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vegaji posted:Wow, yes, I believe that is it. I can't find anything about it online, but that sounds extremely familiar and I do remember something about kids singing Ashes, Ashes in the book. Thanks!  ) - I may have to track down a copy just to see if it is any good. It seems to be in the William Sleator/House of Stairs vein, if that helps.nemotrm posted:It might be a Douglas Adams: I am thinking of a book where they come across a village where it is customary to store the mummified remains of the ancestors within their houses. The protagonist takes a sample of the remains, with a knife I think, and it turns out that they are still alive, I think. (e: or if it was darker it could be one of the episodes in Joe Haldeman's All My Sins Remembered - it ends with the critically injured bad guy being put into the same kind of suspended animation.) Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 10:53 on Oct 5, 2008 |
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Oct 4, 2008 09:14
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nuvan posted:3. think this might be asimov or clarke. spaceship coming back from visiting another star system. star had gone supernova. there was a planet, had a civilization that was destroyed by said supernova. shipboard priest is having a crisis of faith because the supernova would have been seen on earth in about 30BC 4 might be Gemini God by Garry Kilworth maybe? I can't remember much about that though....
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Oct 13, 2008 17:31
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d8 posted:That sounds very much like a short story called 'The Gold at Starbow's End' or something similar. I don't recall the author. Hope this narrows your search a bit.
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Oct 21, 2008 07:25
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JoeNotCharles posted:This makes me think of an old story called The Waveries, about the Earth getting attacked by alien radio waves that initially copy the form of broadcasts sent out from Earth. At the beginning all the radios on earth start getting a fuzzy Morse code "S... S... S..." and the viewpoint character that's listening to it and immediately says, "That's Marconi" works in radio, so it's sort of his job. It moves on past Morse pretty quickly, though.
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Oct 27, 2008 16:40
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LeprechaunLass posted:I have one! This has been a private anguish since my childhood, since it was a young adult novel, or something similar.
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Oct 30, 2008 10:52
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angelicism posted:I don't remember much, just that it's probably fantasy judging from what I remember of it. There's a race of people who lives basically up in the trees -- either the trees are huge or the people are tiny because they use the branches as major roads, etc. that they walk along, and they have homes, I guess? somewhere on the tips of branches and maybe in the tree trunks themselves. Anyway, the ground is supposed to be this scary horrible place and anyone who falls there is assumed dead or worse. Or if there was more sex, violence, mind-controlling fungus and spacegoing spider-plants then Brian Aldiss' Hothouse, though that doesn't have any sequels. Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Oct 30, 2008 |
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Oct 30, 2008 16:06
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LeprechaunLass posted:HELL YES!
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Oct 30, 2008 23:41
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angelicism posted:Thank you SO MUCH though. It's pretty cheap used so I might just order a copy anyway to sate my childhood yearning. timeandtide posted:Does anyone remember a horror/mystery book (I read it about 8-10 years ago, but I think it had been published much earlier) about a man who is a stone worker of some sort in Europe/possibly Italy who gets to lead a project to restore a cathedral?
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Oct 31, 2008 11:57
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timeandtide posted:Wow, I Googled it to make sure and the covers under Google Images are identical to what I recall. I'll have to pick it up to make sure, but it sounds like you're spot on. But realistically, how many books with a steeplejack fighting the original cathedral mason who'd built himself into the cathedral and takes over the minds of small boys so they kill themselves as sacrifices could there be?
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Nov 1, 2008 09:59
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soapboxcritic posted:I remember one of my friends pointing out a rather interseting sounding book to me that was like 3 stories in one book but it would start one story, then start the next, then start the next, then end the first, end the second, and end the third. Said it may sound gimmicky but still a drat good book.
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Nov 4, 2008 21:49
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Elohssa Gib posted:The first thing that popped into my head was Jack L. Chalker's Well World series
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Nov 7, 2008 22:17
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TheLoquid posted:I have another one, though I think this one is much easier and less obscure. It's a childrens' story featuring small brown herbivorous animals that live underneath a city subsisting on moss until they eventually go into the upper world, where we discover that humans are gone but the damage they've done to the planet (teardrop) remains and that plant life, though struggling, is determined to survive. Any of this synopsis seem familiar? Ballsworthy posted:If it was Koontz, and you do manage to find it and read it, you'll just end up posting about it later in the "Horrible Books" thread. Serious. Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 18:31 on Nov 17, 2008 |
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Nov 17, 2008 18:27
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timeandtide posted:This sounds similar to a Vernor Vinge novel I once read. I can't remember the exact title, but it was either A Fire Upon the Deep or A Deepness in the Sky (they're in the same universe.)
