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Hoyt Hoyterson posted:Orphans of the Sky. I think I read it after someone else posted it in this thread. That's the one, thanks!
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# ? Feb 26, 2016 21:52 |
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# ? Jun 3, 2024 22:01 |
MrSlam posted:My dad told me a short story he read once as a kid, and it may have been part of an anthology from the late 50's-late70's. It goes like this [parts I'm not sure about go in brackets]: That's definitely not The Twilight Zone. There is a Twilight Zone episode which features an alien revealing himself only to be upstaged by another alien doing the same, but it lacks everything else you described. It's also not Night Gallery. I can't tell you what it is, but maybe knowing a couple of things it's not will help.
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# ? Feb 27, 2016 01:52 |
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I remember a short story about an Arab, possibly a trade representative, sent to America in a dystopian future in which Islam rules the world. America is dirt poor, and there might've been a plot about a woman that sings in a bar, which the protagonist finds most unusual.
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# ? Mar 4, 2016 12:51 |
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mcustic posted:I remember a short story about an Arab, possibly a trade representative, sent to America in a dystopian future in which Islam rules the world. America is dirt poor, and there might've been a plot about a woman that sings in a bar, which the protagonist finds most unusual. Jitterbug? edit:Whoops no, that wa a novel.
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# ? Mar 4, 2016 19:01 |
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mcustic posted:I remember a short story about an Arab, possibly a trade representative, sent to America in a dystopian future in which Islam rules the world. America is dirt poor, and there might've been a plot about a woman that sings in a bar, which the protagonist finds most unusual. Is it "Seven American Nights" by Gene Wolfe?
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# ? Mar 6, 2016 04:21 |
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House Louse posted:Is it "Seven American Nights" by Gene Wolfe? Yes! Thank you!
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# ? Mar 6, 2016 09:40 |
quote:"It's about a little girl who finds a fairy circle in the woods and a book. She is able to see the fairies fly around. Later you learn that it is because she is given tiny amounts of foxglove. What is really going on is a creepy old man is abducting girls..."
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# ? Mar 10, 2016 01:57 |
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There are two books that have been repeatedly coming to mind lately and I'm so glad I remembered this thread existed, hopefully I can stop being frustrated by snippets of story: 1: YA fantasy book where a teenage(?) kid (can't remember if boy or girl) goes to some alternate universe of Earth where s/he has to ultimately conquer the wolf Fenrir. I want to say there was something about some magical hair/cord being braided to use as a harness for Fenrir to tame him. There was also something about how William Shakespeare in our world was named something like Makepeace (but with the same or similar verses written), and there is a scene at the end where "conquering" the wolf ended up with him (the wolf) laying down and turning magically into a dirt mound covered by flowers, daisies maybe? 2: YA historical fiction set in ancient greece or rome (there was worship of either the greek or roman gods, I can't remember) where the main character is a young rich boy who I think is the son of a merchant. The boy has a personal slave who he's grown up with and studied with and considers a best friend. A key point is that he mentioned only having hit the slave twice, once for beating him in a pankration match and another for something in their studies. The father takes the boy on a journey and the boat gets attacked by pirates(?) and the boy gets captured. He manages to smuggle some pearls that he owns into like a rag hoping he gets to later buy his freedom. He gets bought as a slave, and I forget what happens except he eventually makes it back home to his mother and sisters and his personal slave, who was the only one left (the rest ran away or were sold?). The boy manumits the slave, the slave hits him twice to make up for the times when they were kids, and they make up and that's the end of the book.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 10:33 |
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angelicism posted:I want to say there was something about some magical hair/cord being braided to use as a harness for Fenrir to tame him. No info on this specific book, but the binding Gleipnir is a standard part of Fenrir's mythology.
