Category Archives: Science Fiction

329J: Science Fiction picture book for kids from the late 80s early 90s

2 Replies

When I was somewhere between 9 and 11, I checked out a book from a library in northern California that was a picture book that came with a cassette tape. It was a science fiction story about a kid that went in a robot spaceship that traveled the universe and back. Along their journey they visited multiple space phenomenons, including visiting Alpha Centauri, almost getting sucked into a black hole, and searching for life in deep space by looking for radio waves/signals that may be nearby. They actually found a radio signal, but when they tuned in, it turned out that the radio broadcast of “Howdy Doody” from 50 years or so prior had made it out that far and that was what they were picking up. The whole story was geared toward education of different types of stars, galaxies, space phenomenon, etc., for a child, and most of this “tour” through space was narrated by the robot/spaceship that the child was a passenger in. It was VERY entertaining, with great pictures and I’m surprised that I couldn’t find it with a quick google search!

329F: Creatures on Venus

Leave a reply

The book I am interested in is a juvenile / YA science fiction book most likely written in the late 40s or 50s or very early 60s before we landed space probes there. The main character is a boy. They land on Venus and find deserts and no life, but along the way the main character gets lost and finds a valley with dinosaur-like creatures and small primate creatures. Eventually, the primary expedition finds him and all turns out well. I have searched the net but have not found any trace, I checked it our from our public library many times in the 1980s. Thanks!

327Z: Insectoid Alien Princess Becomes A Christian

Leave a reply

I’ve tried to find this book for the last thirty years. It’s an old sci-fi novel.
What I remember of the plot:
Advanced insectoid winged aliens invade earth, they are very random and do things like cure disease and pour wealth from spaceships in one city, and then fire bomb/laser death another.
Hero is ex government something, like a soldier or bodyguard like secret service.
He ends up at some point at a rebel base where they are trying to fight the invaders, but are wounded and starving.
He gets captured by the aliens, and is enslaved by one of the very high ranking aliens, a Princess or equivalent, who is spoiled rotten, vain and very cruel. She has a sort of partner who is a warrior, but she outranks him and treats him badly.
They talk, but also use dancing like bees to convey extra texture to the conversation, she mocks her partner/mate because he is not graceful when “talking” by dancing.
She ends up trying to bang the human out of boredom, which is painful for him, and he jumps off her floating ship/palace to try to kill himself after suffering at her hands for a while.
She makes her mate/fiance fly to rescue him, but he signals that the price he will want in return will be terrible.
At some point she is stripped of power and exiled.
She meets the hero at a rebel camp some time later, and she has been de-winged and blinded by her kind.There is a church of anti-Christ that has something to do with what is going on.
Alien princess becomes a Christian.

326F: Artistic Computers as Counterpoint to Throw-Away Technology

1 Reply

My stumper is just a fragment of a memory. I don’t remember the plot of the book at all, but it was near-future science fiction or maybe cyberpunk. The main character comes across someone with a beautiful laptop where the interior components can be refurbished and replaced, but the outside of the computer is a work of art that they would never part with. They talk about how there is a group of artists or maybe an artist commune that manufactures these computers with wood cases, and with beautiful keys made out of mother of pearl or semi-precious stones, basically to serve as a counterpoint to the throw-away culture of new technology. It was such a cool idea; I wish some artists were actually making computers like this.
If anyone recognizes this description and remembers what book it was in, that would be great!

326D: Air Force Pilot Takes On Dragon In Storm Cloud

2 Replies

Short fantasy/sci-fi story in an anthology aimed at young readers in the late 70s/early 80s - I seem to remember reading it in late elementary school, though it could have been middle school. Story was about an Air Force pilot who lost a friend to a dragon in a storm cloud, but no one believed him, so he stole a plane and went back up to kill the dragon. He was catatonic and white-haired when the plane landed, and everyone thought he was just crazy, until they watched his gun-camera footage of his attack runs on the dragon.

326C: Spaceship 10/100 Hours

3 Replies

Ok, this book is one i picked up at an airport in Hawaii 2011. Its a SciFi romance that I think is intended for YA as the main characters were between 15-22. They were living on a spaceship with the Heroine sneaking through the vents. I’m pretty sure they rotated on a 10 hour schedule with the week starting over at 100 hrs.
Please help me, this book was so good it haunts me!

325A: Pubescent Children Develop Telepathic Powers

6 Replies

There’s a novel that I read years ago (late 70’s or early 80’s) from a library in England for which I can no longer remember the author or the title; so if you recognize the content, I’d be a happy camper. 🙂

The only things I can remember are…

1/ It was about mental powers, telepathy, etc

2/ Children developed these abilities at or around puberty (I think). If I remember correctly, the general populace/government reacted badly to these children.

3/ There was a woman scientist who studied these children and came up with a way to synthesize the catalyst, which she then tried on herself and, after a really rough transition, found that she had the same abilities.

3.1/ I’ve also got a vague recollection (so take it with a grain of salt) that other adults who tried to gain these powers died.

4/ The initial symptom of these powers was an increase in sensory perception and intense pleasure – enough to lock the affected person into repeating whatever felt good regardless of what it was doing to them.

4.1/ The woman scientist/doctor who managed to synthesize the activating chemical and used it on herself ended up “making love” to a tree (I’ve got a dim memory of the description of the feel of the bark against her naked skin).

4.2/ Another scene (probably just a paragraph or sentence) had a description of a boy who kept “pleasuring himself” for hours; even though he was now raw and bleeding, he couldn’t stop. (I think this was one of the notes the scientist/doctor compiled about the affected children, rather than being a central theme or character development).

4.3/ The powers allowed the children to feel the emotions of others (though I do not remember if it was limited to others with powers or everyone in general) and they banded together to feel safe/loved/etc. when the rest of the world turned against them due to fear. I don’t remember if it was true telepathy or just extreme empathy.

5/ Once she had the same abilities as the children, the woman scientist joined up with a group of them – presumably to help defend them against the haters.

Beyond that, I have no idea. The only other non-story items I know are…

  • I read it late-70’s or early 80’s.
  • Given the more grown-up content, it is not likely to be a children’s book; though it could be Teens and older.

I know it’s not much to go on, but it’s been driving me batty trying to remember the title.

 

324I: Weird Creature Turns Against Boy Who Spared His Life

Leave a reply

Looking for a children’s science fiction collection. Only remember one story. It was about a boy who finds an alien or some weird creature in his room, behind a chair I think. He goes to swat it or stomp on it, but it startles him by talking to him, begging for its life. It convinces him it’s friendly. But by the end of the story, it’s clear the creature had malicious intentions; but it’s too late. And the end of the story is the creature telling the boy he should’ve killed it when he had the chance. That’s how I remember it, but I read it 30 years ago.