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Runcible Cat
May 28, 2007

Ignoring this post

hambeet posted:

Were they the only type of people doing books like this that you know of? What time of genre would this be under as graphic books bring up arts students resources or some manga and marvel comic compilations.

Thanks for you time and effort too, you really are a champion.
:blush:

They were the first, but they started a fad (in the UK at least) - Cowley did the similar Galactic Encounters series under his pseudonym of Caldwell*; Bob Shaw, I think, did a Galactic Tour version; I'm sure there were others... I'll have a rummage through the boxes in my spare room at the weekend, I might have some of them still. I don't know if the genre has ever been given a specific name, sorry.

*Here's a site with the covers of both - any of those ring bells?

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criptozoid
Jan 3, 2005

hambeet posted:

Were they the only type of people doing books like this that you know of?

Perhaps your book is mentioned somewhere in the blog Paleo-Future.

JoeNotCharles
Mar 3, 2005

Yet beyond each tree there are only more trees.

LittleSunshine posted:

*Here's a site with the covers of both - any of those ring bells?

Oh, man, the first "definition of vague" post really rang a bell - I'm sure my library had a bunch of those, including some with spaceships and one that was all pictures of aliens, but of course I couldn't remember any more.

Then I went to that link, and the aliens one definitely contained this creature. So thanks for reminding me of this stuff!

marrone
Mar 13, 2006

by Ozma
When I was in middle school, I read this novel about a boy that goes hiking with his father, gets lost in the desert, and somehow gets transported so far into a post-apocalyptic future that the people have started adapting and have these padded soles on their feet.

He realizes he's in the future when he finds a piece of a broken coke bottle in the ground. And there's some kind of king, but he's a prisoner from the kid's time that got sent to the future too.

Any thoughts?

hambeet
Sep 13, 2002

criptozoid posted:

Perhaps your book is mentioned somewhere in the blog Paleo-Future.

I had a look through it and couldn't find anything related to it, but that is a pretty cool site. I've book marked that for future reading. Thanks.

LittleSunshine posted:

:blush:

They were the first, but they started a fad (in the UK at least) - Cowley did the similar Galactic Encounters series under his pseudonym of Caldwell*; Bob Shaw, I think, did a Galactic Tour version; I'm sure there were others... I'll have a rummage through the boxes in my spare room at the weekend, I might have some of them still. I don't know if the genre has ever been given a specific name, sorry.

*Here's a site with the covers of both - any of those ring bells?

None of those covers ring a bell, no, but the more I see of the spaceship designs and colour schemes I am sure that you've put me on the right track. There's definately the feeling of familiarity looking at those spaceships.

I guess I have to try to source them, or find a library that has them so I can see if it is what I'm thinking of.

In my original thread I started (and have since closed) Anapaest thinks it could be one of the Spacecraft 2100 to 2200AD series as well.

Anapaest posted:


I think I may own this book, although it's at home now and I'm not. Were the ship/robots etc. grouped by "faction" of some sort? And were those factions something like "proximan," "alpha-centaurian" and possibly others? Were the descriptions of the ships in relation to a past war had between Earth and one or more of these factions?

Sorry if this isn't what you were thinking of, but your description really sounded like the book I have, though I can't think of the title off the top of my head.

edit-
was this it? http://www.amazon.com/Spacecraft-21...8229&sr=8-3
That's the one I have. (pretty sure, though mine is missing its dust jacket, so I don't know what the cover looks like.)

Hope this helps...


Now this is going right down memory lane, I do recall something about factions (actually I'm getting increasingly confident there were two or three factions) and something about a previous war. I'm getting closer I believe, thanks all for you help. I'll have to try to find one to look inside of so I can confirm it now.

edit: An update for all of those on the edge of their seats following my harrowing trip down memory lane :P. Reading all the links provided, I'm 100% the book is on of the Terran Trade Authority. Mentions of the "deVass drive" tripped my memory. I'm going to go get them regardless now. Thanks LittleSunshine, criptozoid and Anapaest, I owe you all E-Beer's!

hambeet fucked around with this message at 08:32 on May 30, 2008

Runcible Cat
May 28, 2007

Ignoring this post

JoeNotCharles posted:

Oh, man, the first "definition of vague" post really rang a bell - I'm sure my library had a bunch of those, including some with spaceships and one that was all pictures of aliens, but of course I couldn't remember any more.

