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Engelbrecht posted:I hate myself and I hate you for making me think of this. Well, at least it's SBTB so I have the excuse of snark. Haha, sorry. That's not the book though.
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Jan 11, 2011 16:36
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The Uber Skull posted:Haha, sorry. That's not the book though. Smart Bitches Trashy Books have a Help A Bitch Out section to ID ghastly romance novels too - it might be worth hitting them up about your historical hot-tub.
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Jan 11, 2011 16:40
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I tried googling for this for about a half hour, but can't find anything. Someone posted a link to this story in a thread in GBS (I think) a while ago, and here's the basic plot: In the future, everyone is made to have the same thought capacity. They're either actually stupid, or if they have normal intelligence, they have some device in their ear that emits a shrill beep frequently, which is so distracting that makes them forget whatever thought they had. There's a married couple, the woman is stupid, the man is artificially stupid. Their son (I think?) has been missing for some time. Suddenly, the TV interrupts its programming for breaking news. I can't remember all the details, but something like, the son was on TV, doing some sort of beautiful dance or similar. Before long he's shot, and the news abruptly cuts back to the normal programming. The man almost has a thought about it, but it's suppressed... and that's the end.
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Jan 19, 2011 04:33
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DanAdamKOF posted:I tried googling for this for about a half hour, but can't find anything. Someone posted a link to this story in a thread in GBS (I think) a while ago, and here's the basic plot: It's a short story by Vonnegut, I believe, called "Harrison Bergeron". Keep in mind I could have hosed up all kinds of spelling, haha. Edit: Just did a quick google search, I got the spelling right and everything. 
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Jan 19, 2011 04:36
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Purple Rain Man posted:It's a short story by Vonnegut, I believe, called "Harrison Bergeron".
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Jan 20, 2011 02:20
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Was browsing another forum when someone was looking for a book that I found had to have a pretty unusual premise. No one knew the title in that forum but it sounds kinda ridiculous. Here's the description: "The protagonist was female and had a psionic link to her sister who was a spy and was killed, and then later she gets a psionic link to a feline (or canine it was a while back) alien. I'm pretty sure it was the first book in a series." P.S: Kind of a drag no one has been able to identify the other book I heard about. I will have to pester the person about more details involving it.
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Jan 21, 2011 20:09
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Agreeable Employer posted:Was browsing another forum when someone was looking for a book that I found had to have a pretty unusual premise. No one knew the title in that forum but it sounds kinda ridiculous. Here's the description: Joan Vinge (ex-wife of Vernor Vinge) had a trilogy (Psion, Catspaw, and Dreamfall) about a telepathic half-human, half-catlike-alien, though I think he was a boy not a girl. I've never read them so I don't know if the rest of the details fit. But when I think "SF + cat + psionics" that's what immediately comes to mind. Hobnob fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Jan 21, 2011 |
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Jan 21, 2011 20:45
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Hobnob posted:Joan Vinge (ex-wife of Vernor Vinge) had a trilogy (Psion, Catspaw, and Dreamfall) about a telepathic half-human, half-catlike-alien, though I think he was a boy not a girl. I've never read them so I don't know if the rest of the details fit. But when I think "SF + cat + psionics" that's what immediately comes to mind.
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Jan 21, 2011 20:54
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I'm trying to remember a short story I read in a "year's best science fiction" anthology sort of thing from probably the 70s or 80s. It was about a guy hanging out in maybe NYC and the moon starts getting bigger in the sky, as it is crashing towards earth. Pretty sure the guy goes wild and starts trying to gently caress this chick he wanted to bang before it all ended. Anyhow, I don't know why this is bothering me but I'd like to find it.
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Jan 24, 2011 01:50
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DEVILDOGOOORAH posted:I'm trying to remember a short story I read in a "year's best science fiction" anthology sort of thing from probably the 70s or 80s. It was about a guy hanging out in maybe NYC and the moon starts getting bigger in the sky, as it is crashing towards earth. Pretty sure the guy goes wild and starts trying to gently caress this chick he wanted to bang before it all ended. Anyhow, I don't know why this is bothering me but I'd like to find it. Inconstant Moon, Larry Niven.
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Jan 24, 2011 02:00
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God thank you, that's it.
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Jan 24, 2011 02:08
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fritz posted:Inconstant Moon, Larry Niven. Didn't that Outer Limits revival that was made in the mid '90s have a take-off of this, except the guy thought the sun had exploded or something?
