The identify that story/book thread: Home of the gas pump boy

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Take the plunge! Okay!: Feb 24, 2007

boom boom boom posted:

A short story from an old sci-fi short story collection.

A colony ship landed on this planet centuries ago, not knowing that the system had a second sun that came through regularly, every 17 years, I think. When that happens crazy storms and earthquakes and massive temperature spike makes the planet uninhabitable, except at the north pole. So every 17 years, everybody has to pack up everything they can carry and head for the north pole. After generations of this they've lost all their advanced technology, and most people think the story of humans arriving on the planet in a metal sky ship is just some retarded myth their ancestors cooked up.

The main character is the only on in the village who still believes the truth, that there's people on other planets and humans came from the sky. He tries to keep the truth alive by telling people but it just makes people mad that he runs around talking those old fables. The exodus to the north pole is coming up soon and the MC is constantly whining that he can't take enough books, because everybody only has so much room for personal belongings and nobody else is willing to help the dude carry books. It's kind of set up like you think he's talking about classic novels, like in Fahrenheit 451, but halfway through you find out he's talking about books like, "How to Build a Windmill"

Then this funny looking dude comes to town, and claims to be from a far away village. One night he confides in the MC that he's actually a spaceman, a scout sent to check out the world. The space people are definitely going to come back and help, but because of space reasons it's not gonna be immediate, it might not even be for decades. The important thing is that the MC needs to stop talking about space people. It just makes the other villagers angry, so it could gently caress up the rescue if the space people show up and the natives are mad at them. The MC agrees to stop talking about space people, secure in the knowledge that they're coming back to help

Then you find out the funny looking dude is actually just a guy from a couple villages over that the village leader met while at a neighboring village preparing for the northward exodus, and he's doing the village leader a favor by getting the weirdo to shut up.

I'm sorry, I just find this hilariously depressive.

# ? Jun 25, 2016 19:14

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# ? May 10, 2024 22:38

Runcible Cat: May 28, 2007; Ignoring this post

boom boom boom posted:

Then you find out the funny looking dude is actually just a guy from a couple villages over that the village leader met while at a neighboring village preparing for the northward exodus, and he's doing the village leader a favor by getting the weirdo to shut up.

Summer's Lease, by Joe Haldeman.

# ? Jun 25, 2016 22:08

boom boom boom: Jun 28, 2012; by Shine

Thanks!

# ? Jun 25, 2016 23:11

boom boom boom: Jun 28, 2012; by Shine

I'm gonna repost this again in the hopes that new people might recognize it

boom boom boom posted:

I got a question, there's a book I read that I can't remember the name of. There was a virus that killed men, or made them sterile or something. And there was a guy who was immune to it. He was like a ruffian type, and his pee was a weird color. He had a lot of kids, like, too many for him to really know them all by name, so the thing that marked out his descendants was that their pee was the same unusual color. That's all I remember.

I'm pretty sure it was in a collection of feminist sci-fi, or at least had a female author

# ? Jun 25, 2016 23:13

Peztopiary: Mar 16, 2009; by exmarx

boom boom boom posted:

I'm gonna repost this again in the hopes that new people might recognize it

I'm pretty sure it was in a collection of feminist sci-fi, or at least had a female author

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1280157.Maul

It's that, and it's way weirder than you remember. It's really good though, or at least I thought it was at the time. It's been forever since I read it. You're going to read the description and say that can't possibly be it, but it totally is.

# ? Jun 26, 2016 23:45

boom boom boom: Jun 28, 2012; by Shine

Peztopiary posted:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1280157.Maul

It's that, and it's way weirder than you remember. It's really good though, or at least I thought it was at the time. It's been forever since I read it. You're going to read the description and say that can't possibly be it, but it totally is.

Thank you! I've been looking for that for more than a year

# ? Jun 27, 2016 00:00

Centripetal Horse: Nov 22, 2009; Fuck money, get GBS

This could have bought you a half a tank of gas, lmfao -
Love, gromdul

boom boom boom posted:

I'm pretty sure it was in a collection of feminist sci-fi, or at least had a female author

This reminds me of a story (like, an anecdote, not a science fiction story.)