Then I went to that link, and the aliens one definitely contained this creature. So thanks for reminding me of this stuff!
Cool! That series is a swine to find though, not least because most of them had crappy glue which meant the pages fell out after a couple of readings. I ended up taking them apart and papering my room with them - it was a work of nerd folk art.

hambeet posted:

edit: An update for all of those on the edge of their seats following my harrowing trip down memory lane :P. Reading all the links provided, I'm 100% the book is on of the Terran Trade Authority. Mentions of the "deVass drive" tripped my memory. I'm going to go get them regardless now. Thanks LittleSunshine, criptozoid and Anapaest, I owe you all E-Beer's!
:cheers:

I think the deVass drive is in Encounters too, but it's definitely one of Cowley/Caldwell's series then. Hooray for us!

gruvmeister
Dec 28, 2006

Spring has sprung,
The grass has riz,
I wonder where the flowers is
This may have been asked before, forgive me if it has (thread now bookmarked):

I'm trying to remember the name/author of a story I read a while back. This would be late 90's or early 00's, and it was probably published about then. It's a short story about a guy who finds a genie in a lamp, and gets the cliched three wishes. However, this guy is one smart fella, and through a lot of talking, asking questions, and careful wording, ends up successfully doing what everyone who gets genie wishes tries: unlimited wishes.

After asking a friend about it, I think it's a short little story in a book that has something to do with software licensing and legalese. Neither of us remembers where it came from though, and Google doesn't help much.

Sound familiar to anyone?

Ulalume
Mar 2, 2007

The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead.
My roommate and I were talking about children's stories involving death, like Where the Red Fern Grows. He mentioned one I cannot remember for the life of me, it just sounds like a mash up of Bridge to Teribithia and the movie My Girl. The two lead characters are a boy and a girl, middle to high school age (so... 11 - 13?). The boy has a crush on the girl but she's with someone else, but eventually gives him a chance. It doesn't work out. He goes to this tree alone, falls out of it and dies. She's the one to find him. Any ideas?

Another he cannot remember the title of is about a boy who's always running, possibly has Run in the title. It's not Forrest Gump.

Fedaykin
Mar 24, 2004
In elementary school my teacher read a book to my class and all I can remember about it is the following.

A girl is uncovering an old trail in her backyard that goes into the woods. The trail was made by Indians or something and is made of stones.

I think the title had a bird's name in it and it was red.

Sorry, this isn't much to go on but that's all I remember.

Sweetwater Kill
Jun 7, 2006

La vierge Marie vous regarde.

Ulalume posted:

Another he cannot remember the title of is about a boy who's always running, possibly has Run in the title. It's not Forrest Gump.

It's not Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, is it?

Ulalume
Mar 2, 2007

The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead.

Sweetwater Kill posted:

It's not Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, is it?

Well done! Thank you! :3:

Fedaykin posted:

I doubt it, I never read it, but The Witch of Blackbird Pond?

Fedaykin
Mar 24, 2004

Ulalume posted:

I doubt it, I never read it, but The Witch of Blackbird Pond?

Nope

penguin mania
Jun 20, 2007

..he might just be crazy enough to do it...

teamdest posted:

alright maybe someone can help me, this has been driving me mad for close to six years now, and i'm at my wit's end!

there are two stories i remember reading, that i really enjoyed years ago but cannot remember the name of.

the first one was possibly in an elementry school short story collection, and was about (i think) the sun becoming a red giant in the far future. the earth is being evacuated, and the story follows a poor family who are crammed aboard one of the "cheap" starships and launched out into space. when they finally reach a planet the youngest child on the ship is chosen to name it, and she (he?) chooses the name "sunshine" or possibly "sunlight". additionally, there is some kind of grass on the planet that is very sharp and cuts their feet when they first run out onto the ground, and they call for boots. that's all i can remember.


This is from the first page, but I'm pretty sure no one's answered it. It's The Green Book by Jill Paton Walsh. I read it in elementary school as well, and enjoyed it so much that I bought a copy when I came across it several years later. You're right about the youngest character being a girl. Search reveals she names the planet "Shine."

teamdest, you'd better love me forever. (Although who knows whether or not you've given up hope by now...)

e: Also, ItalicSquirrels's recollections on p. 5 are entirely spot on. I'm 100% sure this is the book.

penguin mania fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Jun 6, 2008

penguin mania
Jun 20, 2007

..he might just be crazy enough to do it...

Fedaykin posted:

In elementary school my teacher read a book to my class and all I can remember about it is the following.

A girl is uncovering an old trail in her backyard that goes into the woods. The trail was made by Indians or something and is made of stones.

I think the title had a bird's name in it and it was red.