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Jan 24, 2011 05:27
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nuvan posted:Didn't that Outer Limits revival that was made in the mid '90s have a take-off of this, except the guy thought the sun had exploded or something?
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Jan 24, 2011 06:36
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A friend and I have been trying to figure out what this science fiction book we read a few years ago was. We can't really remember much except a general outline. In the book young highly intelligent men and women are sent into space under false pretenses. The real reason they have been sent is revealed later as to reach scientific discoveries or breakthroughs because our world has grown stagnant and we need change. The characters us i ching to make decisions on board the ship.
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Jan 25, 2011 19:15
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Kwatz posted:A friend and I have been trying to figure out what this science fiction book we read a few years ago was. We can't really remember much except a general outline. In the book young highly intelligent men and women are sent into space under false pretenses. The real reason they have been sent is revealed later as to reach scientific discoveries or breakthroughs because our world has grown stagnant and we need change. The characters us i ching to make decisions on board the ship. That story sounds pretty familiar. Do you remember about how old the book is? I'm thinking it might be called "The Engines of Dawn", but that might not be it. A little more info would help. I probably have it in my collection.
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Jan 26, 2011 08:04
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Thanks but that wasn't it. I'll try and think of more info and post it.
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Jan 27, 2011 18:32
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This book is a bit difficult as I have no idea when it was published, I read it when I was 12 or 13 which would have been around 2000 but it was already second hand. It involved the far future when humanity had been genetically modified/evolved into different races and castes. For some reason there isn't much technology used now but there's something with a tower. I remember that one of the races has beautiful butterfly wings - that don't work- they look good but can't actually fly. Except in one scene where one of the characters is hurt and manages to fly just before she dies. I remember it has the tone of a journey novel i.e. a group of people going out on a quest they travel through different weird places and also it seemed almost pornographic in places. If you can get it from that you deserve a medal!
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Jan 27, 2011 21:52
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Sri.Theo posted:This book is a bit difficult as I have no idea when it was published, I read it when I was 12 or 13 which would have been around 2000 but it was already second hand. Not quite right but there was a trilogy in the 70s by John Varley Gaea Trilogy Demon/Wizard/Titan (Maybe a different order) which was only near future but had a sentient moon who's inside was populated by creatures it created, one of them being 'Angels' that could maybe sometimes barely fly in the low gravity environment but not really. And I think a big part of one of them was involving getting to the center tower. Parts of it was definitely pornographic in the odd new wave sci-fi way of the times... Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaea_Trilogy and see if it rings a bell.
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Jan 27, 2011 22:47
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Hughlander posted:Not quite right but there was a trilogy in the 70s by John Varley Gaea Trilogy Demon/Wizard/Titan (Maybe a different order) which was only near future but had a sentient moon who's inside was populated by creatures it created, one of them being 'Angels' that could maybe sometimes barely fly in the low gravity environment but not really. And I think a big part of one of them was involving getting to the center tower. Parts of it was definitely pornographic in the odd new wave sci-fi way of the times... That trilogy is astonishingly close to what I posted but not right - The cover though strikes a bell! It had the same kind of fantasy style cover but with the butterfly woman being intimidated by something on the front. I think. There's also something about a fallen empire... Really good guess though :-)
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Jan 28, 2011 01:18
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Kwatz posted:A friend and I have been trying to figure out what this science fiction book we read a few years ago was. We can't really remember much except a general outline. In the book young highly intelligent men and women are sent into space under false pretenses. The real reason they have been sent is revealed later as to reach scientific discoveries or breakthroughs because our world has grown stagnant and we need change. The characters us i ching to make decisions on board the ship. IceNiner posted:That story sounds pretty familiar. Do you remember about how old the book is? I'm thinking it might be called "The Engines of Dawn", but that might not be it. A little more info would help. I probably have it in my collection. I've wondered about this novel for quite a while also. The men and women are sent on an interstellar mission in connection with making new scientific discoveries concerning energy sources, I think. They didn't realize that the mission was intended to be one-way only by the American scientist who conceived it. The crew found out about the betrayal and began their scientific investigations, which worked out successfully with them discovering means to survive with a huge new energy source. I think that at one point one of them begins scientific divination but lacks the materials to make I-ching bones, so everyone sacrifices their little toes to make the required bones. The crew sends back information about their discovery, but encode it (Godelized?) as a huge number that people on earth are unable to decode. They also send an energy stream at earth as punishment, along with a Godelized warning. The crew eventually makes it back to a devastated earth. I think that the book probably came out in the mid-80's or so. Edit: Thinking a lot about it brought up a lot of details that I was able to search for. I'm pretty sure it is Frederick Pohl's novella entitled "The Gold at the Starbow's End" from 1972. Wow, I was way off on my time scale. Found at Google books, http://books.google.com/books?id=Y15pFme-cVQC&pg=PA336&lpg=PA336&dq=gold+at+the+starbow's+end+plot&source=bl&ots=fDTWSzN6LK&sig=RSt0gPtBvk0eXefwPK3SzGQSHqk&hl=en&ei=ugJDTYP-EMXEgQeG1KifAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=gold%20at%20the%20starbow's%20end%20plot&f=false Pigsfeet on Rye fucked around with this message at 18:57 on Jan 28, 2011 |
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Jan 28, 2011 18:43
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Sri.Theo posted:This book is a bit difficult as I have no idea when it was published, I read it when I was 12 or 13 which would have been around 2000 but it was already second hand. Is it a short book? Nightwings, by Robert Sliverberg?