A while back, maybe fifteen years or so, I was describing the plot of a story to my (now ex-) wife. That story was The Girl Who Was Plugged In. My wife said to me (paraphrasing), "That story was written by a woman." It sort of came out of nowhere and struck me as an odd conclusion to draw based on just a description of the story. I asked her why she would think that, and she talked about the themes I had described, and gave examples of things she didn't think would have come from a male author. I gave her a little grief about being so sexist, and told her that of course men could write about those themes from that perspective, and anyway, she was wrong, and the story was written by a guy named James Tiptree, Jr.

Yeah. I didn't find out until several years after that conversation had occurred. She's a sharp loving cookie.

Reposted, because I simply cannot believe that goons don't know which story is about a transsexual space prostitute who turns out a stranded tourist.

quote:

The second story, which I may have asked about in a previous post, it about a guy who gets stranded in a crummy spaceport. He ends up in a codependent relationship with a transsexual space-prostitute. He is in love with her, but she does not love him back, and is probably too broken to do so, anyway. This story is also strangely poignant, and always hits me in the gut. I remember that the author is a professor of something-or-other somewhere in or near Cleveland, OH.

Edit: Replaced incorrect name with correct name.

Centripetal Horse fucked around with this message at 14:37 on Jun 28, 2016

# ? Jun 28, 2016 05:19

Hughlander: May 11, 2005

Abyss posted:

My googlefu has failed me on this one. A friend described a random book to me but couldn't remember the name, description is as follows:

"It would have been published no later than 2000, and was Hunger Game-esque. Instead of World Wars, each nation has a champion that fights in an olympic game every four years, and the last man standing wins and his nation runs the UN for the next four years."

Not exactly but Achilles Choice is similar:

quote:

Jillian Shomer had won the right to compete in the Eleventh Olympiad. She and her competitors were the best and brightest, three thousand of the finest minds and bodies that had ever strode the planet.

Yet within a few short years, ninety-eight percent of them would be dead. Only a handful would survive to take their place among Earth�s ruling elite.

The rulers of the 21st century had created a nearly perfect system of government: A world free from war, disease, and want, dominated by global corporations, managed by omniscient artificial intelligences.

And they�d created a nearly perfect system for selecting its future leaders: A new kind of Olympics that tested the mind as well as the body.

To win this coveted prize, the athletes used the most advanced technique available to medicine: The Boost, an operation that conveyed brilliant intellect and superhuman strength�at a terrible price�

Once Boosted, there followed burnout. The mind and body suffered mental and physical disintegration�and death�in just a few short years. The only way to halt the effects of the Boost was connection to the Link, the global information network that sustained the world.

And only those who won received the Link.

# ? Jun 29, 2016 21:35

Abyss: Oct 29, 2011

Hughlander posted:

Not exactly but Achilles Choice is similar:

This is perfect, thanks so much!

# ? Jun 30, 2016 06:55

Sperglord: Feb 6, 2016

I'm trying to find an online military sci-fi story. The premise is that there is a soldier fighting in a war between humans and alien bugs. The story followed the main character from earth through a series of planets, ending in a final battle in a cave system against the bugs.

The only distinguishing element which I remember was that everyone was given a watch which kept perfect time in every planet, synchronized to the planet's rotational period.

# ? Jul 2, 2016 16:34

Sunswipe: Feb 5, 2016; by Fluffdaddy

Couple of books I've been trying to find the details of for about twenty years. I read both of them either late 80s or early 90s, probably written earlier than that, both sci-fi, both novel length, different authors.

First one I don't remember much about. I think it was the final part of a trilogy. It was set in space, I think the future, had all the usual FTL and lasers trappings. Fairly sure the hero was fighting against an evil empire/federation/something like that. His family had been killed and he'd been left horribly injured. Part of healing him had involved giving him Wolverine-style indestructible metal skeleton. Main thing I remember is that at one point he was captured and placed in a straitjacket-like restraint that tightened a bit each time the person in it struggled. To escape, he kept struggling until the thing tightened so much it would be killing a normal person, then feigned unconsciousness, at which point the guards assumed it was malfunctioning and took it off him.