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 11:35 |
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Hi A friend asked me if I could help figure out the name of a book she read about 6 years ago, but I am completely stumped. It was exclusive to sony ereader in digital form but she thinks it was also published as a paperback. Now that the sony readstore is dead (and the device she had as well) she can't recover the names of her purchases. Searching her emails hasn't bought up any past purchase confirmations. It was supernatural/dark fantasy genre, a trilogy and she thinks written by a male author. The first book had 'dark' in the title, and was one word (darkling, darklight, something like that). The main characters first name was probably James and there was a female vampire character called Selena (probably). The main character is stabbed but doesn't 'die' starts to see goblins and and other creatures. There is apparently an epic battle in an amphitheatre at the end of the first book. It was probably published around 2008. I cannot guarantee this wasn't a fever dream of hers and I cannot speak for why she wants to read it again given it sounds like half the trash urban fantasy fiction out there but far be it for me to judge. Googling has bought up a bunch of stuff which sounds similar but isn't it. It is not the Grisha Trilogy or the Dark Genesis Trilogy. I give up. Anyone recall these books? Edit: Now she thinks the main character got shot rather than stabbed but she may just be thinking too hard about it. Harakiri fucked around with this message at 14:04 on Mar 11, 2016 |
# ? Mar 11, 2016 13:41 |
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angelicism posted:2: This might be by Rosemary Sutcliff; sounds like her type. Hope this helps. uh oh, looks like this tbb mod is going the way of the last one
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# ? Mar 11, 2016 15:37 |
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A science fiction story about Earth (and maybe some colonies?) who meet this giant alien empire and fear they're going to be conquered by it. I'm pretty sure it's a short story. In the end it turns out that the alien empire hasn't had real resistance in ages while the humans fought between each other a bunch so humanity has better weapons and repelled/beat them. There's a specific analogy to the Persian War in there, where the alien empire is Persia and Earth and co are the Greek city states. e: I've apparently asked this before, so it's not Homo Sol by Asimov.
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# ? Mar 12, 2016 19:32 |
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computer parts posted:A science fiction story about Earth (and maybe some colonies?) who meet this giant alien empire and fear they're going to be conquered by it. I'm pretty sure it's a short story. In the end it turns out that the alien empire hasn't had real resistance in ages while the humans fought between each other a bunch so humanity has better weapons and repelled/beat them. The other one that gets suggested when this type of story gets asked about is "The Road Not Taken" by Harry Turtledove.
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# ? Mar 13, 2016 02:31 |
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Okay, I'm asking you guys cause i'm pretty much at the end of my rope. I vaguely remember a story I read 20+ years ago. I thought it was by Isaac Asimov, but I think I'm wrong now. The vague details I remember about this story are only two parts. One, is that the characters are having issues with robot brains not taking impressions well, and having huge problems. They find the solution is to let the robots "sleep" which makes the impressions take better. I think the impressions were of people's minds, as a way to transfer people's minds to robot bodies. I'm not sure on that point, bit's sort of hazy. One of the characters starts a robot with no impression, making it like a child. Towards the end of the book, this same child robot (now grown) drops rabbit poop into a world spanning ocean on another planet and the planet looks like it will start becoming sentient. Does this ring ANY bells for anyone? I've been trying to remember this book for the last year with no success.
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# ? Mar 16, 2016 02:40 |
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This has been bugging me for a while so hopefully someone can help. It's a schlocky 80s (or maybe 70s) style pulp horror novel. I initially thought that I remembered it being called "The Room" but Google leads me nowhere with that title. It was about a family who move into a big house in the country and the kids find an egg in an airpocket cave under a lake on the house grounds. The egg hatches and a weird monster insect thing emerges. The details are vague but the creature makes the family bring victims for it to eat and it gets bigger and bigger. I remember that one of the boys is super into doing the creature's bidding, more so than the rest of the family. The house has a lead-lined room (for some reason) and lead blocks the creature's controlling powers so it won't go in there. At the end the teenage son holds a party for all his horrible school friends in that room. The monster goes on the rampage in the room, drawn by all the people,and the family lock it in there. I read this enjoyable piece of poo poo in an afternoon years and years ago and would love to find it again. I remember that the cover had a really garish picture of the insecty monster hatching from a chrysalis. Anyone recognise the description? Thanks! AlMac fucked around with this message at 23:57 on Mar 17, 2016 |
# ? Mar 17, 2016 23:06 |
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Lemniscate Blue posted:The other one that gets suggested when this type of story gets asked about is "The Road Not Taken" by Harry Turtledove. There's also Harry Turtledove's World War / Colonization series. The aliens sent a probe to earth a long time ago and think they're hot poo poo, but when their invasion fleet arrives we're in the middle of WW2. The aliens' technological progress is extremely slow when compared to humans so they were expecting to fight knights and archers. That series is pretty memorable though so it's probably not that. Also notable because the aliens get junkie-level addicted to ginger. AlMac posted:I read this enjoyable piece of poo poo in an afternoon years and years ago and would love to find it again. I remember that the cover had a really garish picture of the insecty monster hatching from a chrysalis. My Google-Fu is weak, but that story sounds really interesting.
