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Okay, I feel like a dingus because old, cheesy, lighthearted sci-fi and fantasy are basically what I was made for, but I can't remember the name of this really obvious, not-obscure series. It's an oldish fantasy series where the character/s explore various wildly different fantasy worlds. The only one I specifically remember is from one of the later books, where's there's an elaborate contraption in the netherworld that uses immortal imps in cages as a binary code system for a chunky mechanical computer - the imps have to stick their tongue out or keep it in their mouth to indicate the state.
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Jun 29, 2018 08:54
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I'm trying to remember the name of a science fiction short story. The plot revolves around salvagers who make their livings retrieving cast-off metal shells from spacecraft. They live off-world, but I don't remember where. They need water for reaction mass in their ships. They want to be able to reload their water on Earth, but Earth politicians have made a big deal out of the spacers stealing Earth's precious water. I remember there's a bit where they go through the math, and show that zillions of ships using Earth's water for a gajillion years would only amount to some tiny fraction of a percent of Earth's total water, so the objections are horseshit, and purely being used as a political cudgel. Anyway, they find a giant ice ball in space, and grab it, thus solving their water problems. They snarkily offer to share their water bounty with poor Earth, since Earth is so concerned about running out of water.
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Jun 29, 2018 16:14
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Veni Vidi Ameche! posted:I'm trying to remember the name of a science fiction short story. The plot revolves around salvagers who make their livings retrieving cast-off metal shells from spacecraft. They live off-world, but I don't remember where. They need water for reaction mass in their ships. They want to be able to reload their water on Earth, but Earth politicians have made a big deal out of the spacers stealing Earth's precious water. I remember there's a bit where they go through the math, and show that zillions of ships using Earth's water for a gajillion years would only amount to some tiny fraction of a percent of Earth's total water, so the objections are horseshit, and purely being used as a political cudgel. "The Martian Way" by Isaac Asimov, you can find it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Science_Fiction_Hall_of_Fame,_Volume_Two Apparently Asimov intended it as an attack on McCarthyism! but was too subtle
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Jun 29, 2018 16:25
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John Lee posted:Okay, I feel like a dingus because old, cheesy, lighthearted sci-fi and fantasy are basically what I was made for, but I can't remember the name of this really obvious, not-obscure series. It's an oldish fantasy series where the character/s explore various wildly different fantasy worlds. The only one I specifically remember is from one of the later books, where's there's an elaborate contraption in the netherworld that uses immortal imps in cages as a binary code system for a chunky mechanical computer - the imps have to stick their tongue out or keep it in their mouth to indicate the state. Sounds like the Master of the Five Magics series by Lyndon Hardy. The imp computer was in Riddle of the Seven Realms I think.
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Jun 29, 2018 18:24
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Also I want to live in your shoes where that series is obvious and not-obscure. It's one of my favorite thrift store finds from childhood but I've never met anyone else who's heard of it.
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Jun 29, 2018 18:30
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wizzardstaff posted:Also I want to live in your shoes where that series is obvious and not-obscure. It's one of my favorite thrift store finds from childhood but I've never met anyone else who's heard of it. Same, though it's not really a favorite. I think if it involves exploration of other worlds it -has- to be Seven Realms. Master of Five Magics was all in one world, and Secret of the Sixth Magic was fighting off an invasion, not exploring.
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Jun 29, 2018 19:45
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wizzardstaff posted:Sounds like the Master of the Five Magics series by Lyndon Hardy. The imp computer was in Riddle of the Seven Realms I think. I've only read the first two books, but reading that description I was thinking "wow, that sounds Lyndon Hardy as gently caress. Was there something like that in Secret of the Sixth Magic?"
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Jun 29, 2018 23:48
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wizzardstaff posted:Also I want to live in your shoes where that series is obvious and not-obscure. It's one of my favorite thrift store finds from childhood but I've never met anyone else who's heard of it. I've known a bunch of people who have read and liked it (myself included, at least for the first two), but yeah I think it dropped out of the zeitgeist pretty fast.
