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Danith
May 20, 2006
I've lurked here for years
Oh my god, thanks! It's been bugging me that I didn't keep reading the series to find out what happened.

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Kid Fenris
Jan 22, 2004

If someone is reading this...
I must have failed.
Here's one I recently though of; not because it's good, but because it was the first generic-fantasy novel I ever read. I only remember weirdly specific details.

It was probably published in the 1980s. I was in grade school, and I borrowed the book from another kid during reading time one day. I knew I'd never finish the whole thing in twenty minutes, so I went right to the end and read the chapters in reverse.

Here's what I recall: the hero had a pedestrian name like Mark, his royal love interest was called Fontaine, and the hero had a talking pet that was probably a cat. They and their companions defeated the novel's prime villain, and this climactic chapter ended with Fontaine saying "...lest your new queen greet you with her sword" or something.

The next chapter involved some victory celebration, with Mark or Whatever His Name Was talking about how his cat had been the true hero in the big battle. The chapter ended with the cat sarcastically thinking of how it just couldn't WAIT until Fontaine started throwing up in the mornings. At the time, I had no idea what this meant. I assumed Fontaine was violently allergic to cats.

The last chapter opened with a phrase like this: "As Mark and Fontaine whirled around the castle hall, [Character's Name] danced with a different partner. Her name was Death." This character apparently died when his ship sank out in the ocean, and the last paragraph of the book described a small girl floating alive in the wreckage and thinking of her sisters, who apparently shared some ominous destiny.

I don't remember much more about it. The cover showed a warrior fighting a dragon, all drawn in that Michael Whelan-esque style that was so popular among '80s fantasy novels.

Sounds like high literature, doesn't it? Well, it was my introduction to stock fantasy, and I always wanted to go through the rest of the book so the last chapters would make sense. Hell, I'd probably be content with just a plot synopsis and some Amazon reader reviews.

fritz
Jul 26, 2003

Kid Fenris posted:

Here's one I recently though of; not because it's good, but because it was the first generic-fantasy novel I ever read. I only remember weirdly specific details.


google got it: http://www.hoh.se/fantasyfinder/wylie1.html

Kid Fenris
Jan 22, 2004

If someone is reading this...
I must have failed.
Thanks! Would you believe I spent ten minutes plugging the names I remembered into Google?

It sounds even more generic than I remembered, but maybe I'll grab a one-cent copy from Amazon.

Update: I read it, and it was terrible even for highly generic fantasy. It's the only novel I've seen with a typo in the first line of the first chapter.

Kid Fenris fucked around with this message at 04:15 on Jun 24, 2010

PonchtheJedi
Feb 20, 2004

Still got some work to do...
I know a goon will get this one.

It was probably a early to mid nineties book, set in modern times. The protagonist is a 13 - 15 year old orphan girl who has some kind of magic power. I think she has a specific ability, but I can't for the loving life of me remember what it is. I think she's an heir to magical powers and has at least one artifact that some bad guy wants. She has a dorky buddy who is into computers (I specifically remember him being described at one point as wearing a t-shirt that said "Microsoft Rules"). There is an rear end in a top hat jock who has the hots for her, and I remember a scene where she's hiding from him.

The bad guy gets whatever artifact of hers he needs to end the world, which he attempts to do by unleashing some monster that was asleep/trapped in the forest. I seem to remember somebody having some kind of magic stick or club with finite charges, like they could only use it three times a day or something. The part about the stick or club may be wrong.

It would've been YA I think, because I remember it being a quick read. I am also pretty sure the author wrote other fantasy books, but I can't remember the name.

IoT
Dec 21, 2006

This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
Hoping a fellow Goon can help.

A series of Science Fiction books probably written in the 60's or 70's. (I read them mid 70's). Although science fiction they were mainly detective novels - had the same two hero's and the same super-villain in at least two of the books. There was a reasonable amount of sex in the books (which I think was why I read them lol). I can remember partial plots from 3 of them:

1. Set on a desert world - they get stranded in desert and resort to drinking their own urine. Thats all I can remeber on that one.

2. Super villain kidnaps some daughters of super rich families. Somehow everyone teleports/goes to another dimension(s). Vaguely remember a world with skyscrapers and humans strapped to chairs being intravenously fed and sedated.