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Dec 10, 2008 11:13
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Your first is the utterly brilliant Celestial Matters by Richard Garfinkle. The second kind of reminds me of The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter, but not quite - that one's a sequel to Wells' original The Time Machine, where the Time Traveller finds out his travelling's affecting history in pretty much the way you describe. e: vvvv Sounds cool; must get hold of a copy myself and see if it's as good as CM. vvvv Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Dec 10, 2008 |
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Dec 10, 2008 21:49
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Chikoto posted:It was "A Fire upon the Deep"! I remembered something like that but I remembered SO LITTLE of that I wasn't sure what to write that WOULDN'T add more confusion. Thanks to you and timeandtide.
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Dec 11, 2008 15:13
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Bazanga posted:The basic plot of the story was that there was this very advanced civilization where all disease, death, and poverty was nonexistent. Because of this, everything was a game to them and they had no ramifications to any of their actions that couldn't be fixed. They toyed with less advanced groups for fun until one of them decided to fight back and did something. (The synopsis I read didn't go into what exactly they did, only that it was a "terrorist attack")
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Dec 13, 2008 11:27
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fritz posted:I think that's by Ted Chiang?
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Dec 16, 2008 03:54
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gwar3k1 posted:I'm looking for a book that someone I know read when they were younger (let's say at least 5 years ago). All they remember was that it was about a boy who made graffiti. I don't know the author or the title, nor what the cover was like or the story, but it's potentially a teenage novel? She remembers really liking the artwork and thinks perhaps that the illustrator has done other work that may have been popular enough for people to recognise it. e: And why would you think Brits don't have graffiti? Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 22:09 on Dec 18, 2008 |
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Dec 18, 2008 22:06
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gwar3k1 posted:Do you know, that probabally is the book as she got excited when some Puffin books came in to her work then was disappointed when that one was not in the collection. When I ran Chris Riddell through GIS, his art style does seem to match her description also. I cannot confirm until after Christmas (fingers crossed this is the right one) as this is a stocking filler, so thank you very much for your help. gwar3k1 posted:e: Its not really in the public conscious to warrant a teenage novel here, or at least that's my conservative take on the subject. Personally, I've seen brilliant pieces in the cities I've lived and been too, but it's few and far between.
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Dec 18, 2008 22:36
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colt45andashove posted:This is a really long shot.
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Dec 19, 2008 11:19
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decoy_oct posted:The part I remember the most is when someone is telling the male main character and the female secondary character a story that either involves a murder or a rape, most likely murder. In this story, a female is being pursued by a murderer, and runs across multiple people while fleeing, each giving a reason why they cannot help. One of the people is a ferryman (or something like that) while another is a lover. The murderer then catches and murders the girl. The main and secondary character are then asked to list who was responsible for her murder. The list then becomes a list of what they find to be most important in life, and they both blame the same person the most, which corresponds with "magic".
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Dec 19, 2008 13:53
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Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky? vvvv  vvvv
Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 08:12 on Jan 19, 2009 |
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Jan 19, 2009 02:17
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therattle posted:The other one was an evil empire which had at its centre a writhing mass of telepathic tentacles, and anyone who had fallen within its grasp had a piece of tentacle warpped around their forehead that controlled them. When the tentacle was removed it was really agonising and could destroy the mind. e: come to think of it the first one you mentioned could be Hill's Colsec series, but I don't remember much about that.... vvvv e2: vvvv
Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 00:23 on Jan 29, 2009 |
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Jan 28, 2009 23:46
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ShardPhoenix posted:I'm thinking of a kids/young-adult science fiction book. There are at least two characters, a boy and a girl. They travel around in space after hollowing out an asteroid and attaching a hydrogen scoop to it. At one point, they get stuck on a planet and have to hunt for survival. At first they use a ray-gun, but the boy goes a bit native and makes a bow and arrow to hunt with instead. There might have been other people on the planet too.
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Feb 10, 2009 19:19
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oh uckfay posted:I'm looking for what I think was a short story. In the seventh grade one of my English teacher read it to us for Thanksgiving...
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Feb 14, 2009 18:19
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Michael_B posted:A couple of years ago I read a short story online which had been recommended from a thread on this forum... vvvv No prob! vvvv Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 23:30 on Mar 7, 2009 |
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Mar 7, 2009 22:52
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AberrantBassist posted:I've Googled everything I can think of to find this book, but I can't find it at all, and I'm really intrigued.
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Mar 9, 2009 00:41
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IceNiner posted:When I was in elementary school, (during the early 80's), we read an apocalyptic science fiction novel about a disease that ravages the planet which kills humans when they reach puberty. The story itself revolves around two camps of kids (the basically good vs. bad death struggle) and it had sort of a Lord of the Flies feel to it. I can't remember the drat name of the book. I believe the 'good kids' barricaded themselves in a school to protect themselves from the feral little bastards.