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Jun 30, 2018 00:53
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:"The Martian Way" by Isaac Asimov, you can find it here: Yep. I know you’re right without even checking. My brain has turned to wet loving cardboard over the years.
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Jun 30, 2018 05:53
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fritz posted:I've known a bunch of people who have read and liked it (myself included, at least for the first two), but yeah I think it dropped out of the zeitgeist pretty fast. I guess because people who read any fantasy are likely to be voracious and indiscriminate*, a lot of other people I know had read it, so I might have overestimated the popularity. Thanks a ton, all, I'm gonna be looking into picking up the series again! *rowr
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Jun 30, 2018 09:27
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My mom is trying to find some romance book she read. A woman gets in an accident, wakes up with different colored eyes, meets a man, and knows things only his dead wife could know, like exactly which drawer she kept the lotion in. Anyone have any ideas?
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Jul 4, 2018 21:12
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Another one from the hundred best-of anthologies I have scattered around my life: A narrative from the point of view of a concert promoter/band manager who is flying from gig to gig. As the story progresses, it is revealed that the band consists of dinosaurs created with Jurassic Park-style genetic methods. The guy is concerned that that the T-Rex front man is starting to develop an ego, and egos ruin bands.
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Jul 12, 2018 16:18
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yall read some weird poo poo
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Jul 12, 2018 17:35
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Veni Vidi Ameche! posted:Another one from the hundred best-of anthologies I have scattered around my life: I have definitely read this one but can’t remember its name. It was published in either (or both?) Lightspeed or Clarkesworld magazine within the last few years. They both have their archives online. Edit: found it, it’s “At Budokan” by Alistair Reynolds. wizzardstaff fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Jul 12, 2018 |
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Jul 12, 2018 19:46
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wizzardstaff posted:I have definitely read this one but can’t remember its name. It was published in either (or both?) Lightspeed or Clarkesworld magazine within the last few years. They both have their archives online. Yep, that's the one. Thanks.
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Jul 12, 2018 20:14
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Can't remember one I read a few years ago. It was an ebook, so the years would be something like 2010-2016? for release I guess. The basic premise of the book was a zombie novel. Some planet had a new teleporter or tweaked teleporter invented, and when it opened up for business or they started using it, it ended up turning the people who teleported into crazed zombie cannibal things. The only other detail I remember was a guy who was hiding in a vent shaft in a building spying on a girl. No loving clue on what it could be, but I don't actually thing the title of the book had zombie in it or anything. It was a sci fi book, obviously. Edit - Solved. Apparently this masterpiece is called ZOMBIE GALAXY. Stupid_Sexy_Flander fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Jul 15, 2018 |
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Jul 15, 2018 05:53
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Really weird sci-fi book I read maybe 10 years ago. The bad guys are a cult/gang who're infecting themselves with a virus that turns them into hammerhead sharks over time, and they've infected the main character too, somehow. And I think one of the main character's friends was turning himself into a lizard because of the lyrics to an REM song or something? It was weird.
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Jul 15, 2018 15:44
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I've just spent the last hour trying to find this book. I read it sometime between 2000 and 2010. I think the title is something like "Godplayed" or "Godplayers." The story involves parallel universes, and bad guys who are basically terminators (flesh over robot skeletons) and this is a plot point because most universes don't have the Terminator series of movies. It also involved the black hole Sagittarius A*, and google is bringing up absolutely nothing useful on any of this. :| I should add: It is neither the Robin Cook novel nor the Fred Saberhagen novel. Agents are GO! fucked around with this message at 14:40 on Jul 19, 2018 |
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Jul 19, 2018 14:37
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It's a short story translated from one of the Nordic languages about a cult of young girls sacrificing young men to Shub-Niggurath or something very much like Shub-Niggurath. I can't remember the author's name or the title. It was maybe on Tor.com but maybe not. *edit* found it like two minutes later. It's https://www.tor.com/2016/06/01/llovecraft-reread-anders-fager-furies-from-boras/ Relevant Tangent fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Jul 23, 2018 |
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Jul 23, 2018 02:20
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Agents are GO! posted:I should add: It is neither the Robin Cook novel nor the Fred Saberhagen novel. Is it perhaps the Damien Broderick book of the same name? The internet is a little light on plot details, but the timing is feasible. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/458181.Godplayers E: according to this review Sagittarius A* plays a part, so I think it might be it. Resident Idiot fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Jul 23, 2018 |
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Jul 23, 2018 02:46
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I'm looking for a sci-fi novel about a city that's basically built around a giant mountain. The higher up you go, the more technology works, the lower you go, the less it does. So at the very top there are these human-cyborg hybrids that fly around like angels and as you go down less and less poo poo works and at some point internal combustion breaks down. One of the protagonists was a high level angel who cut off his wings or somesuch.