Sorry, this isn't much to go on but that's all I remember.

How about Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech? Uncovering trail in backyard, check. (Not sure about the stones part.) Bird in title, check. Red, check. Don't know if a teacher would read it aloud to the class, though, it's rather long for that unless it was over a long period of time.

Fedaykin
Mar 24, 2004

penguin mania posted:

How about Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech? Uncovering trail in backyard, check. (Not sure about the stones part.) Bird in title, check. Red, check. Don't know if a teacher would read it aloud to the class, though, it's rather long for that unless it was over a long period of time.

That's the one, thanks!

elbow
Jun 7, 2006

I have a pretty weird and vague one.

I'm not sure if I've actually ever read the entire thing, or just a page, and I'm also not sure whether it's a short story or a novel.

The only thing I remember is some sort of necrophilic scene with 3 or 4 people in a room, one of whom is dead. I'm fairly sure there's a little girl involved (who may or may not be the dead one) and there's some fascination with the dead person's eye. I'm not sure if they actually have sex with the corpse, but there's supposed to be an erotic atmosphere (a very hosed up one, obviously).

For some reason I have the feeling that the story is quite old, and may have been written by someone who wrote some famous novels/stories, like Poe.

Anyone?

VOICEOFTHEDRAGON
Jan 1, 2006

elbow posted:

I have a pretty weird and vague one.

I'm not sure if I've actually ever read the entire thing, or just a page, and I'm also not sure whether it's a short story or a novel.

The only thing I remember is some sort of necrophilic scene with 3 or 4 people in a room, one of whom is dead. I'm fairly sure there's a little girl involved (who may or may not be the dead one) and there's some fascination with the dead person's eye. I'm not sure if they actually have sex with the corpse, but there's supposed to be an erotic atmosphere (a very hosed up one, obviously).

For some reason I have the feeling that the story is quite old, and may have been written by someone who wrote some famous novels/stories, like Poe.

Anyone?

That sounds like a scene from The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende.

Cheese Hostess
Apr 8, 2007

ItalicSquirrels posted:

Oh, Good God. I think I remember reading this one. If I remember correctly, the Earth is undergoing some kind of Ice Age (in the beginning, the kids ask if the old pictures were brown with age or if it was just warmer). They make it to their new planet, and find out that there's an insane amount of silicon (or something) in the soil that makes all the plants very glass-like.

In addition, there are these moth people that live for a year and lay eggs around the place. Other random memories are the wheat being glass-like, the lake being sort of mercury-like, the father turning into an inventor, and that burning the trees in the area was the best way to cut them down. Also, no one really brought any good works of art (the Bible, Shakespeare, Iliad, Odyssey, etc.).

Hope that helps someone.

Edit: Unfortunately I have had no luck in my searches. Anyone else?

I think that's The Green Book by Jill Paton Walsh, but I could be wrong - it's been forever since I read it.

elbow
Jun 7, 2006

VOICEOFTHEDRAGON posted:

That sounds like a scene from The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende.

Hmm, I wouldn't know where I would have come across that, but I'll check it out, thanks :)

Sweetwater Kill
Jun 7, 2006

La vierge Marie vous regarde.

elbow posted:

I have a pretty weird and vague one.

I'm not sure if I've actually ever read the entire thing, or just a page, and I'm also not sure whether it's a short story or a novel.

The only thing I remember is some sort of necrophilic scene with 3 or 4 people in a room, one of whom is dead. I'm fairly sure there's a little girl involved (who may or may not be the dead one) and there's some fascination with the dead person's eye. I'm not sure if they actually have sex with the corpse, but there's supposed to be an erotic atmosphere (a very hosed up one, obviously).

For some reason I have the feeling that the story is quite old, and may have been written by someone who wrote some famous novels/stories, like Poe.

Anyone?

What immediately comes to mind for me is Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille.

elbow
Jun 7, 2006

Sweetwater Kill posted:

What immediately comes to mind for me is Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille.

Yes, that's it! Thanks so much :)

DoctorScurvy
Nov 11, 2005
More of a passing curiosity, really
Within the last couple of years there was a thread somewhere around here (GBS or perhaps PYF) that was focussed on creepy short stories. I haven't been able to find it again even when search was functioning, but perhaps you might recognise some of these scenes. These are all very short, creepy almost-horror stories.