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# ? Mar 17, 2016 23:43 |
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MrSlam posted:My Google-Fu is weak, but that story sounds really interesting. Yeah, it really stuck with me despite being a totally trashy throw-away pulp thing. It had an strangely oppressive and claustrophobic atmosphere. Hopefully my description rings a bell for someone.
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# ? Mar 18, 2016 00:16 |
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AlMac posted:This has been bugging me for a while so hopefully someone can help. You were right, it is called The Room. Bonus disgusting cover:
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# ? Mar 18, 2016 00:21 |
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Bandiet posted:You were right, it is called The Room. Bonus disgusting cover: THE ROOM's back cover blurb posted:They seemed incredibly lucky. Bob Briar, single father of Harvest and Bounty, two nubile teenage girls, and Rebecca Halifax, divorced mother of two virile teenage boys, Ron and Jamie Okay
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# ? Mar 18, 2016 00:23 |
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computer parts posted:A science fiction story about Earth (and maybe some colonies?) who meet this giant alien empire and fear they're going to be conquered by it. I'm pretty sure it's a short story. In the end it turns out that the alien empire hasn't had real resistance in ages while the humans fought between each other a bunch so humanity has better weapons and repelled/beat them. If you think it could be an Asimov story, that sounds kind of like In a Good Cause—.
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# ? Mar 18, 2016 02:15 |
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Bandiet posted:You were right, it is called The Room. Holy poo poo, thank you!
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# ? Mar 18, 2016 08:00 |
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Drakhoran posted:If you think it could be an Asimov story, that sounds kind of like In a Good Cause—. Yep, that's definitely it. This are the lines I've been thinking of: quote:"But our very disagreements are our strength! Your Federalist party used to speak of ancient Greece a great deal once. Do you remember? But your people always missed the point. To be sure, Greece could never unite and was therefore ultimately conquered. But even in her state of disunion, she defeated the gigantic Persian Empire. Why? computer parts fucked around with this message at 08:39 on Mar 18, 2016 |
# ? Mar 18, 2016 08:37 |
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AnonSpore posted:
It's like the Brady Bunch, but with alien mind-control sex
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# ? Mar 18, 2016 16:26 |
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As an archeology-loving child, there was one book I read several times from our local library, though I can't remember if it was specifically about dinosaurs or about archeology in general. The title might have had "America" as part of it. The cover was white, except for a colorful scene of dinosaurs on the front. It was written for kids and quite possibly written in the 1950s or 1960s. One of the chapters was "The Weatherhill Boys Go Exploring" which is probably misspelled.
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# ? Mar 28, 2016 14:21 |
RC and Moon Pie posted:One of the chapters was "The Weatherhill Boys Go Exploring" which is probably misspelled. Googling that exact phrase (including quotation marks) gives a pretty definitive answer: it was published in "The identify that book/story thread" on http://forums.somethingawful.com. You should always try a quick Google, or, God forbid, Bing, search before posting your questions in here. It works a surprising amount of the time.
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# ? Apr 2, 2016 06:43 |
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I have a vague recollection about a story or novel where a gun is built into someone, probably against his will. He can fire it but it's very painful and if he uses it too much it might kill him? This might have been a comic book, I really can't remember.
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# ? Apr 2, 2016 09:51 |
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The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson features a guy who gets a gun implanted into his skull?
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# ? Apr 2, 2016 13:16 |
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Poldarn posted:I have a vague recollection about a story or novel where a gun is built into someone, probably against his will. He can fire it but it's very painful and if he uses it too much it might kill him? This might have been a comic book, I really can't remember.
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# ? Apr 2, 2016 15:01 |
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I don't think I've read any of those but I'll have to check them out now.
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# ? Apr 3, 2016 00:36 |
I've asked about this one two or three times, but no one ever answers. It's not obscure; I had it in a Year's Best collection, I think. The story is about a guy who gets stuck on some transit world after running out of money, or being robbed, or something. He meets and is eventually turned out by an emotionally dead transsexual space prostitute. He becomes dependent on her, and maybe even falls into an unhealthy "love" with her. For her part, she plays along, but does not reciprocate his feelings. The whole thing is very depressing, and very good.