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Jul 24, 2018 06:18
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Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:I'm looking for a sci-fi novel about a city that's basically built around a giant mountain. The higher up you go, the more technology works, the lower you go, the less it does. So at the very top there are these human-cyborg hybrids that fly around like angels and as you go down less and less poo poo works and at some point internal combustion breaks down. Alastair Reynold's Terminal World, I think.
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Jul 24, 2018 06:28
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Resident Idiot posted:Is it perhaps the Damien Broderick book of the same name? The internet is a little light on plot details, but the timing is feasible. This is EXACTLY it! Thank you! Now here's another I read in roughly the same time: People start discovering crystals around the world, which end up being actually a collection of uploaded alien minds with the express goal of getting earth's civilizations to make more of them before modern civilization falls, which the uploaded minds believe is inevitable. I want to say it was by Greg Bear or Benford. I remember the stones were called "corproliths" and the uploaded minds were lead by "OM" the Oldest Member, who was eventually theorized not to be an upload at all, but basically an AI virus which was trying to create more of itself. Agents are GO! fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Jul 24, 2018 |
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Jul 24, 2018 16:18
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Sure about that name? Coproliths are either impacted or fossilized turds
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Jul 24, 2018 16:29
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Agents are GO! posted:This is EXACTLY it! Thank you! That sounds an awful lot like the completely unnecessary reveal at the end of Tim Powers’ Dinner at Deviant’s Palace
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Jul 24, 2018 16:30
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Krankenstyle posted:Sure about that name? Coproliths are either impacted or fossilized turds Yes, that's why I remember it so clearly, because these stones were considered almost an infection, because everything they did was ultimately aimed at creating and launching more of themselves.
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Jul 24, 2018 19:17
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Hobnob posted:Alastair Reynold's Terminal World, I think. Got it in one! Thank you!
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Jul 25, 2018 05:25
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Agents are GO! posted:Yes, that's why I remember it so clearly, because these stones were considered almost an infection, because everything they did was ultimately aimed at creating and launching more of themselves. David Brin, "Existence" edit: although that doesn't have 'coprolith'? Hmm.
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Jul 25, 2018 22:11
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I agree, that is definitely Brin. It's meme infection, not feces. Well... "meme" may not be the best eord.
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Jul 26, 2018 03:07
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Unkempt posted:David Brin, "Existence" I think that's it, thanks!
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Jul 26, 2018 09:21
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Chronoliths? Admittedly, all I remember about that book is that it wasn't very good.
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Jul 27, 2018 10:36
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anilEhilated posted:Chronoliths? Admittedly, all I remember about that book is that it wasn't very good. Pretty sure they just had inscriptions from the future, not any kind of AI.
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Jul 27, 2018 15:25
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Apologies for the horribly vague/maybe misremembered - this is a really long shot but you lot have amazed people before many times! A short story in an anthology of scary/spooky/suspense tales. Think those ones that had Hitchcock's name slapped on them except probably not that for reasons to follow. Would have read it in the mid-eighties because I am an old. All the other stories were rather benign and then THIS fucker comes up and messes with my too young head (about 10)... Protagonist is some kind of envoy/ambassador/negotiator (although he could just be a journalist?) with an Idi Amin-style militaristic dictator (or maybe they're staging a guerrilla coup?) and makes visits to his compound. Negotiations/talks gradually break down and I think eventually his wife/partner is kidnapped as he wants her for himself, which leads to him confronting them. What follows is him being anaesthetised or drugged, all his limbs being removed and being put face down on a table in their barracks while the paramilitary (?) soldiers line up and...well there's no polite way to put this...run a train on him. Thanks for popping that jolly little tale in there amongst goofy stuff that's mostly suitable for a kid, publishers! I morbidly want to know if it's as bad as what has stuck in my head all this time and searching has never got me anything. Lots of descriptions of how stifling/humid/sweaty the place is too if that helps (probably not).