3. Company opens new space station and announces revolutionary new method for putting folks into suspended hibernation/cold storage. Process is fabulously expensive. Two detectives go and investigate with a group of super rich pioneers. Turns out that super villain is behind it and just kills the people supposed to be frozen/suspended.

Crossing my fingers :)

Stupid_Sexy_Flander
Mar 14, 2007

Is a man not entitled to the haw of his maw?
Grimey Drawer
I think the third one MIGHT be Altered Carbon.

Richard Morgan is the author.

Gary2863
Jul 19, 2000

I read this sci-fi novel in 7th grade.

Everybody has a robot friend that looks exactly like themselves. So it's like having a twin, except their legs don't work quite right and if you see a robot walking, you can easily tell they are a robot because they walk very stiffly.

So there's this weird clown-looking guy who sells vacations for the stiff-kneed robots. It turns out though that he's making them work in a nuclear reactor full of acid and the robots' skin peels off and they die after about ten minutes because it's so radioactive. He needs lots of robots to do this work because they die so quickly.

In the end the weird looking guy gets thrown into the pool of radioactive acid and he dissolves while trying to climb out.

There were illustrations!

Gary2863 fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Apr 18, 2010

IoT
Dec 21, 2006

This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius

Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:

I think the third one MIGHT be Altered Carbon.

Richard Morgan is the author.

Thanks for the suggestion but no - all three are part of the same series from the 60's/70's.

fahrvergnugen
Nov 27, 2003

Intergalactic proton-powered electrical tentacled REFRIGERATOR OF DOOM.

Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:

I think the third one MIGHT be Altered Carbon.

Richard Morgan is the author.

This is not even close.

Shiny Penny
Feb 1, 2009
Alright, so there's this book my mom used to read to me when I was around 2-3 years old (which would have been about 1990). All I remember is that it's about a mouse and a moose named Melvin and Marvin. It's a book about good manners and sharing etc. because I remember the characters going to the supermarket and the mouse would grab things on the bottom shelf and the moose would grab stuff off the top shelf. I can't remember the title or the author. I've searched google and amazon but I haven't found anything even remotely correct. Any help would be fantastic.

Sophia
Apr 16, 2003

The heart wants what the heart wants.
Okay, I'm hoping you all can help me out, and that this hasn't been asked before - I skimmed the thread and didn't see it. I apologize a lot if it already has...

So this was a short science fiction story. It was about a guy who found or stole a magical device (I think it was a ring or a watch) that took you back in time when you pressed it, but only a few seconds in the past. I think it was 13 seconds but am not sure. I'm pretty sure other people were trying to steal it from him, and eventually he went on an airplane. There was an explosion or the door fell off and he got sucked out. By the time he went back in time he was too far out of the plane and just fell forever.

I know this must be a somewhat famous story because it was in a collection with A Sound of Thunder and Harrison Bergeron and other famous stories but no amount of Googling has been able to solve this for me. I appreciate anyone who can help me figure this out, thank you!

Edit: Oh I should say that I read this in 1996 but I'm guessing it was written a long time before that due to the Bradbury and the Vonnegut. Though I don't actually know.

Sophia fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Apr 26, 2010

.Z.
Jan 12, 2008

Okay, I've got 2 books I can't seem to find/remember the correct title for.

The first I think is just titled "Warlord" but I haven't any luck finding the correct book. It was the last book in a series/trilogy/something. No clue what the series is as I only ever read this particular book. The book shifted to the viewpoints of various characters, but the main focus was on a man I think was named Demask, or Damask. Demask was going around and conquering everything.

Two scenes I remember are:

1. Demask's daughter is thinking about how the soldiers would train their formations on fields covered in pig corpses to simulate a battlefield littered with bodies.

2. Towards the end of the book there was a expedition/colonizing fleet sent out and they set up two towns called Demask and Demask Too because they ran out of ideas for town names, like Demaskville, Demaskburg, etc.

The book was mostly fantasy, sword fighting, spearmen, etc. But it had some scifi elements in it that showed up in these disembodied voices that followed one of the characters around due to some high-tech machinery.

Yeah, fairly generic stuff. It's just bothering me now that I can't find the book.

The other book focused on this girl who could talk to animals. Her power isn't overly unique, there are many others in the world that had abilities of different sorts. At one point then end up prisoners at this military base where people with those abilities are trained to use them for the army.