Second was set in latter half of the twentieth century and begins with an alien ship crash-landing in an American public park. The military respond, go into the ship, find the pilots from species A dead, but a prisoner from species B chained up. They gradually learn his language and he tells them that his people are fighting a war against species A, who are heading towards Earth with the intention to invade. The alien from species B offers to put Earth in contact with his people to build defenses on Earth. Earth agrees, and a station is built at one of the poles and weapons grade radioactive fuel is shipped there to power it. After a while, people get suspicious for some reason, and launch a raid on the facility to find out what's really going on. It turns out that there was a war going on, but it's not coming to Earth. Instead, both species we've encountered are stragglers from their respective fleets who have banded together to survive. The crash was a fake, with some aliens who'd already died used as the "pilots." The whole story was a scam to get fuel to allow the aliens to get home. Ends with Earth telling them to leave. The man who leads the attack on the polar facility was one of the men who established contact with the first alien, and has to shoot him to keep the mission covered up. The alien's name was something like Hes'bu or Hesb'u. Can't remember what the two species were called.

Any help with either much appreciated.

Sunswipe fucked around with this message at 17:24 on Jul 2, 2016

# ? Jul 2, 2016 16:51

navyjack: Jul 15, 2006

Sunswipe posted:

Couple of books I've been trying to find the details of for about twenty years. I read both of them either late 80s or early 90s, probably written earlier than that, both sci-fi, both novel length, different authors.

First one I don't remember much about. I think it was the final part of a trilogy. It was set in space, I think the future, had all the usual FTL and lasers trappings. Fairly sure the hero was fighting against an evil empire/federation/something like that. His family had been killed and he'd been left horribly injured. Part of healing him had involved giving him Wolverine-style indestructible metal skeleton. Main thing I remember is that at one point he was captured and placed in a straitjacket-like restraint that tightened a bit each time the person in it struggled. To escape, he kept struggling until the thing tightened so much it would be killing a normal person, then feigned unconsciousness, at which point the guards assumed it was malfunctioning and took it off him.

I don't remember the straitjacket, but that's the Last Legionary series by Douglas Niles.

# ? Jul 2, 2016 17:47

Sunswipe: Feb 5, 2016; by Fluffdaddy

navyjack posted:

I don't remember the straitjacket, but that's the Last Legionary series by Douglas Niles.

Checked the wiki page and that sounds exactly right. Thank you so much, that's been bugging me for two decades.

# ? Jul 2, 2016 18:03

Resident Idiot: May 11, 2007; Maxine13; Grimey Drawer

Sunswipe posted:

Couple of books I've been trying to find the details of for about twenty years. I read both of them either late 80s or early 90s, probably written earlier than that, both sci-fi, both novel length, different authors.

First one I don't remember much about. I think it was the final part of a trilogy. It was set in space, I think the future, had all the usual FTL and lasers trappings. Fairly sure the hero was fighting against an evil empire/federation/something like that. His family had been killed and he'd been left horribly injured. Part of healing him had involved giving him Wolverine-style indestructible metal skeleton. Main thing I remember is that at one point he was captured and placed in a straitjacket-like restraint that tightened a bit each time the person in it struggled. To escape, he kept struggling until the thing tightened so much it would be killing a normal person, then feigned unconsciousness, at which point the guards assumed it was malfunctioning and took it off him.

This isn't a 100% exact match, but I'd wager cash money this is The Space Mavericks by Michael Kring. There was a sequel called Children of the Night, which wasn't as good as I recall, and the planned trilogy was abandoned.

# ? Jul 3, 2016 04:47

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

Sperglord posted:

I'm trying to find an online military sci-fi story. The premise is that there is a soldier fighting in a war between humans and alien bugs. The story followed the main character from earth through a series of planets, ending in a final battle in a cave system against the bugs.

The only distinguishing element which I remember was that everyone was given a watch which kept perfect time in every planet, synchronized to the planet's rotational period.

Starship Troopers by Heinlein, or a copycat.

# ? Jul 3, 2016 12:26

Sunswipe: Feb 5, 2016; by Fluffdaddy

Gorbash posted:

This isn't a 100% exact match, but I'd wager cash money this is The Space Mavericks by Michael Kring. There was a sequel called Children of the Night, which wasn't as good as I recall, and the planned trilogy was abandoned.

99% sure navyjack nailed it with the Last Legionary series, but this sounds worth a read as well. Sounds like the sort of thing I might have got out of the library when I was a kid. Cheers, dude.

# ? Jul 3, 2016 14:30

Hughlander: May 11, 2005

Sunswipe posted:

Couple of books I've been trying to find the details of for about twenty years. I read both of them either late 80s or early 90s, probably written earlier than that, both sci-fi, both novel length, different authors.