1. There is a small village wherein lives a child with demonic powers. After he 'clawed out' of his mother's womb, he somehow separated the village from the rest of the world after the doctor tried to kill him - the village members don't know whether they were taken away or the rest of the world was destroyed. He has omnipotent telekinetic powers and can read people's thoughts, so those around him put great effort into thinking about nothing, lest he read their mind and 'help'. Near the start of the story, a fellow on his bike accidentally thinks about getting away from the child so he (the child) wills the guy's feet to pedal at incredible speeds. When someone threatens the boy he 'buries them in the field'. The main problem in the story is that they are running out of food and the weather is too hot (or cold), but they are trying not to ask the child for help because his definition of helping always comes out in the "be careful what you wish for" fashion.

2. Some unnatural force has caused a "change" in the world, where ordinary objects change their function sporadically. Someone is out on the road when a Change occurs and they sink into the pavement.

3. Humanity has discovered that they can solve the population crisis by expanding into parallel dimensions. A supercomputer, which I believe discovered the dimensions, analyses each version of Earth for suitability for life, and because there's an infinite number of dimensions, each family gets a house built on their very own planet. Problems occur when one of the Earths is discovered to suddenly have life on it, and we learn that among those infinite realities exist other civilisations who have also figured out the trick to shifting between dimensions (they speak German; in their reality WWII was won by Hitler). In the end of the story, one of the earths has an alien presence that breaks into the occupant's house and is presumably going to figure out how to use the dimension gate. I think this is an Asimov story.

fritz
Jul 26, 2003

DoctorScurvy posted:

1. There is a small village wherein lives a child with demonic powers.

"It's a Good Life", Jerome Bixby.

Mister Kingdom
Dec 14, 2005

And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light
I believe this was a short story I read in the late 70s/early 80s.

It takes place in a dystopian future. A boy has to do his chores and says (paraphrased), "I wish I had three arms, then I could do this faster." He is immediately punished for wishing such a thing.

Runcible Cat
May 28, 2007

Ignoring this post

Mister Kingdom posted:

I believe this was a short story I read in the late 70s/early 80s.

It takes place in a dystopian future. A boy has to do his chores and says (paraphrased), "I wish I had three arms, then I could do this faster." He is immediately punished for wishing such a thing.
This happens to David, the hero of John Wyndham's The Chrysalids - his society has a religious horror of mutants and his dad gives him the full "YOU HAVE OFFENDED GOD BY WISHING YOURSELF A MUTANT!" treatment. It's a novel though, but I suppose you could have read an excerpt....

ninja e: it's got a different title in the colonies - Re-Birth, I think.

anarchyrepublica
Apr 3, 2006
The most horrid flaw of humanity is our inability to comprehend our own experiences

therattle posted:

The whole point is that people often don't remember much...

I see what you're saying, Rattle, however, his description of your post is pretty spot-on. Just don't refer to yourself as "precocious" and go out of your way to point out that you were reading material aimed at "older kids" and that if you liked it, it was "probably pretty good." Get over yourself.

anarchyrepublica
Apr 3, 2006
The most horrid flaw of humanity is our inability to comprehend our own experiences

DoctorScurvy posted:

Within the last couple of years there was a thread somewhere around here (GBS or perhaps PYF) that was focussed on creepy short stories. I haven't been able to find it again even when search was functioning, but perhaps you might recognise some of these scenes. These are all very short, creepy almost-horror stories.

1. There is a small village wherein lives a child with demonic powers. After he 'clawed out' of his mother's womb, he somehow separated the village from the rest of the world after the doctor tried to kill him - the village members don't know whether they were taken away or the rest of the world was destroyed. He has omnipotent telekinetic powers and can read people's thoughts, so those around him put great effort into thinking about nothing, lest he read their mind and 'help'. Near the start of the story, a fellow on his bike accidentally thinks about getting away from the child so he (the child) wills the guy's feet to pedal at incredible speeds. When someone threatens the boy he 'buries them in the field'. The main problem in the story is that they are running out of food and the weather is too hot (or cold), but they are trying not to ask the child for help because his definition of helping always comes out in the "be careful what you wish for" fashion.

2. Some unnatural force has caused a "change" in the world, where ordinary objects change their function sporadically. Someone is out on the road when a Change occurs and they sink into the pavement.

3. Humanity has discovered that they can solve the population crisis by expanding into parallel dimensions. A supercomputer, which I believe discovered the dimensions, analyses each version of Earth for suitability for life, and because there's an infinite number of dimensions, each family gets a house built on their very own planet. Problems occur when one of the Earths is discovered to suddenly have life on it, and we learn that among those infinite realities exist other civilisations who have also figured out the trick to shifting between dimensions (they speak German; in their reality WWII was won by Hitler). In the end of the story, one of the earths has an alien presence that breaks into the occupant's house and is presumably going to figure out how to use the dimension gate. I think this is an Asimov story.