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# ? Apr 3, 2016 01:07 |
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SF heist story about a guy who designs impossible-to-steal-from vaults getting roped into stealing from his own latest creation, a labyrinth (maybe on the moon), complete with a silent murderous robot as minotaur. I think I remember the book being clear about the difference between a labyrinth and a maze, and having something to do with pattern recognition, like there's a part where the labyrinth will kill him if he doesn't type or walk with the exact rhythm that his former client would. e: googling "moon labyrinth heist" and "labyrinth minotaur heist" was getting me nowhere. It's not The Maze Runner or the Doctor Who episode with a minotaur.
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# ? Apr 21, 2016 22:57 |
Can the mods send this thread on a tour of GBS, or something? I am sure there are enough people on these forums that this thread needn't go three weeks between replies, but most of them probably don't know it exists.
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# ? Apr 23, 2016 02:03 |
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Oh yeah, because GBS is all about being helpful.
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# ? Apr 23, 2016 13:17 |
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Phy posted:SF heist story about a guy who designs impossible-to-steal-from vaults getting roped into stealing from his own latest creation, a labyrinth (maybe on the moon), complete with a silent murderous robot as minotaur. I think I remember the book being clear about the difference between a labyrinth and a maze, and having something to do with pattern recognition, like there's a part where the labyrinth will kill him if he doesn't type or walk with the exact rhythm that his former client would. I have no idea what book this is, but it sounds rad as hell.
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# ? Apr 23, 2016 18:57 |
Centripetal Horse posted:Can the mods send this thread on a tour of GBS, or something? I am sure there are enough people on these forums that this thread needn't go three weeks between replies, but most of them probably don't know it exists. This is a decent idea and I'm definitely interested in ideas to help this subforum get more traffic. My concern with bouncing this thread to GBS is that it might just get spammed full of shitposts.
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# ? Apr 24, 2016 01:29 |
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:This is a decent idea and I'm definitely interested in ideas to help this subforum get more traffic.
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# ? Apr 24, 2016 01:56 |
Splicer posted:Tour the other subforums, chickencheese style. It's on, though I went with the book recommendation thread instead because I thought it might be a little more generally applicable. Everyone please chip in with rec's for all the poor bookless fools out there http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3147139
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# ? Apr 24, 2016 03:14 |
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Phy posted:SF heist story about a guy who designs impossible-to-steal-from vaults getting roped into stealing from his own latest creation, a labyrinth (maybe on the moon), complete with a silent murderous robot as minotaur. I think I remember the book being clear about the difference between a labyrinth and a maze, and having something to do with pattern recognition, like there's a part where the labyrinth will kill him if he doesn't type or walk with the exact rhythm that his former client would. Did you post about this in the SciFi/Fantasy thread? Because your summary sounds really familiar, but I can't remember where else I've seen it before.
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# ? Apr 24, 2016 10:59 |
Hieronymous Alloy posted:My concern with bouncing this thread to GBS is that it might just get spammed full of shitposts. Entirely possible, but it's not like this is a drama-friendly thread that is likely to sustain long-term shitposting. Hieronymous Alloy posted:It's on, though I went with the book recommendation thread instead because I thought it might be a little more generally applicable. Everyone please chip in with rec's for all the poor bookless fools out there I'm glad my idea appealed enough to be put into production, but the recommendation thread is already way healthier than this one. I'm sure there are lots of people all over the forums who are scratching their heads trying to remember the name of that book/story that's been in their heads. This thread spends so much time at the bottom of page on, or on page two-plus, that even people who occasionally visit the Book Barn are fairly likely to not know it exists. There are plenty of places I can go to find book recommendations, but not so many places I can go ask people to identify specific stories for me. A quick visit to the new bookmobile thread suggests that my idea is working, despite some goofs posting silly poo poo.
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# ? Apr 24, 2016 12:15 |
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# ? Jun 3, 2024 22:01 |
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ToxicFrog posted:I have no idea what book this is, but it sounds rad as hell. Let's put it this way, I'm pretty sure I read it about 20 years ago, and it was rad enough for me to remember the plot outline, but not enough to remember the name of the book mania posted:Did you post about this in the SciFi/Fantasy thread? Not yet, but sure, might as well e: After some deeper googling, I think I may have found the book, but the book may suck. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_Angel The central setpiece might be better than the author was able to give justice to, is what I'm going with. Phy fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Apr 24, 2016 |
# ? Apr 24, 2016 14:16 |