loves Ray Harryhausen movies, and may have a cat or dog named Harryhausen.
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Apr 29, 2016 03:14
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Thanks to a discussion with a friend about books we read in high school, I am struggling to remember the one I read that I really liked. I know the main character was a young man. Perhaps high school/college aged. He ran away from home and started living in the wilderness. I recall at some point he met a girl while living in the wild, and there was some sort of peril she got into. Maybe even dying. I know it's a real vague description to go off of, but it's been like 14 years since I have even thought about it and it's driving me nuts not to remember what it was.
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Apr 29, 2016 23:09
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SereneCrimson posted:Thanks to a discussion with a friend about books we read in high school, I am struggling to remember the one I read that I really liked. My Side of the Mountain? That one was about a young man who went to live in the mountains, don't remember if he met a girl though.
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Apr 29, 2016 23:40
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SereneCrimson posted:Thanks to a discussion with a friend about books we read in high school, I am struggling to remember the one I read that I really liked. Maybe Brian's Return or Brian's Hunt, sequels to Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.
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Apr 30, 2016 04:02
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This is going to be quite vague, since I haven't read it since I was 12 or so. It was a novel-sized YA book from before YA was really a thing... I don't remember a publication date but I'd say it was the 50s or 60s by the tone. It was a book or series of books about two brothers (IIRC) who went diving in the south seas but in some fashion lost their ship and got stuck on an atoll with, I think, a "native" crewman/cabinboy. They eventually make a raft and try to reach land. Lots of descriptions of scavenging food and fishing... I remember particularly a scene where they explored a shipwreck with scuba gear, ate sausages (?) and drank Coke underwater. Any ideas? I'm pretty sure this is not any famous series, I'd say the writing is slightly better than the Hardy Boys, with shades of 20,000 leagues under the sea.
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Apr 30, 2016 05:36
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Pham Nuwen posted:It was a book or series of books about two brothers (IIRC) who went diving in the south seas but in some fashion lost their ship and got stuck on an atoll with, I think, a "native" crewman/cabinboy. They eventually make a raft and try to reach land. Lots of descriptions of scavenging food and fishing... I remember particularly a scene where they explored a shipwreck with scuba gear, ate sausages (?) and drank Coke underwater.
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Apr 30, 2016 09:49
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I read some dystopian young adult book 20+ years ago that involved perhaps some kind of underground civilisation and a girl deliberately failing exams to avoid being taken away - the cover possibly involved a vaguely Escheresque series of planes. Any idea?
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Apr 30, 2016 10:03
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You're fantastic, it was South Sea Adventure and Underwater Adventure that I read (those were the only ones of the series my library had). Now if I could just figure out those weird science fiction short story collections I read in grade school... They were like my first exposure to SF, but it's been so long I can't remember a drat thing.
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Apr 30, 2016 14:52
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xiw posted:I read some dystopian young adult book 20+ years ago that involved perhaps some kind of underground civilisation and a girl deliberately failing exams to avoid being taken away - the cover possibly involved a vaguely Escheresque series of planes. Any idea? I remember reading a book in 4th or 5th grade involving an underground civilization that I want to say ate its meals as pills... Did yours have that?
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Apr 30, 2016 14:54
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Pham Nuwen posted:
Well, give us a try. Anything at all you can remember? If you can get the details of even one story, the ISFDB is pretty good for pinning down what collections it was in.
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Apr 30, 2016 20:35
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I'm trying to remember a short story anthology from the 90's. I thought it might be in the Borderlands series, but unless I skipped a story it wasn't. But I'm almost certain it was on the same publisher. All I really remember about the one story is that there is someone watching security cameras in a store (grocery store maybe?) watching someone walking through the aisles, and there is some sort of horse-demon that is coming up through the floor or something like that.
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May 7, 2016 05:16
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Section 9 posted:I'm trying to remember a short story anthology from the 90's. I thought it might be in the Borderlands series, but unless I skipped a story it wasn't. But I'm almost certain it was on the same publisher. All I really remember about the one story is that there is someone watching security cameras in a store (grocery store maybe?) watching someone walking through the aisles, and there is some sort of horse-demon that is coming up through the floor or something like that. Probably the first The Darker Side anthology, edited by John Pelan. At the very least it has the story you're talking about in it.
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May 7, 2016 05:51
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Ornamented Death posted:Probably the first The Darker Side anthology, edited by John Pelan. At the very least it has the story you're talking about in it. Just from the cover art I can say I have owned that book before, so thanks. Sadly, does not seem to be available on eBook, poop.
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May 7, 2016 06:00
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It's a short story that I'm pretty sure I read after someone else asked about it in this thread. I think it's sci-fi but I can't really remember why I think that. The plot is something to do with a military leader returning to his home after fighting in some sort of massive battle. Some other soldiers turn up and make trouble and he is forced to kill them. I know that's vague but I think the story was purposefully vague and short of details itself.
