|
nerdzrool posted:1: A fictional book about anthropologists studying the aztecs. Might be considered a thriller. Characters find a new temple(?) and start studying it. There is some kind of secret that's either mystical or real that someone else is trying to keep a secret. They're chased through an underground area near the end by someone or something. I know this is incredibly vague but I remember reading this from cover to cover and finishing it as the sun rose when I was 13 or so. Is it this awful lovely book by Matthew Reilly?
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2011 03:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 23:31 |
|
|
This should probably be easy to identify, it was required reading in early school years for me and I think it tends to be, but I remember just few enough details to make it difficult to search for. In the book, the world is in black and white. The main character is a young boy who, for some reason I can't remember, is apprenticed to an old man who holds some kind of important office which I also can't remember. The man teaches the boy how to see color - or maybe how to make color - and I'm pretty sure as a first example he uses an apple which becomes red. The book's cover, if I remember correctly, was a picture of the old man in black and white with a red apple.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2011 08:33
|
|
|
Funkmaster General posted:This should probably be easy to identify, it was required reading in early school years for me and I think it tends to be, but I remember just few enough details to make it difficult to search for. In the book, the world is in black and white. The main character is a young boy who, for some reason I can't remember, is apprenticed to an old man who holds some kind of important office which I also can't remember. The man teaches the boy how to see color - or maybe how to make color - and I'm pretty sure as a first example he uses an apple which becomes red. The book's cover, if I remember correctly, was a picture of the old man in black and white with a red apple. The Giver by Lois Lowry. She wrote some sequels to it as well, if I recall correctly. edit: Yeah, here's a box set of the trilogy.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2011 09:10
|
|
|
zedar posted:Sounds sort of like Stephen Baxter's Raft, set in a universe where extremely high gravity means there aren't any planets as we understand them. [Ed for link] Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 10:17 on Nov 16, 2011 |
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2011 10:15
|
|
|
nerdzrool posted:1: A fictional book about anthropologists studying the aztecs. Might be considered a thriller. Characters find a new temple(?) and start studying it. There is some kind of secret that's either mystical or real that someone else is trying to keep a secret. They're chased through an underground area near the end by someone or something. I know this is incredibly vague but I remember reading this from cover to cover and finishing it as the sun rose when I was 13 or so. Just gonna throw this out there just in case, Relic?
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2011 11:09
|
|
|
AreYouStillThere posted:Just gonna throw this out there just in case, Relic? Definitely not this one, thanks though. Hedrigall posted:Is it this awful lovely book by Matthew Reilly? Ehhhhhh, I don't think so. It has the right elements but the whole weapon thing does not sound familiar.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2011 16:26
|
|
|
nerdzrool posted:
I remember that the first one came out when I was in elementary school (maybe forth or fifth grade), because they advertised it at the school's Scholastic book fair, but I didn't end up reading any of them until I was in middle school. So like, 12 or so? I also think it's great that Scholastic's kept the series site up, complete with the crappy flash intro movie. Actually, I have fond memories of a lot of Scholastic's book web pages. They've always been great at marketing, if nothing else. Also just fyi, Funkmaster General: while The Giver is considered a classic, the sequels aren't as well-regarded, so you might want to avoid them. (I haven't read them myself, but I'm in a Children's Lit program and know a lot of people who have.)
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2011 20:05
|
|
|
Fire In The Disco posted:The Giver by Lois Lowry. She wrote some sequels to it as well, if I recall correctly. Looks like I didn't have all the details quite correct, but this was indeed what I was looking for. Thanks.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2011 04:25
|
|
|
edit: beaten, nvm
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2011 16:21
|
|
|
Young adult fantasy novel I read probably in the mid to late 90s. Female main character, I think her dad may have been a merchant. She wakes up and decides to check out the magic mountain kingdom (or something). The main detail I remember is that on the path there she is following pine needles that all point the same direction and she follows them. Also something about a field of flowers that is actually paint or frosting or something. Help?
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2011 11:52
|
|
|
AreYouStillThere posted:Young adult fantasy novel I read probably in the mid to late 90s. Female main character, I think her dad may have been a merchant. She wakes up and decides to check out the magic mountain kingdom (or something). The main detail I remember is that on the path there she is following pine needles that all point the same direction and she follows them. Also something about a field of flowers that is actually paint or frosting or something. Help?