She and the others at the base eventually revolt and escape. And she eventually ends up at this castle where she discovers there are 2 dragons which people hadn't seen in a long time/thought were extinct.

There is a reveal towards the end of the book that the reason people got powers was because they lived on land that dragons used to live on.

During this entire time, the girl had been traveling with her brother who didn't have any powers. But at the end of the book it's revealed he actually could influence people's minds to do what he wanted. Like in the beginning of the book he influenced his sister to eat meat, even though the idea always repulsed her since she could talk to animals.

wheatpuppy
Apr 25, 2008

YOU HAVE MY POST!

.Z. posted:

Okay, I've got 2 books I can't seem to find/remember the correct title for.

The first I think is just titled "Warlord" but I haven't any luck finding the correct book. It was the last book in a series/trilogy/something. No clue what the series is as I only ever read this particular book. The book shifted to the viewpoints of various characters, but the main focus was on a man I think was named Demask, or Damask. Demask was going around and conquering everything.

Two scenes I remember are:

1. Demask's daughter is thinking about how the soldiers would train their formations on fields covered in pig corpses to simulate a battlefield littered with bodies.

2. Towards the end of the book there was a expedition/colonizing fleet sent out and they set up two towns called Demask and Demask Too because they ran out of ideas for town names, like Demaskville, Demaskburg, etc.

The book was mostly fantasy, sword fighting, spearmen, etc. But it had some scifi elements in it that showed up in these disembodied voices that followed one of the characters around due to some high-tech machinery.

Is it at all possible that you are conflating more than one book? I ask because there's an omnibus book called "Warlord" that includes 3 books in the General Series by SM Stirling and David Drake. They're set in the far future after humanity has spread to the stars and descended into a new Dark Age due to constant infighting and civil war. The hero Raj Whitehall hears the voice of "Center" in his head. Center is a supercomputer that helps him become a great warrior to reunite his planet and drag the people back into a more civilized era. So it sounds sort of similar, but I don't recall anybody named Damask/Demask. If you remember people riding giant dogs instead of horses though, this is probably it.

There are also later books in the series, where Raj himself (or an AI based on him) becomes the "voice in the head" for other promising young warriors on other planets. They're all full of war and conquest. So possibly one of the sequels?

.Z.
Jan 12, 2008

wheatpuppy posted:

Is it at all possible that you are conflating more than one book? I ask because there's an omnibus book called "Warlord" that includes 3 books in the General Series by SM Stirling and David Drake. They're set in the far future after humanity has spread to the stars and descended into a new Dark Age due to constant infighting and civil war. The hero Raj Whitehall hears the voice of "Center" in his head. Center is a supercomputer that helps him become a great warrior to reunite his planet and drag the people back into a more civilized era. So it sounds sort of similar, but I don't recall anybody named Damask/Demask. If you remember people riding giant dogs instead of horses though, this is probably it.

There are also later books in the series, where Raj himself (or an AI based on him) becomes the "voice in the head" for other promising young warriors on other planets. They're all full of war and conquest. So possibly one of the sequels?

Ah that was it, sort of. The book was "The Tyrant" book 8 of that series. And the name was Justicar Verice Demansk.

Sweet, that's one mental itch taken care of, many thanks.

Ghostnuke
Sep 21, 2005

Throw this in a pot, add some broth, a potato? Baby you got a stew going!


This will probably be too vague, but here goes.

I can barely remember this children's book I loved when I was little. Instead of people, everyone was a crocodile / alligator. There was a child who was on a journey looking for his dad or uncle and ends up becoming a sailor I think. At some point he ends up making friends with a puffin. It was basically about this kid's adventures while looking for his dad/uncle. I remember one in particular about when he was sailing. They ran into a fog that was "thick as pea soup" and scooped some into a bowl and ate it. Any ideas?

Kerbtree
Sep 8, 2008

BAD FALCON!
LAZY!
It may well turn out to be terrible, but I can't for the life of me remember the name of a fantasy book I read years ago as a kid.
I do remember that it had the son of a sorceress being apprenticed off to a sorcerer to learn to summon elementals (but he was being taught useless rubbish for Magical Politics), his mother was keeping an eye on him via some sort of magical tapestry and he saved someone being set-upon as a witch because he had different coloured eyes by throwing spiders from his sleeves at people.

