|
There was this SF short story where aliens had invaded or something, and subjected humans to a dreamlike state where their subconscious minds made changes upon the real world. All I remember really is that one of the characters had cut off one of their own thumbs and planted it in a pot where it was growing.
|
#
¿
May 24, 2013 16:54
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 20, 2024 11:48 |
|
|
I read this story about 20 years ago. There was a ship travelling well beyond inhabited space, on the trail of Ancient Dead Aliens. First they found some "mandalas", which they didn't understand. Then was an ice planet, which mysteriously had ice full of oxygen and other useful elements, more than would be natural. The crew finally got to take off their suits which they had to wear, as the ship couldn't be filled with air, too wasteful. Sex, baths, and other nice things, for the first time in ages. It also turned out that the ice was seeded with data cubes or something, which the aliens had left for anyone tracking them. They could stay on the ice planet and live in relative comfort, but no, it was back on with the suits, and continue the journey.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 22, 2013 06:16
|
|
|
I have two, both pulp Sci-Fi. One is set in some underground prison city made of ice. The city is run by a crazed computer, and the inmates are the descendants of the original prisoners, and have probably forgotten that they are even in prison. There is some sort of technology that allows escapism into a sort of virtual reality, temporarily. The other involves a comet coming to Earth, containing Prometheus and some sort of demon, who are actually aliens. The demon was not actually evil, just animalistic, like Pan. Then he leaves to settle another planet and stops the humans there from developing beyond neolithic levels. Then time changes or something, and these other humans invade Earth. Then the heroes have to change time again and prevent it. Or something. I remember it being a confused mess, like a lot of old pulp Sci-Fi.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 6, 2013 14:54
|
|
|
miryei posted:This is a long shot, but maybe I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream? It's got the crazed computer and the ice caves, and I think the computer could basically manipulate reality. Some other bits don't match, though. No, this one was by a no-name author, I'm quite sure. There was no reality manipulation, I think. I remember the main character was a woman, and her lover was a one armed black man.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 7, 2013 03:44
|
|
|
Captain Equinox posted:Yeah, it was a weird book. Found it! Hobnob posted:There's a (not terribly good, as I recall) book Outpost by Scott Mackay which I haven't read for a while but I think at least starts like that. An ice prison with a malfunctioning computer/robots looking after it. I believe the (woman) protagonist keeps getting dreams of being a man and murdering someone, and the dreams are meant to make the prisoners relive the reason they are incarcerated (but the actual prisoner in her case is long dead and she's a descendant of his or something). Then it goes onto some strange time-travel(?) plot that I can't really remember. No, this one was written no later than the 80s. There were no aliens or robots, Friend Computer kept the complex under control by affecting conditions, rather than robots. I read it in the early 90s, before this one was written. More trashy SF books are coming out of the woodwork! First one: Aliens are talking about an interesting extinct race. That race was humanity. We were at war with some pretty bird race, and this was a fairly standard "for fun" war. Then some evil race came, wiped out the birds, and mostly wiped out the humans. The humans recovered by making huge changes to their physiology and intellect, and becoming nomadic and travelling space in family units. The war went back and forth for a while, until humanity eventually voluntarily became extinct. At one point, a couple want to settle on a planet, only to find that it is infested by some green slime. After wiping it out on several planets, they decide planet living sucks. The next one is a Brave New World ripoff/homage. The society is segmented by genetic engineering, and are colour coded by their function/intellect. The golds are idle rich, blues are scientists and engineers, and browns and blacks are stupid labourers (  ). Entertainment comes from cameras on two terraformed planets, one being the sex planet, the other being the fantasy Conan the Barbarian planet. The hero is the biggest and toughest barbarian, and he comes through the transporter to Earth and helps the rebels tear down the sick society.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 10, 2013 05:52
|
|
|
hambeet posted:I have a slightly odd one I want to throw out there. Was it Cole's Funny Picture Book?     
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2013 14:06
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 20, 2024 11:48 |
|
|
hambeet posted:Thank you so much. I see you have plat, can I buy you a no-ad upgrade or archives? You're welcome, but no upgrades are necessary.  So you know, there were three books in the series. 1 and 2 were put together by E. W. Cole in the late 1800s, and the 3rd was done by his son a generation later, and seems to be just a compilation of what he thought were the best bits of his father's books. So the 3rd one is probably not as good, unless it's all you can get hold of. Slight derail before I stop talking about it: There is an interesting article about Cole's Book Arcade in Melbourne on Urban Melbourne. It sounds like it was an amazing sight, now sadly gone. I doubt we'll see it's like again.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2013 02:19
|
|