Category Archives: Science Fiction

331X: Lonely 13th Android

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

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

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

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

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

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.

329X: Young adult science fiction book featuring an alien boy hiding on Earth with an caretaker/teacher (Solved!)

I remember reading this book in the late 80's and I think it was the 2nd book in a series. The only details I really remember of it are: 1. The boy had to fake his death in the beginning (involving a bus) and move to another town. 2. He had special powers and could turn invisible 3. He kept having premonitions about upcoming events. 4. One of the premonitions involved lightning during a little league baseball game. I also think the planet he came from was something like Altair or another "A" name.

329R: A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Space Exploration Picture Book

I’m trying to track down a book I read a lot as a kid.

It was a large picture book, maybe 8×10 inches. Probably hardcover. Full-page color illustrations. Not very long, if I remember correctly.

It was choose-your-own-adventure style. You were an astronaut/space explorer who landed (or crash-landed?) on an alien planet.

There were mild role-playing game elements to it. For example, you selected a couple pieces of equipment at the beginning of your adventure, and there was a part where you turned to the back and studied a xenobiology index for exactly 2 minutes and then weren’t allowed to reference it again.

You navigated the dangerous alien planet and tried to avoid toxic atmosphere, poisonous plants, and dangerous creatures.

I would have read it (from my school’s library) sometime between ’91 and ’96. I’m guessing it was published in the 80s, but it technically could have been the early 90s or maybe even the 70s? Just feels like an 80s thing.

Would love to track this down. It had a big impact on my imagination and creative inspiration over the years, I’m sure.

Thanks!

329M: Planet run by computer “gods”

I’m looking for a science fiction novel I read years ago, in the mid 1970’s. Unfortunately, I know neither the title or the author! I have no idea whether it was a new novel at the time I read it – I got it out of the library. I would love to find it again. If anyone has any ideas of what it might have been from the following description, I’d appreciate any help. 

Overview: The novel was about a spaceship which landed (crashed?) on a planet that was run by “gods.” The “gods” were actually computers, and they set about trying to kill the ship’s crew as heretics. Each chapter was headlined by a different quote concerning religion – the whole book seemed to be a diatribe about the pitfalls of organized religion. 

Various specifics: I remember that the ship’s captain was female. Early in the book, the captain and crew realized that the flowers in the field they were making their way through were actually microphones, relaying their conversation to the planet-controlling computers. At one point, they traveled through a system of caves, the only place they could escape the computer’s sensors. In the cave they all found it necessary (I don’t remember why) to strip, but as it was dark, mixed-sex modesty wasn’t an issue (figures that scene would stick in the memory of an adolescent boy.) The indigenous life on the planet resembled teddy bears. 

Book edition specifics: It was a hardcover (and, as mentioned, a library book.) I believe the dust jacket was yellow, and pictured one of the teddy bear-like planet inhabitants. 

I know that’s not a lot to go on, but if anyone has any ideas, I’d appreciate hearing them. 

329K: Boy With 9 Lives Stored In Matchbook (Solved!)

I’m trying to locate a book I read in the 80s about a boy who lived on one world in one of 9 universes. Since he only existed in one universe, he possessed 9 lives and magic without knowing it. A family member put his lives in a matchbook so they could use his magic. Then he found out and got his remaining lives back and had adventures in the different worlds.