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Looking for a strange sort of zoology book from at least twenty years ago. I remember it had a nice, leather binding and everything was done so professionally it felt like a field guide, but rather than any earthy creature inside there were just these incredibly detailed drawings and dissections of these prehistoric alien things. I remember one in particular that looked like a jellyfish around the size of an island that floated on the surface of the water and caught birds trying to land on its gigantic top. Also, if I remember correctly, there were two volumes: one for these prehistoric creatures and one for aliens. I honestly wish I had the gall to steal that thing in the third grade, because it was a real triumph in style.
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Mar 2, 2009 01:45
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I read this short story online a year or so ago it won some loving fiction contest but I can't seem to find it again. It was science fiction which I don't normally read and it involved the discovery of a little tiny loving probe in some old rock that had been sent from some alien civilization. The point of the story was that, due to the vast interstellar distances, direct contact between civilizations was impossible and the best an advanced civilization could do is send out trillions of tiny little probes and hope one of them ended up someplace where they could be discovered. It was really a great story but I can't find it to save my loving life right now.
baw fucked around with this message at 07:52 on Mar 2, 2009 |
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Mar 2, 2009 02:05
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Dr. West posted:Looking for a strange sort of zoology book from at least twenty years ago. I remember it had a nice, leather binding and everything was done so professionally it felt like a field guide, but rather than any earthy creature inside there were just these incredibly detailed drawings and dissections of these prehistoric alien things. I remember one in particular that looked like a jellyfish around the size of an island that floated on the surface of the water and caught birds trying to land on its gigantic top. Also, if I remember correctly, there were two volumes: one for these prehistoric creatures and one for aliens. I honestly wish I had the gall to steal that thing in the third grade, because it was a real triumph in style.
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Mar 2, 2009 07:51
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Oh my god I do believe you've found it. Added to my wish list already.
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Mar 2, 2009 08:12
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Elohssa Gib posted:Was browsing at Barnes and Noble a couple years ago and I found a book in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section but forgot to write down the title. This was 2 or 3 years ago and from what I can remember it was a trade size book. If I remember right, the plot was about this farmer guy who gets some sort of summons to a school of magic and I think he enters though a door he shouldn't have been able to. He seemed to have some sort of druid like magic but never seemed to acknowledge that he did. There was also some plot about political intrigue and possibly a street fair where some Punch and Judy kind of show puts some sort of spell on one of the female main characters. Also the guy might have been old, I think he was married and then his wife died or something. I didn't finish reading it but was it Convergence, Book 1 of the Blending by Sharon Green? One of the main characters is a farmer who is called to become an Adept and there is political intrigue.
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Mar 3, 2009 06:56
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Khisareth posted:I didn't finish reading it but was it Convergence, Book 1 of the Blending by Sharon Green? One of the main characters is a farmer who is called to become an Adept and there is political intrigue. No, I have all five of the Blending series, and it's sequel series the Blending Enthroned. This book is most likely only 4 or 5 years old and when I was reading through it the book was trade size, so I think it had just come out.
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Mar 6, 2009 20:59
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About 10 years ago, I picked up a book, The Building, at one of those giant book warehouse places. I remembered trying to read it, but it seemed horribly written and I never got far into it. I no longer have the book, but I cannot remember the author. It took place in a run-down New York apartment building and was filled with a lot of weird people. Anybody?
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Mar 7, 2009 14:22
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A couple of years ago I read a short story online which had been recommended from a thread on this forum... It was about a man who worked in an office building. A couple of the other guys on his floor had started bringing nerf guns to work, and spent their days shooting at each other. Eventually more and more people on their floor got involved, and they all teamed up against another floor doing the same thing. Things start getting out of hand, I can't remember the exact progression, but people slowly start bringing bigger and more dangerous weapons to work for this "war" and complex military tactics begin to be employed, and eventually the workers are bringing actual guns and killing each other. It was such a great story, but I've been looking of and on for it for about a month... anyone know what it's called?
