|
boom boom boom posted:A short story from an old sci-fi short story collection. I'm sorry, I just find this hilariously depressive.
|
# ? Jun 25, 2016 19:14 |
|
|
# ? May 10, 2024 07:21 |
|
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.
|
# ? Jun 25, 2016 22:08 |
|
Thanks!
|
# ? Jun 25, 2016 23:11 |
|
I'm gonna repost this again in the hopes that new people might recognize itboom 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 |
|
boom boom boom posted:I'm gonna repost this again in the hopes that new people might recognize it 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 |
|
Peztopiary posted:http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1280157.Maul Thank you! I've been looking for that for more than a year
|
# ? Jun 27, 2016 00:00 |
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 |
|
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: 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.
|
# ? Jun 29, 2016 21:35 |
|
Hughlander posted:Not exactly but Achilles Choice is similar: This is perfect, thanks so much!
|
# ? Jun 30, 2016 06:55 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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. I don't remember the straitjacket, but that's the Last Legionary series by Douglas Niles.
|
# ? Jul 2, 2016 17:47 |
|
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 |
|
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. 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 |
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. Starship Troopers by Heinlein, or a copycat.
|
|
# ? Jul 3, 2016 12:26 |
|
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 |
|
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. 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 |
|
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. 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 |
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 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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. This sounds like Alan Dean Foster's Jed the Dead.
|
# ? Jul 7, 2016 20:24 |
|
Hedrigall posted:This maybe? Not it...thanks for trying!
|
# ? Jul 8, 2016 05:25 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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?
|
# ? Jul 16, 2016 10:24 |
|
Perfect, thank you!
|
# ? Jul 16, 2016 12:07 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Trying to remember a book I read. Can't recall any details except for one weird scene. Maybe if you slowed down and didn't read hundreds of books per year you'd be able to recall the title .
|
|
# ? Jul 16, 2016 20:39 |
|
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 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; 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 |
|
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. Someone posted this in the Space thread and it sounds cool.
|
# ? Jul 26, 2016 14:54 |
|
|
# ? May 10, 2024 07:21 |
|
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 |