Second was set in latter half of the twentieth century and begins with an alien ship crash-landing in an American public park. The military respond, go into the ship, find the pilots from species A dead, but a prisoner from species B chained up. They gradually learn his language and he tells them that his people are fighting a war against species A, who are heading towards Earth with the intention to invade. The alien from species B offers to put Earth in contact with his people to build defenses on Earth. Earth agrees, and a station is built at one of the poles and weapons grade radioactive fuel is shipped there to power it. After a while, people get suspicious for some reason, and launch a raid on the facility to find out what's really going on. It turns out that there was a war going on, but it's not coming to Earth. Instead, both species we've encountered are stragglers from their respective fleets who have banded together to survive. The crash was a fake, with some aliens who'd already died used as the "pilots." The whole story was a scam to get fuel to allow the aliens to get home. Ends with Earth telling them to leave. The man who leads the attack on the polar facility was one of the men who established contact with the first alien, and has to shoot him to keep the mission covered up. The alien's name was something like Hes'bu or Hesb'u. Can't remember what the two species were called.

Any help with either much appreciated.

I know this one (And think I own it) but don't think I've read it. It's a 70s New Age author, I think Harry Harrison which should make it easy to find, if not probably Ben Bova. (drat alliteration!) Let me check bookshelves.

EDIT: Got it in one. http://www.sfbookshelf.com/review/harrison-harry-invasion-earth.php Google for Harry Harrison Aliens Earth found it.

# ? Jul 3, 2016 16:06

Sunswipe: Feb 5, 2016; by Fluffdaddy

Hughlander posted:

I know this one (And think I own it) but don't think I've read it. It's a 70s New Age author, I think Harry Harrison which should make it easy to find, if not probably Ben Bova. (drat alliteration!) Let me check bookshelves.

EDIT: Got it in one. http://www.sfbookshelf.com/review/harrison-harry-invasion-earth.php Google for Harry Harrison Aliens Earth found it.

Looks like it. Many thanks to you. Can't believe I didn't remember it was Harry Harrison, I loved The Stainless Steel Rat and Bill The Galactic Hero around the time I read this. Got some book buying to do.

# ? Jul 3, 2016 17:37

Clipperton: Dec 20, 2011; Grimey Drawer

Sunswipe posted:

99% sure navyjack nailed it with the Last Legionary series, but this sounds worth a read as well. Sounds like the sort of thing I might have got out of the library when I was a kid. Cheers, dude.

Yeah pretty sure it's Last Legionary, I read those books to bits as a kid. There's a good writeup on the quartet here if you're feeling nostalgic--or just read them again, they're ace.

# ? Jul 4, 2016 00:31

Sperglord: Feb 6, 2016

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

Starship Troopers by Heinlein, or a copycat.

It is a copycat, about infantry in a war against Aliens. The style is 'authentic sounding' and the plot line is relatively straightforward: soldier joins military, gets disillusioned as he fights to the end of the war.

# ? Jul 4, 2016 23:02

Humbug Scoolbus: Apr 25, 2008; The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.; Clapping Larry

Sperglord posted:

It is a copycat, about infantry in a war against Aliens. The style is 'authentic sounding' and the plot line is relatively straightforward: soldier joins military, gets disillusioned as he fights to the end of the war.

The watch throws me. I was thinking Armor by John Steakley.

# ? Jul 5, 2016 01:10

ulmont: Sep 15, 2010; IF I EVER MISS VOTING IN AN ELECTION (EVEN AMERICAN IDOL) ,OR HAVE UNPAID PARKING TICKETS, PLEASE TAKE AWAY MY FRANCHISE

Humbug Scoolbus posted:

The watch throws me. I was thinking Armor by John Steakley.

Yeah, Armor doesn't have a special watch (just ran some searches on my kindle copy). Armor's pretty easy to cross off the list, though: "Is the main character named Felix?"

# ? Jul 5, 2016 16:40

Sperglord: Feb 6, 2016

Humbug Scoolbus posted:

The watch throws me. I was thinking Armor by John Steakley.

It is really frustrating, I liked the story, I thought it was written well. It is generic, but generic done well. However, literally the only thing I remember is that the new soldier was issued a 'universal watch' which kept time in every environment. The author said that the watch was needed to ensure consistent military operational planning across in any planet with any orbital cycle.

But, the watch is almost the only distinctive element of the story.

# ? Jul 5, 2016 20:12

Noctis Horrendae: Nov 1, 2013

I'm still looking for the young adult science fiction book with the turquoise cover, where the plot twist at the end is that the robot servants are powered by human brains. Someone please help me!