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Jul 28, 2018 08:04
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It sounds like the kind of hosed-up poo poo the Pan Book of Horror series was fond of because ~edgy~ but I don’t remember that one in particular. I’ve got most of the run somewhere in the boxroom, if I get time this weekend I’ll dig them out and look.
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Jul 28, 2018 08:49
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That reminds me of one I read in a similar anthology, probably more mid-late 90s though, about a guy who makes his living kidnapping kids and delivering them to child pornographers. I mostly remember the ending, where he gets into a car accident, wakes up in hospital with an amputated leg, then realizes actually some gangster boss (whose kid I think he had nabbed by mistake?) grabbed him after the accident. It ends right as they explain to him that child porn is big business, but hospital amputee porn makes good money as well, and bring in a porn actor while they turn him onto his stomach. I guess I might as well try and find out who comes up with this poo poo while we're on the subject.
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Jul 28, 2018 08:53
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My Lovely Horse posted:That reminds me of one I read in a similar anthology, probably more mid-late 90s though, about a guy who makes his living kidnapping kids and delivering them to child pornographers. I mostly remember the ending, where he gets into a car accident, wakes up in hospital with an amputated leg, then realizes actually some gangster boss (whose kid I think he had nabbed by mistake?) grabbed him after the accident. It ends right as they explain to him that child porn is big business, but hospital amputee porn makes good money as well, and bring in a porn actor while they turn him onto his stomach. I'm calling the police on granos.
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Jul 28, 2018 08:55
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Well I regret opening this thread this morning.
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Jul 28, 2018 09:44
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Runcible Cat posted:It sounds like the kind of hosed-up poo poo the Pan Book of Horror series was fond of because ~edgy~ but I don’t remember that one in particular. I’ve got most of the run somewhere in the boxroom, if I get time this weekend I’ll dig them out and look. Ah yes! The Pan thing definitely rings a big bell. And it was absolutely edgelord stuff with adult hindsight - very graphic detail with the ending as far as I recall. You could imagine the author...uh...writing with one hand trying to come up with the GROSSEST STORY MAAAAN. Cheers in advance if you manage to find out what it was called (and cheers for the help even if you don't!) - it's been on the tip of my brain for almost 3 drat decades now!
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Jul 28, 2018 09:49
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My Lovely Horse posted:That reminds me of one I read in a similar anthology, probably more mid-late 90s though, about a guy who makes his living kidnapping kids and delivering them to child pornographers. I mostly remember the ending, where he gets into a car accident, wakes up in hospital with an amputated leg, then realizes actually some gangster boss (whose kid I think he had nabbed by mistake?) grabbed him after the accident. It ends right as they explain to him that child porn is big business, but hospital amputee porn makes good money as well, and bring in a porn actor while they turn him onto his stomach.Can Can't remember the title of the anthology, but that description does ring some bells. (Horrible, horrible bells.) Pretty sure Edward Lee was the writer.
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Jul 28, 2018 17:07
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Reminds me of this collection of short stories I read somewhere, with the only two I remember at all being- - one where this guy gets lost and finds himself going to a bunch of inns all owned by the same family, with dumb names like 'The Meat', 'The Bones', etc' etc', and in the most predictable fashion ever it ends with the family killing the visitor and each inn makes use of the part in their name to make the stuff the visitor was complimenting them on being so great and such. - one that's in a post-apocalyptic world where almost everyone died to some illness, and this guy is in an abandoned diner with a woman who's apparently really really dumb (or so he thinks) and all he can think about while she's in the restroom is how little he cares about her and only wants to get in her pants, but he's really frustrated because she's very prudish. And then he suddenly dies... I'm guessing from the illness?
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Jul 28, 2018 17:42
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