Any ideas?

Susan B. Antimony
Aug 25, 2008

Sophia posted:

Okay, I'm hoping you all can help me out, and that this hasn't been asked before - I skimmed the thread and didn't see it. I apologize a lot if it already has...

So this was a short science fiction story. It was about a guy who found or stole a magical device (I think it was a ring or a watch) that took you back in time when you pressed it, but only a few seconds in the past. I think it was 13 seconds but am not sure. I'm pretty sure other people were trying to steal it from him, and eventually he went on an airplane. There was an explosion or the door fell off and he got sucked out. By the time he went back in time he was too far out of the plane and just fell forever.

I know this must be a somewhat famous story because it was in a collection with A Sound of Thunder and Harrison Bergeron and other famous stories but no amount of Googling has been able to solve this for me. I appreciate anyone who can help me figure this out, thank you!

Edit: Oh I should say that I read this in 1996 but I'm guessing it was written a long time before that due to the Bradbury and the Vonnegut. Though I don't actually know.

It sounds like a John D. MacDonald story that I've heard described but never read. Maybe?

Dr. Chim Richalds
Oct 21, 2008

The Popular One
Hopefully this isn't too vague. The book I read was about a man who was building a skiff in New England and had been for quite some time. He finally got the boat finished, and right when he did, a hurricane started making it's way to the town he lived in. So instead of just leaving the boat in the harbor, he decides to take it out and try and outrun the storm or at least avoid the biggest part of it. So he goes out into the hurricane and gets battered and thrown around, and the boat goes through hell. He ends up staying up all night through the storm to guide the boat, but makes it out OK. There are only a few parts of the boat that end up damaged. Also, I think the book won an award of some type. That's all I can remember, any ideas? Thanks guys!

Sophia
Apr 16, 2003

The heart wants what the heart wants.

Susan B. Antimony posted:

It sounds like a John D. MacDonald story that I've heard described but never read. Maybe?

Adding this to my Googling has unfortunately so far yielded no results. I'm not giving up, though, and you've at least given me a new avenue of exploration. Thanks for taking the time!

kapalama
Aug 15, 2007

:siren:EVERYTHING I SAY ABOUT JAPAN OR LIVING IN JAPAN IS COMPLETELY WRONG, BUT YOU BETTER BELIEVE I'LL :spergin: ABOUT IT.:siren:

PLEASE ADD ME TO YOUR IGNORE LIST.

IF YOU SEE ME POST IN A JAPAN THREAD, PLEASE PM A MODERATOR SO THAT I CAN BE BANNED.

Susan B. Antimony posted:

It sounds like a John D. MacDonald story that I've heard described but never read. Maybe?

He wrote science fiction?

Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin
I've never read this book but when I studied high school drama I saw a really good play based on it.

It's a young-adult fantasy novel, and was called something like "The Silver Prince" (but i can't find any relevant book by that title). I'm pretty sure it's based on Welsh mythology, and is probably by a Welsh author. It was about a boy who gets transported into an under-sea or under-river kingdom, and ends up helping the creatures who live in the water with something. I vaguely remember a carnival at the beginning, where he might have been transported from.

Anyone know what I mean?

Edit: Oh! I found it, it's called The Green Prince, and it's by an Australian author even though (like I thought) it's based on Welsh myth.

http://users.nsw.chariot.net.au/~smasson/existing%20books/greenprince.htm

Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 11:18 on May 6, 2010

nightchild12
Jan 8, 2005
hi i'm sexy

Kerbtree posted:

It may well turn out to be terrible, but I can't for the life of me remember the name of a fantasy book I read years ago as a kid.
I do remember that it had the son of a sorceress being apprenticed off to a sorcerer to learn to summon elementals (but he was being taught useless rubbish for Magical Politics), his mother was keeping an eye on him via some sort of magical tapestry and he saved someone being set-upon as a witch because he had different coloured eyes by throwing spiders from his sleeves at people.

Any ideas?

Sorceror's Son by Phyllis Eisenstein. The main character is named Cray, his mother does magic with spiders and weaving, and he's apprenticed to a dude who summons and enslaves demons into the poo poo-ton of rings he wears.In the end he learns both kinds of magic and totally kills all the bad guys or embarasses them by making their clothes / fields of grain tie them up until he leaves. I think he maybe learns to be a badass swordsman somewhere in there, trying to find his father? I don't remember.