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Jan 29, 2011 03:24
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Long shot here... there was a fantasy book or perhaps a trilogy of novels that involved an orphan/found child who had the ability to use magic. So he was shipped off to the magic community that resided in a castle or up on a mountain or some nonsense. The kid is super talented in magic, becomes super powerful, etc. The whole theme is a order vs chaos or maybe light vs chaos. The magic castle/community follow the light gods who had driven out the chaos gods thousands of years ago. The light gods are line in the sand kind of gods, right and wrong are absolutes and they destroy anyone who opposes them. It turns out the main character is actually the 7th chaos good, who had his god powers stripped and put into a crystal, the chaos gods sent him there to open the path for the rest of them. He is the chaos god in charge of time, his name might even be Chronos or something. He realizes that the Light/Order gods are dicks, sides with his brothers, they defeat the light gods and usher in a better world. Also, his lover/wife/love of his life dies but he somehow snatches up her spirit and they travel through chaos together not really human anymore.
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Jan 29, 2011 05:33
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Gorbash posted:Is it a short book? Nightwings, by Robert Sliverberg? You are amazing! Yes it is, it all came flooding back as I read a summary - I confused castes with guilds Amazon posted:"Only at night, on the winds of darkness, can she soar. And it was Avluela the Flier's ebony and scarlet wings that led the Watcher to the seven hills of the ancient city from which, in a moment of weakness, the watcher failed his vigil, leaving the skies and deep space unguarded. The invaders came and conquered. With Avluela lost in the turmoil of the conquest, the Watcher set out alone for the Holy City -- home of the Rememberers, keepers of the past, and where the secret of Earth's salvation lay hidden in antiquity. But Avluela held more for the Watcher -- and Earth -- than love. Her wonder stretched beyond flight, for she knew the riddle to free all men.... It's a great combination of fantasy style writing in a very post-apocalyptic future, with aliens! Thanks!
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Jan 29, 2011 11:48
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Lyon posted:Long shot here... there was a fantasy book or perhaps a trilogy of novels that involved an orphan/found child who had the ability to use magic. So he was shipped off to the magic community that resided in a castle or up on a mountain or some nonsense. vvv Hooray! vvv Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 03:24 on Jan 30, 2011 |
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Jan 29, 2011 12:16
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Yes, thank you. I tried a bunch of stuff with time, light, chaos, but they're such generic words I couldn't find it. Thank you good sir!
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Jan 30, 2011 02:37
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nuvan posted:Didn't that Outer Limits revival that was made in the mid '90s have a take-off of this, except the guy thought the sun had exploded or something? So weird, that episode is coming on TV right now.
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Jan 30, 2011 04:00
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My friends and I were talking about horrible books we used to read when we were in middle school; this one was part of a series from either the late 80's or early 90's. The protagonist was a psychic who was blind, practiced some sort of martial arts (tai-chi, I think), and his sidekick was a huge German Shepherd that could either speak English or could have his mind read by the main character. Not sure if this was set in the future or some sort of post-apocalyptic setting. Does anyone remember this?
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Jan 31, 2011 03:02
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Just possibly Montezuma Strip by Alan Dean Foster? The main character Angel Cardenas is a highly intuitive cop who was blind, but by the start of the book he's recovered his sight due to an eye transplant. He still has his guide dog Charliebo who is very strongly bonded to him. The more I type the less it sounds like what you described, but maybe?
