[Pallol One Eye]

TOGGS, on Feb 12 2009, 10:36 AM, said:

Anyone here good on SF?

Trying to rack my bains for a series of novellas I read in the last millenium. Real old stuff truthfully. Its about a human, who ends up on all sorts of adventures, but basically discovers "homo-sapien" type aliens are good, lizards types always bad.
Ends up heading back to earth on some super-powerful spherical spaceship
Thats all I've got

Cheers

Just guessing but it sounds like The Skylark Series By EE 'Doc' Smith. First book has a small spherical space ship and they do land on a planet of Dinosaurs in the first book. The main bad guys were either the Fenachrone or the some other Chlorine breathing things that look like ameoba. The last couple of books they do build a couple of planet sized spherical spaceships. Was written way back in the 1930's but are still in print I think. It's good old fashioned space opera though by todays standards perhaps a tad sexist, primarily due to the era it was written in. Still good fun though.

This post has been edited by Pallol One Eye: 27 February 2009 - 12:36 PM

[Pallol One Eye]

Pallol One Eye, on Dec 21 2007, 01:18 PM, said:

Two books

Book !: I bought this in UK during the 80's, probably early 80's at that. But Here's what I remember:

1. Hero's weapon was a discus
2. He left a city on a quest to find something to save the city.
3. It was written in an extremely archaic style, thee's, thou's and so forth.
4. I vaguely remember the cover portraying a city shaped like a golden pyramid.

I bought it as a rainy day book, started it, and then lost it when I moved to the USA, Then forgot about it. Something made me remember it.

2nd book: Also read, maybe purchased I don't know any way it involved travel through a portal and an empire of ants on the other end of it. Vauguely remeber a scene about drifting down a river and being washed ashore. May have been a short story.

Hope someone can help

Found the first one myself. Its called The Night Lands by William Hope Hodgson. Was originally written in 1912. I'd give my self rep if i could...

This post has been edited by Pallol One Eye: 26 February 2009 - 09:01 PM

[thewikkidone]

I read a good book years ago, at least I thought it was good at the time. About a woman who was a mage, she carried different powders in viles that she kept in a pouch on her hip, she would mix the powders to do magic. Also they had metal like tattoos they put on their arms to cast more powerful spells. I remember a guy in the book too that wore bracelets all the way up his arms. Thats about all I remember, any help?

[Varan]

I only got through half the book before i got distracted or something - but basically a book with an emperor/king who's turned mad, kills his own son, whilst his grand-daughter escapes to somewhere. Whilst he also issues some sort of edict asking for one in 5/6 young adults to be sent to him to build something i think. We also learn that he's being manipulated by some sort of old enemy who can swarm??? as some sort of demon things - not sure on the last bit but yeah anyone know what im talking about?

thanks

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Sorry, no clue, and my google-fu is not strong enough to find out.

[wolf_2099]

This doesn't quite fit the thread focus, so mod's delete it if you want, I just didn't see the need for a new thread.

I wanted to try to find good books on J Edgar Hoover and Al Capone (obviously not the same book).
The ones I tried reading were like reading a text book, which I did not enjoy.

Has anyone read any well written biographies on them and who wrote them?
Many thanks.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

Ok, probably a hopeless endeavour, but here goes.

Years and years ago, I read a book, one I'd classify as sci fi or fantasy. I can't remember the title, or who wrote it, or the names of any of the characters, or what actually happened for the most part. But I remember I liked it very much at the time. I think it may have been the first of a series possibly so I wanna know what it's called, either to get it and read it again on it's own, or to do the series.

And I figure between the forumnites, SOMEONE will have read it and possibly be able to help, and identify it from the unusual start I remember.

As far as I remember, it starts like this:

A guy wakes up, and he's lying in space, with four bars surrounding his body (like a 2d rectangle shape around him). He looks around and there are lots of other people in a row. He grabs one of the bars and pulls it out of position, and then everyone starts to fall onto this planet thing. Food and water appear at sort of spawning sites, and he goes on this sort of quest in an attempt to discover where the hell he is, what's going on and who he is.

That's pretty much how I remember it, any takers?