There is a sequel called "The Crystal Palace". First book was published in 1979, second in 1988, and the third is still being written.

It is not the best novel that's ever been written (far from it), but I found it entertaining as hell.

xcheopis
Jul 23, 2003


Sophia posted:

Okay, I'm hoping you all can help me out, and that this hasn't been asked before - I skimmed the thread and didn't see it. I apologize a lot if it already has...

So this was a short science fiction story. It was about a guy who found or stole a magical device (I think it was a ring or a watch) that took you back in time when you pressed it, but only a few seconds in the past. I think it was 13 seconds but am not sure. I'm pretty sure other people were trying to steal it from him, and eventually he went on an airplane. There was an explosion or the door fell off and he got sucked out. By the time he went back in time he was too far out of the plane and just fell forever.

I know this must be a somewhat famous story because it was in a collection with A Sound of Thunder and Harrison Bergeron and other famous stories but no amount of Googling has been able to solve this for me. I appreciate anyone who can help me figure this out, thank you!

Edit: Oh I should say that I read this in 1996 but I'm guessing it was written a long time before that due to the Bradbury and the Vonnegut. Though I don't actually know.
This sounds very close to The Girl, The Gold Watch and Everything by John D. MacDonald, which was later made into a movie.

Hughlander
May 11, 2005

xcheopis posted:

This sounds very close to The Girl, The Gold Watch and Everything by John D. MacDonald, which was later made into a movie.

Actually from the wiki page of that book it sounds more like:
Roger Lee Vernon's story "The Stop Watch"

Sophia
Apr 16, 2003

The heart wants what the heart wants.

xcheopis posted:

This sounds very close to The Girl, The Gold Watch and Everything by John D. MacDonald, which was later made into a movie.

I don't think it was this because it wasn't a full-length novel, just a short that was in an anthology of Sci Fi shorts we read for school. Also I'm pretty sure that it didn't stop time, it just took a person back in time, due to the ending: Something on the plane explodes and he is sucked out. He goes back in time where he's in his seat and tries to warn everyone by getting out of his seat, but it explodes again anyway because there isn't enough time. He's sucked out again and disoriented, and he doesn't go back in time until he's already far enough out to be unable to make it back on the plane, but he can't stop going back because he doesn't want to die, so he just falls eternally over and over again.

Hughlander posted:

Actually from the wiki page of that book it sounds more like:
Roger Lee Vernon's story "The Stop Watch"

It looks like this one also has a stopped time component instead of a time travel component but I will poke around for it and see.

Thanks to you both!

Ferrous Wheel
Aug 18, 2007

"This is not only a security risk but we occasionally get pigeons roosting in the space as a result."
Here is one on behalf of my dad.

My Dad posted:

A space traveler discovers a race of aliens that have remained unknown to all other lifeforms since the beginning of time. The aliens want to stay unknown so they try to kill him. He uses some kind of space photocopier to distribute a description of the aliens and since the jig is now up they leave without killing him. Read maybe 30-35 years ago. Might have been in a sci-fi magazine or a compilation.


There were two others but I managed to find them on google. This one still eludes me. Any ideas?

Pirate Radar
Apr 18, 2008

You're not my Ruthie!
You're not my Debbie!
You're not my Sherry!
Alright, something recently triggered the revival of memories relating to a series of books--I think it was a trilogy--I read when I was a kid. They were YA, possibly by an Australian author but I'm not 100% about that. I remember a surprising number of details but what I've pieced together feels really bizarre to me so if I really did read these (and I remember reading them several times through) I kind of want to go back and look up some information about them to see if they make more sense now.

First book: A teenager and his brother start finding weird stuff exploring around the edges of a swamp near their house. The brother is in a wheelchair after a car or motorcycle accident. They go into the swamp in a boat, and find these weird mutated fish with their eggs. For whatever reason (there was this whole buildup to them deciding to do this, something made them decide that the fish-monsters were a threat but I can't recall what) they go back with cans of gasoline, intending to burn the egg-sac, and the fish from before--which have grown to become large and aggressive amphibious creatures--attack the boat. The teenager succeeds in burning up the eggs and getting out, but his brother, who can't swim, doesn't make it. The cover from this one had some kind of creature looking menacing in a swamp setting.