# ? Jul 6, 2016 06:17

Hedrigall: Mar 27, 2008; by vyelkin

Noctis Horrendae posted:

I'm still looking for the young adult science fiction book with the turquoise cover, where the plot twist at the end is that the robot servants are powered by human brains. Someone please help me!

This maybe?

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3437111-virus

I vaguely remember something about AI and human computers.

# ? Jul 6, 2016 13:31

xcheopis: Jul 23, 2003

Esroc posted:

Trying to find this one book I read as a kid and remember being really great, and I'm wondering if it holds up all these years later. All I really remember is that it was about a guy who finds the body of a dead alien, but the alien is still somehow conscious and able to talk to him, telepathically I think. They go on a road trip, if I recall correctly.

Not much info, I know. But I figure dead alien who can still talk and goes on road trips can't be the premise of too many novels.

This sounds like Alan Dean Foster's Jed the Dead.

# ? Jul 7, 2016 20:24

Noctis Horrendae: Nov 1, 2013

Hedrigall posted:

This maybe?

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3437111-virus

I vaguely remember something about AI and human computers.

Not it...thanks for trying!

# ? Jul 8, 2016 05:25

Tardigrade: Jul 13, 2012; Half arthropod, half marshmallow, all cute.

This was way back and unsolved, but I finally detectived it out, for those who helped and were curious about it.

Tardigrade posted:

Years ago, I ran into a book in a bookshop that was about dragons. It was written in a realistic field notes style with sketches and all, with the protagonists landing on an island and discovering loads of weird animals. I remember the dragons being pink with pterosaurian heads, gills, and light balloon-like bodies. There was also some kind of living bear-trap creature.

It's called The Unprecedented Discovery of the Dragon Islands, and it's about as colorful as I remember.

# ? Jul 15, 2016 00:51

SerialKilldeer: Apr 25, 2014

A Russian/Slavic folktale about a land surrounded by a wall of bread, and to get there you had to eat your way through. I recall reading this in a collection of folktales which also had a story explaining why the sea is salty (because a grinder that could produce infinite salt was thrown to the bottom).

# ? Jul 15, 2016 21:56

Tardigrade: Jul 13, 2012; Half arthropod, half marshmallow, all cute.

SerialKilldeer posted:

A Russian/Slavic folktale about a land surrounded by a wall of bread, and to get there you had to eat your way through. I recall reading this in a collection of folktales which also had a story explaining why the sea is salty (because a grinder that could produce infinite salt was thrown to the bottom).

The latter is the Finnish Kalevala story of Vainamoinen and the Sampo (the aforementioned mill), if having names helps.

# ? Jul 15, 2016 22:10

Karia: Mar 27, 2013; Self-portrait, Snake on a Plane
Oil painting, c. 1482-1484
Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1591)

Classic sci-fi book, read probably twelve years ago, but I'm pretty sure it was old then. Set on an asteroid/very small planetoid. Human scientists are using robots to interact with the insect-like natives because it's very cold. The natives were very instinct driven, and it ultimately turned out that their instincts make them build a nuclear bomb to throw themselves into space and populate other places. I think the title of the book was a temperature in Kelvin, though it could be Celsius. Anybody know?

# ? Jul 16, 2016 03:53

Runcible Cat: May 28, 2007; Ignoring this post

Karia posted:

Classic sci-fi book, read probably twelve years ago, but I'm pretty sure it was old then. Set on an asteroid/very small planetoid. Human scientists are using robots to interact with the insect-like natives because it's very cold. The natives were very instinct driven, and it ultimately turned out that their instincts make them build a nuclear bomb to throw themselves into space and populate other places. I think the title of the book was a temperature in Kelvin, though it could be Celsius. Anybody know?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelot_30K

# ? Jul 16, 2016 10:24

Karia: Mar 27, 2013; Self-portrait, Snake on a Plane
Oil painting, c. 1482-1484
Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1591)

Runcible Cat posted:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelot_30K

Perfect, thank you!

# ? Jul 16, 2016 12:07

Danknificent: Nov 20, 2015; Jinkies! Looks like we've got a mystery on our hands.

Middle grade/young readers type spooky story - I believe it was in an anthology, though it might've been a standalone book.