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Mar 25, 2009 11:20
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squeegee posted:There is also another book which I doubt I will ever identify. I read it maybe around 4th-6th grade. I mention it every couple years when one of these threads pop up but I progressively forget more and more information about the book and I don't remember anymore what is real and what I might have gotten confused from other sources. From what I can remember, it basically involved people on Earth(?) who lived in big dome-shaped compounds or large buildings, which went far underground as well. The characters were 2 or 3 children who lived in the underground levels. There might have been some kind of class system going on where they were forced to live there rather than above ground, but I can't remember. It seems to be kind of an oppressive system and there might be something that happens/is done to children at puberty that the characters are nervous about (or maybe not.) At some point 2 of the characters, maybe a boy and a girl, go up to the upper levels and look through the clear windows out into the world outside. I think there are some plants indoors that they are hiding behind. Someone, one or both of them ends up escaping from the compound and into the world outside, which I think they were told was uninhabitable. There might be something about a rabbit at some point, like maybe they see a rabbit when they've never seen animals before? They sleep under bushes and stuff and I guess try to get further away but I don't really remember why they ran away or what they were aiming for. I would have read this somewhere around 1994-1996. Brennanite posted:I'm trying to remember a really old book (~1940s) about Elizabeth I. I think it's a children's book and the whole novel is set during her childhood/teen years. I thought the title was "Princess Elizabeth" but I can't find a book about Elizabeth I with that title. Any suggestions?
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Mar 30, 2009 09:07
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squeegee posted:That sounds like it could be it. I looked at a picture of the book cover and it looks familiar as well, but nothing really rings any bells because it was so long ago. I also don't know if I might be thinking of another book AND this one at the same time. I'll have to see if I can find a copy of it and read it, I guess. Thanks!
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Mar 30, 2009 17:19
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squeegee posted:My strongest memory of the book is one scene, where (I believe) two characters are looking out huge glass windows to the outside world, which I don't think they have ever seen before. They may have been hiding behind some potted plants. I think the outside was green and lush, not like some kind of nuclear wasteland, but maybe I am wrong. In any case it really impressed them. I think they were also trying to hide because they knew they weren't supposed to be up there. There may have been something about a central PA system that was always making announcements. I also vaguely remember something about their schooling system in this compound, and also I distinctly remember there were pipes overhead everywhere. I seem to remember a scene near the beginning of the book where a group of children were chatting and their conversation gave the reader some insight into the culture. From what I read of "This Time of Darkness" I didn't see any other children characters, but the first few pages were upside down for some reason so I didn't read them. The above-ground part of the city is covered with a series of domes surrounded by an overgrown wilderness with savages who avoid the city but who the children have to avoid while heading to where they hope Axel's family farm is. It seems a decent match to what you describe; well worth your time to get hold of and see if it rings bells when you read it, I reckon.
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Mar 30, 2009 17:57
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calandryll posted:If I remember correctly one of the characters in the later books had white hair from Wales that was named Bran. I love these books to death.
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Apr 4, 2009 23:57
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calandryll posted:I was smart and avoided it like the plague. Didn't they remove the Dark is Rising bit from the title? loving OUCH.
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Apr 5, 2009 11:51
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b4k4hakujin posted:Ok after reading about the cartoon Les Mondes Engloutis I was reminded of this book I read in middle school (mid 90s but the book was from the 70s maybe).
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Apr 11, 2009 10:10
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GrandpaPants posted:I don't even know if this is a real story, but it's about a man who sees a woman on a different planet/galaxy/astronomical distance away through a telescope. He might have fallen in love with her or something. I think at some point there was something about the fact that the woman is probably already dead, seeing as how she's light years away.
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Apr 19, 2009 16:11
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criptozoid posted:The Diamond Lens by Fitz James O'Brien has a similar premise. I can't think of any where the plot point is distance rather than size, either. If it's time-viewing then maybe Daphne du Maurier's The House on the Strand - the hero takes a drug that lets him see the past. I think Lord Dunsany wrote a similar novel but I haven't read that (yet).
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Apr 19, 2009 21:31
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BattyKiara posted:This is a book I read as a child, around 1980. vvvv Cheers! vvvv Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 20:58 on May 8, 2009 |
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May 8, 2009 19:58
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Stoic Commie posted:I remember reading a book when I was younger, it was about a virus that killed everyone over a certain age, twelve or something. (e: )
Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 08:27 on May 15, 2009 |
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May 15, 2009 08:22
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MacDougall posted:Not sure when this one came out but I read a book in 2006 that from memory was about a technological god being that floated in outer space. I remember a scene where (i think) the main character ends up inside the computer simulated reality the god being created that is some sort of aesthetically pleasing paradise. There were scenes of spaceship battles as well I think. I think it was called 'The ____ God' but I could be way wrong on that.
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May 29, 2009 22:47
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Morgan_ posted:I browsed through this thread, but it must have been in an older thread. What is the site that you can pay $3.00 to, and they will try to identify a book?
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May 30, 2009 16:07
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