The transitions between the books, I should add, seemed really disjointed.

Second book: The main character may or may not be the same as before, I can't recall. I don't remember a lot about this one but the main character spends a lot of time at some kind of facility in the desert where they've got these big water tanks in which they keep some kind of large amphibious creatures--possibly developments from the ones from the first book, but these have rapidly achieved limited intelligence. The facility might be for research but I remember that the people running it were portrayed as evil.

Third book: In the post-apocalypse, the teenager from the first book is now old and blind, and has taken the role of leader-slash-holy man for a tribe of amphibious people evolved from the fish-things from the previous books. The tribe lives in and around a lake that is one of the last sources of fresh water in the post-apocalyptic desert, and they have to contend with attacks from packs of feral mutated humans that roam the desert.


My memories of these books are both specific and bizarre, so I've been trying to figure out what their title was so I can learn more about them, but Google is getting me nowhere. This is probably just going to perplex a lot of people, but if anybody can help me out it would scratch what's become a pretty big mental itch for me over the past few days.

Agreed
Dec 30, 2003

The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down

I have spent the last hour trying to remember the author or the name of the works that I'm now trying very hard to locate and buy again. Both books are by the same author, both are very postmodern science fiction, both explore transhumanist/posthumanist themes in depth.

Two very memorable books by this mystery author come to mind:

1. A book set in a society in which a major corporation controls the means of revival after death. Nanotechnology allows for the disassembling and reassembling of someone after they've died. However, the newly undead have few rights, and it entirely changes their view on matters. The story is told through a number of different perspectives, including one of a man dying of a disease caused by too much exposure to the returned. The man broke the cycle of his lifelong lover's regeneration and flushed her out into the sea, and his role in the book is basically just exploring his emotions and guilt as he comes to terms with his own encroaching death and rebirth. There are a lot of other elements as well, and toward the end of the book the oppressive nature of society to the growing ranks of the nano-undead is overturned thanks to armed conflict in which the post-humanists essentially claim their rights through violent action. Other highlights include a group of people who fly using augmentations to their bodies, and an artist whose work is custom drugs.

2. A book set in Africa, where something extraterrestrial has landed and is spreading rapidly, transforming the landscape, wildlife, and humans as it goes. The central character is a reporter who is sent to cover the story, but her involvement with the unavoidable changes coming to earth ends up being a lot deeper. This is one of the best books I've ever read and the fact that I can't remember the title or the author is loving my brain into a pile of goo.

Please, please, please help. Please.

deety
Aug 2, 2004

zombies + sharks = fun

Agreed posted:

I have spent the last hour trying to remember the author or the name of the works that I'm now trying very hard to locate and buy again. Both books are by the same author, both are very postmodern science fiction, both explore transhumanist/posthumanist themes in depth.

I haven't read either, but Google says it's Ian McDonald.

Evolution's Shore
Terminal Cafe

Chantilly Say posted:

Alright, something recently triggered the revival of memories relating to a series of books--I think it was a trilogy--I read when I was a kid. They were YA, possibly by an Australian author but I'm not 100% about that. I remember a surprising number of details but what I've pieced together feels really bizarre to me so if I really did read these (and I remember reading them several times through) I kind of want to go back and look up some information about them to see if they make more sense now.

And I think I might have found these, too.

Swampland
Tankworld
Endsville

There isn't a whole lot of info in the descriptions, but reviews for them mention a disabled brother, a "mature" ending, the main character going blind, and a society without much water. The author is also Australian.

deety fucked around with this message at 09:16 on May 25, 2010

Agreed
Dec 30, 2003

The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down

deety posted:

I haven't read either, but Google says it's Ian McDonald.

Evolution's Shore
Terminal Cafe

YES! YES! YES!

Thank you so much. And gently caress my brain for not getting 'em. If I may ask, how in the hell did you find them just based on my descriptions? I googled every permutation of "transhumanist" "posthumanist" "science fiction" and what have you.

deety
Aug 2, 2004

zombies + sharks = fun

You have to use specific, plot-related keywords that an everyday sci-fi reader might throw into a description. I tried a couple of variations of "extraterrestrial terraforming Africa book" and it showed up pretty quickly.