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2011 11:58
|
|
|
drat that was fast! By the description that sounds like it. You're amazing!
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2011 12:02
|
|
|
This isnt the exact thread for this, but I'm hoping someone here can start me on the right path. Ask/Tell megathread led me here, and what I have in mind IS relative to identifying a book, but for a different purpose. See, in 3 months and change, I'm gonna be a father. Little girl. I'm unemployed, strapped for cash, and going through my book collection. I worked at a place that came into contact with old books from time to time. The place typically just recycled the books, but I found a couple gems in my time there and saved them from destruction. The books in question are a non-English (Swedish I think? It has Stockholm listed as a origin, but I don't speak the language so I have no idea) bible printed in 1906 and an encyclopedia from the 1870's, American in origin if memory serves. I've tried a few times to ascertain what they could potentially be worth, but have never known an appropriate channel to find that out. If this is not in the spirit of this thread, can someone PLEASE point me the right way? I feel these books are very rare and probably valuable to the right person, but I have no idea where to even begin looking as to who could evaluate such a piece. Help? P.S. I realize this might be totally the wrong thread, but I'd appreciate, if nothing else, a helpful nudge in the right direction. I can probably gin up some pictures of the bible at least if it'd help. Other book is buried in storage atm, but wouldn't be too hard to get out. Also have some other strange stuff if someone can point me to a general appraisal list or something that can help me resell some of the more obscure stuff. E: maybe an old book thread is needed? I can't be the only one with century old books. God I hope one of those bastards is worth something. cucka fucked around with this message at 12:45 on Nov 20, 2011 |
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2011 12:39
|
|
|
AreYouStillThere posted:drat that was fast! By the description that sounds like it. You're amazing! cucka posted:I've tried a few times to ascertain what they could potentially be worth, but have never known an appropriate channel to find that out. If this is not in the spirit of this thread, can someone PLEASE point me the right way? I feel these books are very rare and probably valuable to the right person, but I have no idea where to even begin looking as to who could evaluate such a piece.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2011 12:57
|
|
|
BlueFlowerRedSky posted:
According to Lowry's blog, she's working on a fourth in the series. http://www.loislowry.com/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=entry&id=4&Itemid=194 (See text under the picture of the cat.)
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2011 15:27
|
|
|
cucka posted:This isnt the exact thread for this, but I'm hoping someone here can start me on the right path. Call or visit your local public library. If they don't have a way of finding it themselves (either through websites or, if they're rich like that, their own resources) then they can tell you where to go to get them better appraised.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2011 17:32
|
|
|
I'm looking for a YA type book, where I think the gimmick was that this town was visited by "modern"-ish adaptations of famous legends. The only example I can remember 100% is about how there was a guy who got a lot stronger as long as he was on the ground (like, earth ground), and the protagonist defeated him by either lifting him up off the ground or having their fighting ring (this guy was like a boxer or wrestler) be raised off the ground instead of being on normal earth. I think that one is an adaptation of a famous Greek legend, but I'm not sure. Anyone have any ideas?
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2011 19:45
|
|
|
That's a take on the legend of Hercules. He fought Antaeus (another demigod who gained his strength from touching the earth. I think he was Poseidon's kid ), and won by lifting him up and squishing him. Dunno what book it is, but that might help narrow it down a bit.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2011 19:49
|
|
|
Runcible Cat posted:More likely Karl Schroeder's Sun of Suns. This is it! Thanks!
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2011 20:37
|
|
|
cucka posted:This isnt the exact thread for this, but I'm hoping someone here can start me on the right path.
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2011 08:11
|
|
|
You'd think I'd remember this, since it's my drat screen name, but there was a fantasy book I read probably 15ish years ago that had a character named "the Demon Dark Horse." I've done a couple of searches, but nothing. The only other things I can remember about the story was it wasn't part of a series, there was an evil wizard that needed killin', and it had a naval element to it. Pretty cheesy 90s cover art too.