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May 7, 2016 19:02
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Lot 49 posted:It's a short story that I'm pretty sure I read after someone else asked about it in this thread. It's the one of the best genre stories ever IMO: http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/quietwar.htm
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May 7, 2016 19:05
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Section 9 posted:Just from the cover art I can say I have owned that book before, so thanks. Sadly, does not seem to be available on eBook, poop. To be honest, that's probably for the best. Pelan has a history of not paying authors when using their stories for his anthologies, instead saying they're being paid "in exposure" (even for established authors).
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May 7, 2016 19:21
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mcustic posted:It's the one of the best genre stories ever IMO: http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/quietwar.htm That was fast, thanks! It's a really good story. Do you know if the rest of his writing is as strong? According to wikipedia his most recent novels have been Star Trek stuff and something called 'The Dragon Hammer, Wulf's Saga Book 1' which looks like the most generic kind of fantasy possible. It seems kind of bizarre that he's writing that sort of stuff given how impressive A Dry, Quiet War is.
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May 7, 2016 19:42
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Lot 49 posted:That was fast, thanks! I don't know, never read anything else.
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May 7, 2016 19:58
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I'm looking for a short story that I read in Grade 8 (2000-2001) that I was telling students about today, but have been unable to find online. The details: - The primary theme of this story is the morality of capital punishment - The story deals with a future society that puts people into a deadly apartment while their trial takes place, they sit and wait for judgement, unconnected to the trial or the outside world - The apartment has *something* in it that kills the person when they're found guilty - The protagonist is found NOT GUILTY in the end, however when they go to open the door to leave, it's revealed the doorknob has a small needle in it which injects and immediately kills the GUILTY person Anyone know it? I'd like to find an online version and print it off for Monday
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May 7, 2016 21:38
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Professor Shark posted:I'm looking for a short story that I read in Grade 8 (2000-2001) that I was telling students about today, but have been unable to find online. I think it's older than that, because I feel I read it in the mid 1980s. I *thought* it might have been in 100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories, because I was reading a ton of those Asimov/Greenberg/Olander collections around that time, but I had a quick look and couldn't see it. From memory, he was actually found guilty, but if he stayed in the room for seven days he was free to go, and the timing on his release was out? Possibly that anthology also had "Now Inhale" by Eric Frank Russell - from the description (to avoid spoilers on a 1959 story): quote:Wayne Taylor is a Terran interstellar scout who has crash-landed on a heretofore unknown alien planet. The aliens are sufficiently annoyed to classify Taylor as a spy, but civilized enough to have formal procedures for ending his unwelcome visit. If that rings a bell the anthology would be TV:2000. If not, I might be leading you down the wrong path. Resident Idiot fucked around with this message at 00:34 on May 8, 2016 |
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May 8, 2016 00:13
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Gorbash posted:I think it's older than that, because I feel I read it in the mid 1980s. I *thought* it might have been in 100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories, because I was reading a ton of those Asimov/Greenberg/Olander collections around that time, but I had a quick look and couldn't see it. This sounds like it, but I haven't been able to find a title yet, I'll keep looking today
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May 8, 2016 13:45
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Professor Shark posted:This sounds like it, but I haven't been able to find a title yet, I'll keep looking today I think i conflated it with a story that was in 100 Great SF Short Short Stories, about someone who just wasn't provided any assistance after their appeal period (assistance including things like water). Sorry I couldn't help, but please post here if you find it - it's bugging me now too.
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May 9, 2016 01:52
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I think the title of this book was something like "Illegal Aliens", but that's too generic to Google and I can't remember the author. The first half is about a ship of alien pirates/trolls who go from planet to planet to freak out the locals with tall tales of empires and invasions. They're stopped by a group of scientist, then killed by a biker gang that the aliens had earlier abducted. The first half ends with Earth being blockaded. In the second half the Earthlings get a single ship past the blockade and go in search of a navigation cube to plead their case to the Great Golden Ones. They visit a ship graveyard and a planet of libertarian bug people. Eventually the whole thing is revealed as a misunderstanding and the book ends with an off-screen nose flute orgy.
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May 9, 2016 16:32
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Lot 49 posted:That was fast, thanks! Based on the great short story, I tried The Robot's Twilight Companion, but I didn't care for it and never finished it. Metaplanetary and Superluminal have been in my queue for a while. jjack229 fucked around with this message at 19:14 on May 9, 2016 |
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May 9, 2016 19:11
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Added Space posted:I think the title of this book was something like "Illegal Aliens", but that's too generic to Google and I can't remember the author. Probably https://www.amazon.com/Illegal-Aliens-Nick-Pollotta-ebook/dp/B004PYDS24
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May 9, 2016 19:30
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mcustic posted:It's the one of the best genre stories ever IMO: http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/quietwar.htm
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May 10, 2016 11:57
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