Agreed
Dec 30, 2003

The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down

That's brilliant, just searching for that string comes up with Evolution's Shore as like the fourth result from an amazon review. I'm usually a good searcher, but I couldn't get this for the life of me.

Pirate Radar
Apr 18, 2008

You're not my Ruthie!
You're not my Debbie!
You're not my Sherry!

deety posted:

And I think I might have found these, too.

Swampland
Tankworld
Endsville

There isn't a whole lot of info in the descriptions, but reviews for them mention a disabled brother, a "mature" ending, the main character going blind, and a society without much water. The author is also Australian.

That's them. Google and Amazon were getting me nowhere, but I couldn't figure out the right search terms to identify them. Thanks for this.

Stupid_Sexy_Flander
Mar 14, 2007

Is a man not entitled to the haw of his maw?
Grimey Drawer
I can't find a book I am sure I owned...

I didn't get the chance to read it yet, but it was an ebook download, and I can't find it in my software or remember the site I got it from.

It has been released in the last few years, and the only thing I really recall about it was the description where a woman sees a guy saving a dog or taking car of a hurt dog. I think the cover was a guy and a girl, and it was nighttime.

I think it was one of those magical/urban fantasy novels, but damned if I can remember anything else about it. I started thinking of it today and thought I would read it but it's not in my software :saddowns:

Yea, not much to go on, but it's all I have v:shobon:v

Shonagon
Mar 27, 2005

It is impervious to reason or pleading, it knows no mercy or patience.
I hope this is OK to ask here: I need a quote identified! Only I can't remember either the quote or the speaker.

It's some tough nut American writer (of the 'bottle of whisky a day' type) and he said something along the lines of "I'd rather let the stableboy gently caress my wife than an editor touch my writing." Only that's not it, and googling similar words has got me nowhere, and I can't find it, and it's really annoying me. Anyone??

necroid
May 14, 2009

I hate not remembering stuff and this has been bugging me for a few weeks now... I read this book years ago (probably around 2000?), it's probably 200 pages long and it's very probably a lovely book. The title might or might not be "Monster" or some variation.

It's about a town where a few teenagers have been infected with some kind of virus/disease that turns them slowly into monsters. I remember that the fingernails turning black was one of the symptoms of turning into a monster. The protagonist was a girl (not sure). Drama ensued and teenagers got shot, fled home, the usual poo poo. I'd love to see if the fond yet vague memories I have of this book are due to me being just a kid at the time.

Thanks in advance.

A Real Happy Camper
Dec 11, 2007

These children have taught me how to believe.
I've been looking for a book I read a few years back, but I have no clue what it's called. It was a book about famous Canadians, but it tried to make each story about them interesting. I don't remember all of them, but I do remember they covered Sir Fredrick Banting's life backwards, Starting with dying in a Plane crash, and ending when he was a kid.

I don't remember when it was published, but I'd imagine it was some time around the late '90s. I hope this isn't too vague.

A Nice Boy
Feb 13, 2007

First in, last out.

necroid posted:

I hate not remembering stuff and this has been bugging me for a few weeks now... I read this book years ago (probably around 2000?), it's probably 200 pages long and it's very probably a lovely book. The title might or might not be "Monster" or some variation.

It's about a town where a few teenagers have been infected with some kind of virus/disease that turns them slowly into monsters. I remember that the fingernails turning black was one of the symptoms of turning into a monster. The protagonist was a girl (not sure). Drama ensued and teenagers got shot, fled home, the usual poo poo. I'd love to see if the fond yet vague memories I have of this book are due to me being just a kid at the time.

Thanks in advance.

This may actually be a book called "Monster," by Christopher Pike. He was big about 15 years ago with the R.L. Stine "teen horror" crowd.

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Christopher-Pike/dp/0671745077

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necroid
May 14, 2009

A Nice Boy posted:

This may actually be a book called "Monster," by Christopher Pike. He was big about 15 years ago with the R.L. Stine "teen horror" crowd.

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Christopher-Pike/dp/0671745077

Thanks dude, it's this one!

quote:

But the more Angela learns, the more she thinks that her town is being taken over by extraterrestrial vampires. People are being transformed into vampires because of an ancient virus from outer space. The virus has been hidden deep beneath a lake, in a crater, which was formed when a small asteroid struck the Earth thousands of years ago.

I didn't remember the vampire virus from outer space but the plot is the right one...

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