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Mar 7, 2009 22:32
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Mister Kingdom posted:About 10 years ago, I picked up a book, The Building, at one of those giant book warehouse places. I remembered trying to read it, but it seemed horribly written and I never got far into it. I no longer have the book, but I cannot remember the author. Edit: I presume you asked this because entering "building" into google or amazon didn't work, so for the record you're better off using something where you can choose to only match the beginning of a book title. mystes fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Mar 7, 2009 |
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Mar 7, 2009 22:33
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mystes posted:I spent thirty seconds searching and found this. Is that what you're thinking of? Thanks, but that's not it. This book was horribly-written, so Eisner is out. That link doesn't seem to allow me to search for the phrase "The Building" as the only words in the title. E: Found it using bookfinders.com and then located a copy on Amazon (for 1 cent - not a shocking price). I'm tempted to buy a copy and taking another shot at it. Mister Kingdom fucked around with this message at 23:02 on Mar 7, 2009 |
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Mar 7, 2009 22:50
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Michael_B posted:A couple of years ago I read a short story online which had been recommended from a thread on this forum... vvvv No prob! vvvv Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 23:30 on Mar 7, 2009 |
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Mar 7, 2009 22:52
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Awesome! Thanks a lot!
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Mar 7, 2009 23:28
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Elohssa Gib posted:No, I have all five of the Blending series, and it's sequel series the Blending Enthroned. Sorry.  If I come across anything else I'll post, but so far I'm stumped!Okay, my time to ask a favor! I am thinking of a short story I read ages ago. It involved the narrator who was a man, a woman and another man. They were exploring caves for some legendary treasure, and come across a strange race of cave people/creatures. Once they shine their lights on them/bring one into light, they realize the "treasure" is the color of the creatures' eyes -- it is a color no one had ever imagined before. The narrator I think is shot trying to preserve the secret of the cave creatures, since scientists would wipe them out trying to capture this new color. The other man kills one and has it's head in a bag, and I think the woman turns on either the narrator or the other guy. I used to think of this story and just wonder and wonder what a color no one has seen would look like. Now I can't remember the name or author
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Mar 8, 2009 07:06
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I've Googled everything I can think of to find this book, but I can't find it at all, and I'm really intrigued. This image was posted in one of the 'real book titles' threads in GBS, and I need this book, what is its real title? 
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Mar 8, 2009 23:24
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AberrantBassist posted:I've Googled everything I can think of to find this book, but I can't find it at all, and I'm really intrigued.
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Mar 9, 2009 00:41
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AberrantBassist posted:I've Googled everything I can think of to find this book, but I can't find it at all, and I'm really intrigued. I recognize that cover image as being used for Brian Lumley's Necroscope, but I never read the book so I don't know if the description is correct.
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Mar 9, 2009 00:41
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I concur, sounds like a description of Necroscope.
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Mar 9, 2009 01:14
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Okay, I think I'm going insane. I was trying to explain to my boyfriend that I get really freaked out by any sort of hand injuries (we just watched The Wrestler, he cuts his thumb on a meat slicer and I was freaking out about it). I distinctly remember reading a book wherein someone either had a fingernail removed or had bamboo shoved under their fingernail- something like that- perhaps it was just a threat. I also remember that one of the characters idly threatened to castrate another character in this book. I would've sworn on my mother's grave that this was Lord of the Flies- but *everyone* agrees that I'm wrong. So the book must have some similarities to Lord of the Flies- either that or I got the books mixed up. But I remember there being a desert-island type setting, warring factions of survivors, young people... It's a stretch, but does this sound familiar to anyone? I used to read a book or three a week when I was in Junior High/High School, so some of the books have faded together in my memory.
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Mar 9, 2009 07:13
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Someone once told me about a book about this guy who kidnaps hitler and keeps him in a cage...
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Mar 9, 2009 08:24
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I read a book that was well above my reading level when I was in middle school I believe. It was a fiction novel I believe about a boy and girl he met that had experience with the fourth dimension and moving ata or kata through space. She eventually comes to teach him how to move himself. Details are sketchy and that's the best I can remember. Anyone have any ideas on what it could be?
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Mar 9, 2009 20:51
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SynMoo posted:I read a book that was well above my reading level when I was in middle school I believe. It was a fiction novel I believe about a boy and girl he met that had experience with the fourth dimension and moving ata or kata through space. She eventually comes to teach him how to move himself. The Boy Who Reversed Himself, by William Sleator. And I think you have it backwards- the boy is the dimension traveller, who teaches the girl.
