Category Archives: Science Fiction

334K: Evolved Rats Vs Devolved Humans In Once Radioactive City

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When I was young, 12 maybe, I checked a book out of the local library, reading it several times, which initiated a life long live of post apocalyptic fiction. In the book a young boy about my age lives with a tribe outside the ruins of a large city that might have been Chicago. The tribe is at the hunter gatherer level of technology. And his main weapon is a spear. The city itself is a blast zone/dead zone no one is allowed to go in because it is supposedly radioactive. I don’t remember why but he heads into the dead zone and discovers the radiation is no longer deadly. But living in the ruins are a race of evolved rat beasts that are six feet tall, stand on their hind legs, and are spear wielding. The rat beasts come after him and he has a series of near misses until he escapes the dead zone and is rescued in a big showdown between the human tribe and the rat tribe, being saved by the adults whose rules he defied. The book had large-ish print and excellent pen and ink drawings sprinkled throughout. I went back to the library that I got it from but the destroyed my old library card and no longer have the book. It would have been published in the 1950’s or first part of the 60’s. Any help finding it would be greatly appreciated.

 

333Y: SciFi Plot Fragment – The Harmony and The Melody (Solved!)

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I read this book at the Boulder Library, it was written in this century (I think).
Earth humans are subjugated by a technologically superior species.  At first the foolish Earthlings (are there any other kind?) think the superior species is a bunch of evil meanies.   They come to find out that the meanies are actually helpful in protecting humans from far more pitiless and powerful adversaries, who have factions called Harmony and Melody, and when a defector from the adversary conveys information to the meanies, it is compelled to destroy itself because it’s contaminated by inferiors.

333X: SciFi Plot Fragment – Tacretude, species on the run from galactic gene police

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I read this book at the Boulder Library, it was written in this century (I think).
The plot was a little reminiscent of Sundiver.  It was a story of species (humans among them) who were on the run from galactic genetic police.  The time scales were long enough for tectonic plate subduction to bury middens.  A species’ essential nature and behavior was called Tarcretude or Tacreteude.

333L: Science Fiction dystopia with two AIs and renegades (Solved!)

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The book I’m searching for is:

It starts with a common man who just lived his life, but his life has started to fall into pieces. He has two children with his wife, but as requested the children are genetically enhanced and have extremely high IQs. They have left their parents willingly for a special school, and they were even before that not much child-like.

This drove his wife into insanity (or into alcoholism/drugs). On his way home, he finds a body near their apartment and he is afraid of getting convicted for the murder, because he was the first one who is seen by the body.

Later, his wife is executed for the murder, without a trial. She is put to death in a public arena with a laser. (But I think her husband didn’t know this. He isn’t informed. To him, she just has disappeared.)

With his life torn apart, he starts running and on some days he even runs outside the city.

— The whole population lives in cities and most are dependent on a social allowance of some kind of nutrition bars from a local food bank … that are sometimes – whoops – poisonous. Being outside of a city is counted as suspicious behavior. Everything is controlled by a big AI. —

He encounters kind of a resistance to the government outside the city and he joins them, eventually. In German the resistance is called “Renegaten” so maybe the original term is “renegades”.

The resistance owns a big AI, too and during the endgame their AI fights the government AI. I remember the scene in which the renegade AI bids farewell to the main protagonist.

I can’t remember how the book ended but I think the renegade AI ‘died’.

331X: Lonely 13th Android

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I read this book around 1983 from my school’s Jr. High Library. The main character is an android who believes he is the last one built. His maker has died and, while quite brilliant, was a very superstitious man.

The sentient android looks like a human in every way. He is the most perfect model. He had learned how to build replicas prior to his maker’s death, so he builds replicas and programs them to send him a portion of their paycheck after they blend into society. He does this for decades so he amasses great wealth, but he is lonely. Although an occasional woman shows up in his life through the years, he never connects with them. There is no one to share his life with so he starts to hunt for his siblings: the other androids made by his maker.
He finds them all (so he thinks) and none of them are a match either. Finally a woman appears and surprises him. She knows all his details. In fact, she is the random woman who has appeared to him throughout the decades. She too is an android. She explains that, yes, there were 13 androids built, but the maker was too superstitious to label an android “13.” So all these years our hero android thought he was the most advanced model, but there was one build after him. She had never revealed herself before because she believed he needed to mature