3 kids, probably siblings, one who liked taxidermy animals (called them specimens, maybe named Quentin? Something with a Q), one who ate too much, and one a girl - spending the night in like a funeral home, and a corpse comes to life and chases them? The corpse's name was like Tobin/Tobitt or something.

Anyone know it?

# ? Jul 16, 2016 15:01

Stupid_Sexy_Flander: Mar 14, 2007; Is a man not entitled to the haw of his maw?; Grimey Drawer

Trying to remember a book I read. Can't recall any details except for one weird scene.

Main protagonist and friend go to a doctor, who's a witch or warlock or something. He's offering choices to a girl gymnast where he can fix her knee and it'll work fine but she won't be able to compete anymore, or he can fix it where she can compete and maybe win, except it won't stand up to the stress well and it'll blow out and no longer be a functioning knee.

He does some kinda magic (think there's plants involved) and she ends up choosing the "fix it so I can compete" option.

I am pretty sure it's a recent book, so something in the last 2 or 3 years at the earliest. It's an urban fantasy one, but damned if I can remember anything else past that.

# ? Jul 16, 2016 20:28

Ornamented Death: Jan 25, 2006; Pew pew!

Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:

Trying to remember a book I read. Can't recall any details except for one weird scene.

Main protagonist and friend go to a doctor, who's a witch or warlock or something. He's offering choices to a girl gymnast where he can fix her knee and it'll work fine but she won't be able to compete anymore, or he can fix it where she can compete and maybe win, except it won't stand up to the stress well and it'll blow out and no longer be a functioning knee.

He does some kinda magic (think there's plants involved) and she ends up choosing the "fix it so I can compete" option.

I am pretty sure it's a recent book, so something in the last 2 or 3 years at the earliest. It's an urban fantasy one, but damned if I can remember anything else past that.

Maybe if you slowed down and didn't read hundreds of books per year you'd be able to recall the title :colbert:

# ? Jul 16, 2016 20:39

Stupid_Sexy_Flander: Mar 14, 2007; Is a man not entitled to the haw of his maw?; Grimey Drawer

True, but then I'd probably have to start watching TV or something and then it all goes to hell from there...

# ? Jul 16, 2016 20:42

SerialKilldeer: Apr 25, 2014

SerialKilldeer posted:

A Russian/Slavic folktale about a land surrounded by a wall of bread, and to get there you had to eat your way through.

It occurred to me that the magical land I had in mind might have been Cockaygne of medieval European mythology. A poem about the place mentions both edible walls and that the land was very difficult to access, though not in conjunction like I remembered:

quote:

The house has many rooms and halls;
Pies and pasties form the walls,
Made with rich fillings, fish and meat,
The tastiest a man could eat.
Flour-cakes are the shingles all
Of cloister, chamber, church, and hall.
The nails are puddings, rich and fat---
Kings and princes might dine on that.
[...]
Whoever wants to reach this place,
Heavy penance he must face;
The man who hopes to share its bliss
For seven years---be sure of this---
Must wade through pigshit to his chin,
The pleasures of Cockaygne to win.

What I probably read as a child was a sanitized version in a collection of folktales from around the world.

# ? Jul 16, 2016 21:57

uXs: May 3, 2005; Mark it zero!

Anyone know the title of this one?

quote:

Nah, (the story is good though) what I meant is more like this one weird story where the secret to FTL-travel is hidden inside citrus-fruits.

Because of the Mediterranean states (Italy, Spain, Greece, etc.) finding the secret first and being able to grow them in massive quantities, they take over first the Earth, then the entire goddamn universe.

But after a while a strange, unknown power from another reality invades and destroys our subordinate alien peoples one by one. In true Italy-in-WWI-fashion, Earth throws one alien army and fleet after another against the menace.

In the end, contact with the rest of the universe stops completely and the unknown power enters the solar system.

Sadly I completely forgot name and author of this story. But the idea of fruit-based FTL still makes me chuckle today.

Someone posted this in the Space thread and it sounds cool.

# ? Jul 26, 2016 14:54

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# ? May 10, 2024 22:38

Chairman Capone: Dec 17, 2008

There's an Isaac Asimov (I think... maybe Arthur C. Clarke, but I'm pretty sure Asimov) short story about a rabbi being called in to determine if a genetically engineered pig with cloven hooves and which chews cud can be considered kosher... tried hard to find it today but even Google is failing me.

# ? Jul 27, 2016 15:23

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > The identify that story/book thread: Home of the gas pump boy

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