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2011 05:14
|
|
|
I've got two. First is pretty simple. A short story that was in one of my gradeschool literature books. A young man/boy from a primitive tribe ventures out into the "Land of the Gods", but he's smart and soon realizes that it's simply a ruined city from modern civilization before something ruined everything. I remember a good line about how they "made the night as day for their own amusement". Second one might be a bit tougher, or it might not. Somewhere on these forums someone linked a short story, available online elsewhere. It is about alien invaders who try and take over a slightly post-modern Earth. But the trick is that the aliens aren't that advanced. The secret to interstellar travel is around victorian-era level technology, and mankind skirted around it by sheer fluke and continued to advance technologically without ever leaving earth. Contrawise, the aliens never bothered to advance their own tech much further because once space travel came around, that's all they ever bothered with. Flying to new planets, invading, etc, and not bothering with much else besides plundering. So they get to earth, find their sabers and muskets to be useless, and end up wondering what they unleashed by accidentally giving the humans the ability to travel across the galaxy. The POV switched between the raid captain of the aliens and the human's perspective. This one should be freely available online, and might have only been published in a magazine or the like previously (if at all). Thanks in advance.
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2011 16:00
|
|
|
Tuxedo Ted posted:I've got two. There are a few stories on this theme, by the most likely is this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/By_the_Waters_of_Babylon
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2011 16:37
|
|
|
Tuxedo Ted posted:Second one might be a bit tougher, or it might not. Somewhere on these forums someone linked a short story, available online elsewhere. It is about alien invaders who try and take over a slightly post-modern Earth. But the trick is that the aliens aren't that advanced. The secret to interstellar travel is around victorian-era level technology, and mankind skirted around it by sheer fluke and continued to advance technologically without ever leaving earth. Contrawise, the aliens never bothered to advance their own tech much further because once space travel came around, that's all they ever bothered with. Flying to new planets, invading, etc, and not bothering with much else besides plundering. So they get to earth, find their sabers and muskets to be useless, and end up wondering what they unleashed by accidentally giving the humans the ability to travel across the galaxy. The POV switched between the raid captain of the aliens and the human's perspective. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_Not_Taken_(short_story) Thread favorite...
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2011 16:53
|
|
|
Tuxedo Ted posted:Second one might be a bit tougher, or it might not. Somewhere on these forums someone linked a short story, available online elsewhere. It is about alien invaders who try and take over a slightly post-modern Earth. But the trick is that the aliens aren't that advanced. The secret to interstellar travel is around victorian-era level technology, and mankind skirted around it by sheer fluke and continued to advance technologically without ever leaving earth. Contrawise, the aliens never bothered to advance their own tech much further because once space travel came around, that's all they ever bothered with. Flying to new planets, invading, etc, and not bothering with much else besides plundering. So they get to earth, find their sabers and muskets to be useless, and end up wondering what they unleashed by accidentally giving the humans the ability to travel across the galaxy. The POV switched between the raid captain of the aliens and the human's perspective. It's the Path Not Taken or something like that. efb
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2011 17:05
|
|
|
Thanks, everybody. Now I can finally get some sleep.
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2011 17:50
|
|
|
Tuxedo Ted posted:
Wasn't there one kinda like this where the invading aliens looked like elephants?
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2011 20:00
|
|
|
Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Wasn't there one kinda like this where the invading aliens looked like elephants?