331D: Hostile Alien Wildlife Combined With Earth’s Failures Leads To Space Colony Catastrophes

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Not sure if this is one book or a series. Earth’s first colony loses touch with Earth. Without supplies they’d counted on from Earth (food, building materials, vehicles, weapons), the colonists struggle, mostly because the planet’s wildlife (plants and dinosaur-ish animals) are all deadly 24/7. The main female character is the Sheriff, who, at the beginning, has to rescue a female friend in the badlands from a large dinosaur-ish thing. Half-way through the book, the female Sheriff crash lands in the middle of the deadly wilderness. The main male character, who she doesn’t like, goes to rescue her. After a week or so and lots of peril and at least one broken leg (hers), they end up getting back safely by making a canoe out of the shell of a huge animal (and in love).

The colony has major political and leadership issues, some gun-fueled, and then Earth shows up and wants to take over everything. There’s also a creepy guy who starts a brothel and a gambling establishment and schemes to be get elected the boss. Somebody starts a stampede of the dinosaur-ish wildlife down the town's main-street in the middle of the night, and also traps the main male character in his house with a big dinosuar-ish animal by blocking the door with a programmable excavating machine.

330I: Replacement Clones Melt After Children Get Sick From Excessive Freedom

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As a child in the mid 80’s I read a book with a blue cover that only had the title (I am pretty sure it was the book cover as well), because I was trying not to judge a book by its cover. The book was science fiction about some children who were being replaced by clones of themselves so they could ditch school, and eat candy, and play- a little similar to a Pinocchio Treasure Island story. Until one day the children had stomach aches from eating too much, and not getting exercise, etc. and wanted to “go home”. I remember something about the rain melting the “aliens” or clones like cotton candy. I can’t remember much else and at first thought that maybe it was a Ray Bradbury book? At any rate I have been trying to find the title and would love if you could offer assistance.

330E: Late-90’s SciFi Book With Female Lead Pilot

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Hi! On the eve of my daughter’s 21st birthday, 11th of January 1998, I had just flown in to London from I think Paris. We were all staying in a London hotel in Piccadilly and as part of the birthday it was theatre and then dinner. I had in my possession a science fiction book I had bought on the way out to Paris at Heathrow airport. I had only read a few pages and i left it behind at the hotel. Although I had only read a few pages I found it a very good start and amusing. The hotel was unable to find  it. I have been looking for ages so all the current well known female leads are not it. I was/am a big SF fan.
I have no idea of the author or title. All I can remember is that a female captain/pilot was being sent again on a mission and she was joking with the guy sending her out.

330D: 70s (or earlier) science fiction short story featuring a gem in a velvet box used for time travel or teleportation

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I am trying to track down a science fiction story that I read in the mid-1970s and vaguely remember. This was a short story that was in a compilation book in my school library. The details that I remember are at the beginning of the story. There is a small velvet box with a gem fixed inside of it (possibly an opal or pearl). I believe that there are two characters, a brother and a sister. There is some interaction where the characters are sitting on a park bench examining the velvet box. I believe that the box is used for either time travel or transportation. There may also be a mysterious stranger that guides the characters through the use of the box. I don’t have much more recollection of the story, but please feel free to ask any clarifying questions and I’ll try to assist. Much appreciated!

329Z: Humans and Beasts

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I read a book about 20 years ago. It was a Christian fantasy/sci-fi. What I can remember is there were humans and there was an elite class that I think were beasts. They ate a delicacy that it turned out were human babies. There was a salvation story as part of the plot. I also believe there was a part where 2 prophets die, lie dead for 3 days, and then rise again, and it’s all broadcast on t.v. It’s possible I am mixing up two different books. The book I’m looking for was not part of the Left Behind series, or any other series like that. I believe it was a stand alone book. Another part I remember is one of the beasts standing over another character, possibly female, and the character on the ground looks up into the beast’s eyes and sees basically into her soul, or sees the truth. She kills the beast standing over her, which was a good thing. The beasts are human-like in their behavior, walk on 2 legs, etc. I would really appreciate your help in finding this book. I remember it being very good, though now I realize so many of my memories of it are vague.