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Jan 31, 2011 08:20
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That's not it, but it did lead me to the ebook for later reading, so thanks for that! Some other details; the character was either a Quaker or was raised by Quakers, and I THINK he had psionic powers or something like that. The novels were in the same vein as David Robbins "Endworld" series, trashy and short (180 pages roughly), and my local library had them all when I was in 6th-8th grade.
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Jan 31, 2011 18:24
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I think I may have already posted in this thread, but if I did I never got an answer so I'm asking it again- When I was a kid I had a book that was a collection of stories set in this fantasy kingdom where gnomes, fairies, forest creatures, and either dinosaurs or dragons existed together. The dinos (dragons?) lived on one side of the kingdom, everyone else lived on the other. At first they were at war, but then they became friends and held a series of games as a celebration. Also there was a flood, one of the gnomes was the head king of everything, and one of the fairies was named Nettle. It was a picture book and was physically very large. I think it may have been European originally? This has been nagging at me for over 10 years, so if anybody has any idea what I'm talking about it would be a real weight off my mind.
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Feb 1, 2011 00:18
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About a year or two ago, someone in LF posted a link to a forum with one of the worst stories I've ever read. It was about Hell invading the Earth and the world's combined militaries counter-attacking Hell back. Yes, every bit as bad as this sounds (obviously not published so it's also full of spelling errors). What set this apart from the usual fanfic was that it was probably a few hundred pages long and full of military jargon. I'm trying to find it to horrify my friends but my Google-fu fails me. Anyone got a link?
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Feb 1, 2011 23:34
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Sounds like Doom fanfic
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Feb 1, 2011 23:40
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DEVILDOGOOORAH posted:Sounds like Doom fanfic It wasn't. It was worse than that.
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Feb 1, 2011 23:51
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Hey guys! Does anyone remember a novel -- I think it was published within the last few years, but could be really recent -- about a group of people (neighbors maybe?) who find a bunch of money in a park or somewhere during a picnic or barbecue or something. They start arguing about what to do with it, and eventually it leads to some kind of violent outcome. I don't know anything else about it, or what the cover might look like. Sound familiar at all?
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Feb 2, 2011 02:58
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Adar posted:About a year or two ago, someone in LF posted a link to a forum with one of the worst stories I've ever read. It was about Hell invading the Earth and the world's combined militaries counter-attacking Hell back. Yes, every bit as bad as this sounds (obviously not published so it's also full of spelling errors). What set this apart from the usual fanfic was that it was probably a few hundred pages long and full of military jargon.
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Feb 2, 2011 03:35
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Action Jacktion posted:The Salvation War. Haha, I read this. It was entertaining but stupid. They hinted that a part two was coming where the good ole USA is gonna attack HEAVEN.
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Feb 2, 2011 11:18
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Trying to remember a children's series of books. They were predecessors to the Encyclopedia Brown style of books that were big in the early/mid 80s where each chapter had a problem to solve. I remember one puzzle in the first book was how to get a golf ball out of a gopher or rabbit tunnel. I swear the series was called Tack or T.A.C.K. but I can't find anything by searching for that + "children's book"
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Feb 2, 2011 12:29
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Flaming Condor posted:Hey guys! Does anyone remember a novel -- I think it was published within the last few years, but could be really recent -- about a group of people (neighbors maybe?) who find a bunch of money in a park or somewhere during a picnic or barbecue or something. They start arguing about what to do with it, and eventually it leads to some kind of violent outcome. I don't know anything else about it, or what the cover might look like. Sound familiar at all? A simple plan? it was 1993 but it works for your description. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Simple_Plan_%28novel%29
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Feb 2, 2011 17:30
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regulargonzalez posted:Trying to remember a children's series of books. They were predecessors to the Encyclopedia Brown style of books that were big in the early/mid 80s where each chapter had a problem to solve. I remember one puzzle in the first book was how to get a golf ball out of a gopher or rabbit tunnel. I swear the series was called Tack or T.A.C.K. but I can't find anything by searching for that + "children's book"
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Feb 2, 2011 18:12
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Action Jacktion posted:It was the TACK series, written by Nancy K. Robinson and Marvin Miller. There was TACK to the Rescue, TACK Against Time, TACK into Danger, TACK Secret Service, and maybe more. Nice, thanks!
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Feb 2, 2011 22:43
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