I don't know, but it sounds like Orson Scott Card to me. Each family receiving their own planet is a very Scott Card motif (Mormon).

Mister Kingdom
Dec 14, 2005

And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light

LittleSunshine posted:

This happens to David, the hero of John Wyndham's The Chrysalids - his society has a religious horror of mutants and his dad gives him the full "YOU HAVE OFFENDED GOD BY WISHING YOURSELF A MUTANT!" treatment. It's a novel though, but I suppose you could have read an excerpt....

ninja e: it's got a different title in the colonies - Re-Birth, I think.

I don't think that's it. I'm sure the story was new at the time I read it. Thanks, though.

Captain Equinox
Sep 15, 2005

By day a mild-mannered college professor, by night Kiki, go-go dancer at the Pussycat Club. But twice a year, he's... CAPTAIN EQUINOX!

LittleSunshine posted:

This happens to David, the hero of John Wyndham's The Chrysalids - his society has a religious horror of mutants and his dad gives him the full "YOU HAVE OFFENDED GOD BY WISHING YOURSELF A MUTANT!" treatment. It's a novel though, but I suppose you could have read an excerpt....

ninja e: it's got a different title in the colonies - Re-Birth, I think.

Mister Kingdom posted:

I don't think that's it. I'm sure the story was new at the time I read it. Thanks, though.

From your initial description, I'm positive LittleSunshine is right. That scene is right out of the start of The Chrysalids. Here's a quote:

I said I was sorry, and added:
"I could have managed it all right by myself if I'd had another hand."
My voice must have carried, for silence fell on the whole room like a clap.
My mother froze.
...
"You - my own son - were calling upon the Devil to give you another hand!" he accused me.
"But I wasn't. I only - "
"You blasphemed, boy. You found fault with the Norm."

Mister Kingdom
Dec 14, 2005

And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light

Captain Equinox posted:

From your initial description, I'm positive LittleSunshine is right. That scene is right out of the start of The Chrysalids. Here's a quote:

I said I was sorry, and added:
"I could have managed it all right by myself if I'd had another hand."
My voice must have carried, for silence fell on the whole room like a clap.
My mother froze.
...
"You - my own son - were calling upon the Devil to give you another hand!" he accused me.
"But I wasn't. I only - "
"You blasphemed, boy. You found fault with the Norm."

Now that you quoted it, it does sound like the story. Thanks. I stand corrected.

Now off to the library.

e: crap. went online to my local library and they don't have it.

Mister Kingdom fucked around with this message at 03:41 on Jun 9, 2008

Mark it Zero
Nov 29, 2005
clownpenis.fart
I read this series when I was about 10 or 11 (95ish) and I remember them scaring the crap out of me, but little else. The series protagonist is a fat kid with glasses who ends up living with his grandparents after his mom and dad die. The kid was catholic, I think he may have even been an altar boy. the books centered around him solving these mysteries around his town, but I remember there being lots of ghosts and riddles behind statues and whatnot. the series takes place in the 50's. the cover art reminded me alot of the Edward Gorey Mystery intro on PBS.


So . . . Fat catholic kid with glasses facing off against ghostly happenings, anyone?

Elohssa Gib
Aug 30, 2006

Easily Amused

DoctorScurvy posted:


2. Some unnatural force has caused a "change" in the world, where ordinary objects change their function sporadically. Someone is out on the road when a Change occurs and they sink into the pavement.


"Something Passed By" by Robert R. McCammon.
An excellent short story, you can read it here http://www.robertmccammon.com/fiction/something.html.

Bob Ojeda
Apr 15, 2008

I AM A WHINY LITTLE EMOTIONAL BITCH BABY WITH NO SENSE OF HUMOR

IF YOU SEE ME POSTING REMIND ME TO SHUT THE FUCK UP

marrone posted:

When I was in middle school, I read this novel about a boy that goes hiking with his father, gets lost in the desert, and somehow gets transported so far into a post-apocalyptic future that the people have started adapting and have these padded soles on their feet.

He realizes he's in the future when he finds a piece of a broken coke bottle in the ground. And there's some kind of king, but he's a prisoner from the kid's time that got sent to the future too.

Any thoughts?
Pretty sure this is The Transall Saga by Gary Paulsen - does that sound right?