[Chance]

Quote

A guy wakes up, and he's lying in space, with four bars surrounding his body (like a 2d rectangle shape around him). He looks around and there are lots of other people in a row. He grabs one of the bars and pulls it out of position, and then everyone starts to fall onto this planet thing. Food and water appear at sort of spawning sites, and he goes on this sort of quest in an attempt to discover where the hell he is, what's going on and who he is.

Late but it really sounds like..

To Your Scattered Bodies - Philip Jose Farmer

Good book even if the sequals are between equally good to a bit boring.

[Hinter]

Need some help with three short SF stories which I think all came from an SF anthology I was given in the early/mid eighties:

1 - The "hero" was called Rosie Porras and the currency in this world was called Basic Inalienable Credits. Really can't remember much else.

2 - There was a kind of lottery thing. Anyone holding on to the winner won a share of the spoils. It was all played in a kind of reality TV way, and as they honed in on the winner, the hangers on basically ripped him apart trying to be close enough to him to share in the winnings.

3 - Two men in conversation. One gives the other a small tactile sculpture that seems impossible not to caress, whilst explaining that an alien race uses these artifacts to lure and subdue their prey. Eventually the guy caressing the artifact becomes hypnotised and the other guy's wife appears and she is one of these aliens who invented the artifact.

Any ideas as to the authors?

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

No clue but I want ot read number 3.

[koryk]

murphy72, on 22 August 2008 - 12:51 PM, said:

I've been having trouble getting into it. I'll have to try again after my reread of Erikson.

The Chosen is the first in a trilogy. After a slow beginning it becomes a fascinating read. The sequel, "The Standing Dead", is very different and less impressive. The third book is now available in hardback. Ricardo Pinto is indeed originally Portuguese but now based in Scotland. Although there is a gay thread, it's not pushed and it doesn't harm the story I will get the third book when it becomes a paperback.

[King Bear]

I'm looking for this book I read years ago. It's about this little guy who gets a piece of jewelery. A ring, or a necklace or something. I think it's a necklace. Whatever, turns out this necklace is end-of-the-world bad-ass. Some wizzard turns up at his place, and there's elves and orcs and wraiths and shit, a ranger with a sword so awesome that it can cut through bacon, and some psycho little bugger with split personalities. And they have to chuck this necklace into a volcano, else the world will be ruled by a big mother-fucker of an eye.

I think it might be bridget jones' diary. Anyone have any ideas?

 cuar01_chickflicks0803.jpg (27.5K)
Number of downloads: 0

[Use Of Weapons]

Sounds like Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (caveat: I have not read Les Mis)

[HoosierDaddy]

It's not Les Mis. Jean Valjean prefers an axe over a sword and there isn't a volcano. Maybe Silas Marner?

[King Bear]

got it. It's Pride and Prejudice. But the one with the zombies.

[King Lear]

This one has been bugging me for a while now. I read a book about 10 years ago. It started with a girl who's father wanted her to marry someone because he was broke. She gets out of it by playing a game of chess (or something similar). Then she gets magics or something. The only other thing I remember is that there was a massive magical salt pan cutting the kingdom in half and there are a bunch of people stuck inside it Pompeii-style. It's bothering the life out of me that I can't remember it...
Cheers!

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Not ringing any bells.

[Fist Gamet]

One that's bugging me that should be quite easy. Main magicky character is called Navin (sp?) and there's a guy called Cullen of Cermore, or Cenmore or some such. There were a few of these and it's just out of reach in mt head...

[StephenOfCloverfield]

Fist Gamet, on 25 February 2012 - 06:25 PM, said:

One that's bugging me that should be quite easy. Main magicky character is called Navin (sp?) and there's a guy called Cullen of Cermore, or Cenmore or some such. There were a few of these and it's just out of reach in mt head...

I think that's the deverry series by Katherine Kerr. Can't remember the names of the books right now.

[Use Of Weapons]

Dawnspell: The Bristling Wood
Daggerspell

And other words ending in -spell. Nevyn is the dweomer-master fated never to die until he teaches a reincarnation of his lost love Jill to become a dweomer user as was her fate in her first life before he derailed it.