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2011 20:03
|
|
|
I'm almost embarrassed to post about this one. My sister and I were talking about the utterly stupid teen horror books we read in the early 90's, and we remembered one but couldn't remember the title or author. It's one of those R.L. Stine style horror books. It was about a girl who ends up possessed by the ghost of her mother's late step-sister (or some relation like that), whose name is Julietta. She was known as Etta when she was alive, and introduces herself as Juliet to the teenage girl. Once she possesses the girl, she does things like dressing slutty and acting wildly. That is basically all we can remember. Not much to go on, I know. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2011 21:38
|
|
|
YA books. The name of the series resembled "Wheel of time" i.e. I think it was "[something] of time" but it was definitely not the same thing. I read these early-mid 90s I guess. The premise was there was a group of kids (I think mainly family) and they had a pocketwatch or something that let them travel through time and space. Any ideas what these books were called? It's bugging me, I feel like it's on the tip of my tongue but I can't think of it and haven't been able to for the past several months.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2011 01:26
|
|
|
anabatica posted:YA books. The name of the series resembled "Wheel of time" i.e. I think it was "[something] of time" but it was definitely not the same thing. I read these early-mid 90s I guess. The premise was there was a group of kids (I think mainly family) and they had a pocketwatch or something that let them travel through time and space. Any ideas what these books were called? It's bugging me, I feel like it's on the tip of my tongue but I can't think of it and haven't been able to for the past several months.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2011 03:54
|
|
|
I'm looking for something that was on the reading level of a Choose Your Own Adventure book. I checked it out of the library when I was in fifth grade. The hard part is that I don't remember much about it. I know the title of the book was abbreviated, like C.O.L.O.R. That might have even been the name or close to it, but it's been too long now. The cover showed a rocky, cratered planet almost like the moon and there was either a space ship/flying saucer or a space station on the planet surface. I know it was science fiction and I think it took place on this barren planet and the protagonist might have been a robot. Jesus, I know that's not much to go on. I loved the book but I was allowed to only check it out once. I'd love to read through it again for old time's sake.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2011 17:58
|
|
|
Runcible Cat posted:Got to be Roger Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October Wow, thanks for finding this for me!
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2011 02:47
|
|
|
I talked about a sci fi short story in class last night, and now I really want to track down the author/title so I can email it to the tutor, who seemed really interested in the story's premise. It's a short story from an anthology by a big-name author. It's set in the future, and physical books have been replaced (and destroyed in the process maybe?) by a supercomputer which stores all of humanity's literature on it (not sure about the other arts). Anyway, the computer crashes (perhaps there's a hint of sabotage?) and all of that store of knowledge is lost. There is a strong reference to Shakespeare's line from Romeo and Juliet that "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" - there is a janitor/caretaker guy (?) who happened to glance at the screen and read that line before the crash, and so he is the only human left who knows anything about Shakespeare. It miiiiight be by Arthur C Clarke (but no promises). Help please! 
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2011 13:26
|
|
|
This was a short story that was part of a pretty old collection, probably from the 60's or the 70's. It was set on a desert planet where a few last remaining humans - some teenagers and an old woman of twenty eight - were moving from their summer home to the winter home. They used to take planes for the trip, but the last one of those crashed a while ago, so on this trip, they were walking. They wound up not making it because one of the way stations was dead and something called a bluebaby wound up killing one or more of them by pulling them all into the sand. A good chunk of this story was written from the bluebaby's point of view. Any tips?
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2011 03:44
|
|
|
anabatica posted:YA books. The name of the series resembled "Wheel of time" i.e. I think it was "[something] of time" but it was definitely not the same thing. I read these early-mid 90s I guess. The premise was there was a group of kids (I think mainly family) and they had a pocketwatch or something that let them travel through time and space. Any ideas what these books were called? It's bugging me, I feel like it's on the tip of my tongue but I can't think of it and haven't been able to for the past several months. This sounds somewhat like A Wrinkle in Time.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2011 05:52
|
|
|
einTier posted:I'm looking for something that was on the reading level of a Choose Your Own Adventure book. I checked it out of the library when I was in fifth grade. I actually have a copy of this somewhere. It doesn't have the abbreviated title, but it fits most of the other stuff. Or it could be Robot World, where the main character disguises as a robot.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2011 07:04
|
|
|
einTier posted:I'm looking for something that was on the reading level of a Choose Your Own Adventure book. I checked it out of the library when I was in fifth grade.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2011 14:36
|
|
|
I've been trying to locate a sci fi book I read when I was a kid about 10 years ago. All I can remember was that it was set primarily in space and the characters had to deal with tiny (I think) insects that could attack their ships and eat through the hulls. I think the first word in the title was "Deepspace" or "Backwater" but I could very well be wrong. This is really not much information but it's been driving me crazy recently and google hasn't been of much help. Thanks in advance!
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2011 23:16
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 23:31 |
|
|
dhkx posted:I've been trying to locate a sci fi book I read when I was a kid about 10 years ago. All I can remember was that it was set primarily in space and the characters had to deal with tiny (I think) insects that could attack their ships and eat through the hulls. I think the first word in the title was "Deepspace" or "Backwater" but I could very well be wrong.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2011 01:46
|
|