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Mar 9, 2009 20:55
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sex offendin Link posted:The Boy Who Reversed Himself, by William Sleator. And I think you have it backwards- the boy is the dimension traveller, who teaches the girl. Amazing. Thank you so much.
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Mar 9, 2009 20:56
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I read this book in the UK about 15 years ago, I'm pretty sure it was a collection of short sci fi by a bunch of different authors, and most of the stories were pretty good. However there were at least three that dealt with pedophilia as a reasonable and accepted behavior at some point in the future. It was loving weird and I really want to know the authors and if there was a reason for this. (I'm pretty sure it wasn't Piers Anthony) If it helps one of the stories was about a day at the beach with the protagonist and her five year old girlfriend.
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Mar 15, 2009 13:53
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yaffle posted:I read this book in the UK about 15 years ago, I'm pretty sure it was a collection of short sci fi by a bunch of different authors, and most of the stories were pretty good. However there were at least three that dealt with pedophilia as a reasonable and accepted behavior at some point in the future. It was loving weird and I really want to know the authors and if there was a reason for this. (I'm pretty sure it wasn't Piers Anthony) Could possibly be the anthology Dangerous Visions or its sequel, Again, Dangerous Visions. These were edited by Harlan Ellison with the idea of containing all "taboo breaking" stories. I don't remember any paedophilia in DV (plenty of (adult) incest, though), but I haven't read ADV for a long time, and don't remember the stories in it.
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Mar 15, 2009 18:15
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Fairly recently, I discovered the whole post-apocalyptic realm of fiction, and I went around asking my friends for recommendations. One of them mentioned a book he couldn't recall the title of, but from his description it sounded pretty interesting. It's set far in the future when civilisation has rebuilt itself after some disaster or another, but no one remembers much about their predecessors. The sole remains of the past are roads. Since they're everywhere and don't seem to have a purpose, the new civilisation assumes that they were worshipped by their builders. When he first told me about it, I googled it and I'm sure I found more information than I can find on it now, but not a title: just a couple of other people trying to remember what the book was. Edit: Found it! http://www.amazon.com/Eternity-Road-Jack-Mcdevitt/dp/0061054275 As such, feel free to ignore this post. naptalan fucked around with this message at 08:17 on Mar 17, 2009 |
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Mar 17, 2009 07:59
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A book (novella, really) I read a couple years ago that I'm pretty sure was written in the sixties. Italian author, I think, but written in English. I don't remember the details of the plot, but it's a mother and her son at a boarding house, the mother is getting involved in an affair with a traveling salesman(?), there's a disapproving Eastern European woman involved as well, possibly runs the boarding house. A ridiculously good book, very funny and sad and sexy, I think the title contains the word "starlight", but I haven't been able to find it by that. Another book (a massive tome this time) by the same author that I never finished was very funny and absurd, but failed to keep me interested. It was just about a group of acquaintances that hung out at a bar (or possibly a cafe) in New York, they all had nicknames, and nothing much really happened. Edit: It just came to me, Aberration of Starlight, by Gilbert Sorrentino (I was wrong about publication date). Goddamn it's a good book. Holy poo poo, his son was the guy that wrote Believeniks!: 2005: The Year We Wrote a Book About the Mets with Jonathan Lethem. I guess I should read some of his son's books, then. Ballsworthy fucked around with this message at 20:15 on Mar 17, 2009 |
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Mar 17, 2009 18:46
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Sci-fi book. Alien ships land at various points on the earth, scientists and the military are trying to figure them out. I think all electrical gear stops working within a close radius to the craft, at one point a probe thing comes out and walks around, and when they send someone inside the ship it makes them insane. The book ends with the aliens seemingly shutting down anything electrical on the entire planet. Read it years ago but the title escapes me.
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Mar 18, 2009 14:26
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Foxy Stoat posted:Sci-fi book. Alien ships land at various points on the earth, scientists and the military are trying to figure them out. I think all electrical gear stops working within a close radius to the craft, at one point a probe thing comes out and walks around, and when they send someone inside the ship it makes them insane. The book ends with the aliens seemingly shutting down anything electrical on the entire planet. Maybe Patrick Tilley's Fade-Out, certainly the details I remember match, but likewise I read it years ago.