Mark it Zero posted:

I read this series when I was about 10 or 11 (95ish) and I remember them scaring the crap out of me, but little else. The series protagonist is a fat kid with glasses who ends up living with his grandparents after his mom and dad die. The kid was catholic, I think he may have even been an altar boy. the books centered around him solving these mysteries around his town, but I remember there being lots of ghosts and riddles behind statues and whatnot. the series takes place in the 50's. the cover art reminded me alot of the Edward Gorey Mystery intro on PBS.


So . . . Fat catholic kid with glasses facing off against ghostly happenings, anyone?
I distinctly remember some very similar books in my school library growing up. I think there were several related series; I recall the one you mentioned, and also one where the kid is close friends with the local librarian - perhaps they travel to an alternate dimension with some sort of people who are plotting to take over earth.

Edit: Got lucky with some Googling - pretty sure the person I was thinking of was John Bellairs. Is that who you were thinking of?

Bob Ojeda fucked around with this message at 07:28 on Jun 9, 2008

Mark it Zero
Nov 29, 2005
clownpenis.fart

enuma elish posted:

I distinctly remember some very similar books in my school library growing up. I think there were several related series; I recall the one you mentioned, and also one where the kid is close friends with the local librarian - perhaps they travel to an alternate dimension with some sort of people who are plotting to take over earth.

Edit: Got lucky with some Googling - pretty sure the person I was thinking of was John Bellairs. Is that who you were thinking of?

YES!, thank you. Ive been trying to remember the dudes name for years!

and oh poo poo, It was Edward Gorey who illustrated it!

sephiRoth IRA
Jun 13, 2007

"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality."

-Carl Sagan
This is a long shot, but I remember a book that was shown to me that you could read in a circle, as in you could start reading from any point in the book and it would flow nicely till the page prior to the one you started on. I have no idea what it looks like, or what it was about, or even when the book was created. I'm not expecting an answer, but google has failed me and this seemed like it might work. Thanks and good luck, I guess.

DoctorScurvy
Nov 11, 2005
More of a passing curiosity, really

fritz posted:

"It's a Good Life", Jerome Bixby.

Elohssa Gib posted:

"Something Passed By" by Robert R. McCammon.
An excellent short story, you can read it here http://www.robertmccammon.com/fiction/something.html.
Thanks, you two are great, those were exactly the stories I was looking for. If only there was a service like Pandora that could find similar short stories. Perhaps I/someone will start a "creepy short stories" thread in PYF one day.

DoctorScurvy fucked around with this message at 12:59 on Jun 9, 2008

ExCruceLeo
Oct 4, 2003

I'll choose the truth I like.
I still haven't found the book I have been searching quite awhile for. Here is another plot outline someone else (who is apparently searching for the same book) put on another board.


quote:

The boy is part of a large group of boys who are overseen by a man who was once a boy in the group. They are taken to the mainland to serve as slaves. The boy becomes a leader of the others and has a loyal companion who either protected him, or was protected by him. The boy is different from the others in his courage and resilience. He is ultimately chosen to be the next overseer, but he and his friend escape the island and go to the mainland.

Once they are there, they go (are sent?) on a quest to somewhere very cold (lots of ice and snow). A beautiful girl shelters them and readies the boy to claim his throne as king (some kind of prophecy). He lives with her and becomes her lover. The faithful friend loves her, too. At the end, very unexpectedly, the boy dies and the friend becomes king.

Any ideas?

JoeNotCharles
Mar 3, 2005

Yet beyond each tree there are only more trees.

areyoucontagious posted:

This is a long shot, but I remember a book that was shown to me that you could read in a circle, as in you could start reading from any point in the book and it would flow nicely till the page prior to the one you started on. I have no idea what it looks like, or what it was about, or even when the book was created. I'm not expecting an answer, but google has failed me and this seemed like it might work. Thanks and good luck, I guess.

I'm sure it's not what you're thinking of, but Finnegan's Wake?

ExCruceLeo
Oct 4, 2003

I'll choose the truth I like.

ExCruceLeo posted:

I still haven't found the book I have been searching quite awhile for. Here is another plot outline someone else (who is apparently searching for the same book) put on another board.


Any ideas?

I finally found it. Wings of a Falcon by Cynthia Voight.

A great weight has been lifted from my chest.

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DoctorScurvy
Nov 11, 2005
More of a passing curiosity, really

DoctorScurvy posted:

3. Humanity has discovered that they can solve the population crisis by expanding into parallel dimensions.
I found this one I was looking for, it's called "Living Space" by Isaac Asimov

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