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Mar 18, 2009 16:45
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Hobnob posted:Maybe Patrick Tilley's Fade-Out, certainly the details I remember match, but likewise I read it years ago. That's it. Cheers.
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Mar 18, 2009 17:32
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I keep remembering a bad fantasy novel I read about a dozen years ago and never found again; it's been driving me crazy. The overall plot was something about the characters being trapped in a town full of undead. The final scene had them running up a giant pyramid of skulls while fighting the undead so that the sunlight would save them faster. It worked and they left town, so it was probably part of a series. Anybody?
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Mar 18, 2009 17:49
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Can't for the life of me remember the name of this short story: Basic plot is the main character works in a used book store of some kind. The owner is a kooky gentleman who has a 'secret' book of sorts that he refuses to share. Eventually, the main character finds it and reads it. The secret is that no one ever actually dies, somehow quantum physics makes this impossible. Everyone else dies, but it impossible for you yourself to stop existing. This is eventually realized to be true, as by chance the main character is the only human alive eons in the future, kept alive in stasis or something. He is eventually woken up by aliens who explain all of humanity is gone, and offer to 'end' his life by absorbing his mind into theirs. This would be a fairly recent story, but I can't remember if it's from a book I own, or from the library. Been searching through my collection with no luck.
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Mar 24, 2009 04:09
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Omegauo posted:Can't for the life of me remember the name of this short story: I've read this, and I think it's Robert Charles Wilson's 'Divided by Infinity', but I've just moved house and can't find it to check at the moment. See if this rings a bell.
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Mar 24, 2009 11:53
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YES!!! Thank you it was in Starlight 2
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Mar 24, 2009 23:29
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My girlfriend was telling me of short story about a man working in a office setting in the early 19th or 20th century. His co-worker keeps trying to kill himself by jumping out of a window. It turns out the co-worker was a ghost. She said it was part of an anthology.
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Mar 25, 2009 01:43
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When I was in elementary school, (during the early 80's), we read an apocalyptic science fiction novel about a disease that ravages the planet which kills humans when they reach puberty. The story itself revolves around two camps of kids (the basically good vs. bad death struggle) and it had sort of a Lord of the Flies feel to it. I can't remember the drat name of the book. I believe the 'good kids' barricaded themselves in a school to protect themselves from the feral little bastards.
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Mar 25, 2009 09:00
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IceNiner posted:When I was in elementary school, (during the early 80's), we read an apocalyptic science fiction novel about a disease that ravages the planet which kills humans when they reach puberty. The story itself revolves around two camps of kids (the basically good vs. bad death struggle) and it had sort of a Lord of the Flies feel to it. I can't remember the drat name of the book. I believe the 'good kids' barricaded themselves in a school to protect themselves from the feral little bastards.
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Mar 25, 2009 11:20
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Morlock posted:The Girl who Owned a City by OT Nelson? ... I think I love you. I read this a few years ago, and just recently I was reminded of it but I couldn't remember ANY details about the book. How odd to find it mentioned in Something Awful after not hearing anything about it for years. Thanks!
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Mar 25, 2009 12:33
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Morlock posted:The Girl who Owned a City by OT Nelson? From the description on Amazon, that book was not published until 1995, although the story sounds similar. I definitely read the book I'm thinking of sometime in the early 80's. Thanks though. edit: scratch that, I checked out the alternate versions and I can see it was actually written in the 70's! Thanks! IceNiner fucked around with this message at 06:43 on Mar 26, 2009 |
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Mar 26, 2009 06:38
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Adar posted:I keep remembering a bad fantasy novel I read about a dozen years ago and never found again; it's been driving me crazy. The overall plot was something about the characters being trapped in a town full of undead. The final scene had them running up a giant pyramid of skulls while fighting the undead so that the sunlight would save them faster. It worked and they left town, so it was probably part of a series. That sounds somewhat like Welcome to Dead House, the first book in the Goosebumps series.
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Mar 26, 2009 06:44
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Devils Avocado posted:That sounds somewhat like Welcome to Dead House, the first book in the Goosebumps series.
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Mar 26, 2009 15:47
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