The name of a book/story, please

[Nowhere Man]

Nope, neither one. Clash of the Titans is too new, and the thing in Jason is a hydra.

Fred

[nosbig5]

ToSeek, is this the book you were thinking of?

http://www.amazon.com/Demolished-Man...=cm_lmf_tit_11

[Nowhere Man]

No, it wasn't, as I said 18 months ago.

Fred

[nosbig5]

Okay, I skimmed through the posts a little too quickly, missed that one.

[Bolasanibk]

Another resource for those trying to identify a book/story:

http://scifi.stackexchange.com/quest...identification

[ToSeek]

Good idea - done!

And here's one I've been trying to track down: it takes place on a humanoid world other than Earth where everyone is telepathic and where your status in society is determined by the number of people you can telepathically control. The elites are up around 80, while the worst-off people have some ability but can't control anyone. There are a few people who have no ability whatsoever, and they're exempt from this hierarchy. The main character is sent from Earth to investigate a murder or some other crime. I don't remember too much of the plot, though I do recall that the cover featured a particularly well-formed young woman in a tight-fitting catsuit (apparently the de rigueur mode of dress) with a number above her left breast indicating her status. Thanks for any help anyone can give.

Bolasanibk's link came through for me - it's The Mind Traders, by J. Hunter Holly, with the cover I remember so fondly.

[Pinemarten]

Not a book but a movie that came out in the late 70's. It had two robots. One looked like a salt shaker and the other was a brass humanoid that acted like Jerry Seinfeld. It had an naive teenager, a smuggler hero-type, a mouthy princess, and a bad guy in black that had an eerie voice and strange magical powers. Lots of laser fights and space battles with good special effects.

[Rhaedas]

The Ice Pirates

[Strange]

I was reminded recently of a story I read decades ago which had some kind of alien life-form which was a bit like giant dandelion seeds that drafted between star systems. I don't remember if they played an important role in the story or were mere incidental detail intended to add verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative...

[mike alexander]

Larry Niven's Known Space stories sometimes mentioned starseeds, huge creatures that had a life cycle taking them from the galactic core to the rim and back. There was a scene in a Beowulf Shaeffer story, Grendel, where a starship stopped to watch one unfold its light sail.

[Strange]

Ah. Thank you. I had a vague idea it might be Niven but couldn't remember anything specific.

(I just Googled "starseed" to find out more and opened the door to a whole new world of craziness ... )

[Pinemarten]

No, it wasn't Ice Pirates. The mouthy princess was one of the good guys. It had a few sequels and prequels since, and in one of them she turns out to be the daughter of the one of the bad guys, and the brother of one of the good guys.

[Paul Beardsley]

she turns out to be the daughter of the one of the bad guys, and the brother of one of the good guys.

Is this a typo, or is there some gender bending (a la The Wasp Factory) going on?

[Pinemarten]

Typo, one of the good guys was her twin brother, sorry.

[Solfe]

Star Wars?

[Donnie B.]

Naw... couldn't be.

[Rhaedas]

Star Wars?

Certainly fits, but you wouldn't place that into the forgettable category of movies, would you? I guess it could happen.

I had figured Ice Pirates was a good match, since it was more obscure and an obvious satire of the Star Wars type movie.

[Pinemarten]

That's it. Star Wars. Seems the simple names are easy to forget. I will always remember ones like 'Happy Birthday Wanda June' , and the prequel "Wanda June Goes to the Store Alone'.

[primummobile]

I read a short story in either Asimov's or Analog about 10-15 years ago that dealt with the far-future descendants of humanity. This story had only two characters who were travelling on different ships. In this future, humans were practically immortal and travelled the cosmos on energy highways at close to light speed.

The story focused on the debate between the two people about whether it was proper for one of them to deflect an incoming asteroid from a planet that had the beginnings of civilization. I loved the story and kept that issue for years, but I think my wife may have thrown it out. Does it sound even remotely familiar to anyone? I don't remember which magazine it was in or even the year so I'm having a tough time finding it.

[swampyankee]

I remember reading two stories about aliens with FTL but missing fairly noticeable hunks of Earth-like technology.

One (I have no memory at all of the writer) involved human-like aliens who had FTL or space warp drive (iirc, their space ships were lit by oil lamps ) but their military technology was 17th Century. When they landed and tried volley fire on the VIPs meeting them, it did not go well when some of the national guard troops fired back (M-16 beats muzzle-loading match loader....).

The second was, I think it was by Asimov, had FTL, an actual space empire, and their technology was roughly equivalent but their ability to mass produce precision goods was nil.

Any ideas about either?

[Kadava]

One (I have no memory at all of the writer) involved human-like aliens who had FTL or space warp drive (iirc, their space ships were lit by oil lamps ) but their military technology was 17th Century. When they landed and tried volley fire on the VIPs meeting them, it did not go well when some of the national guard troops fired back (M-16 beats muzzle-loading match loader....).

That I think is 'The Road Not Taken' by Harry Turtledove.

[swampyankee]

That I think is 'The Road Not Taken' by Harry Turtledove.

Thanks. Sounds like something Turtledove would write.

[SeanF]

Okay, I just happened to think about this, so I figured I'd post it here.

I saw a movie on TV (I don't know if it was a made-for-TV movie or not), late 70s or early 80s, but I can only remember one specific scene from it - and even that, I'm not sure how accurate my memory is. A character's toothpaste had been tampered with (some kind of chemical or toxic waste), and when the effects finally hit it caused his stomach to split open and his intestines to spill out. Again, this was on TV, so I'm sure it was mostly implied and not real graphic.

If I'm remembering correctly, the actor was kind of portly, like a Charles Durning or Hoyt Axton. The "gut-spilling" scene took place outdoors, on a road. I think he was trying to drive himself to the doctor and stopped and got out of the car because of the pain.

Anybody have any memory of anything like this?

[SeanF]

FWIW, someone on another board identified my movie as "Endangered Species," a 1982 flick starting Robert Urich.

Going by IMDB, Hoyt Axton was in it, and his character ended up with a ruptured abdominal cavity after using tainted toothpaste. So while the title does not cause an "ah-ha!" reaction from me, it does appear that that's the movie I saw.

Now I just have to find a copy somewhere...

[swampyankee]

I'm looking for the title of a story -- I think it was by Mack Reynolds -- where the basis was a comedian (who was, during the story, kidnapped and mutilated by a terrorist) convinces the media to report all incidents involving terrorists as if the terrorist was a buffoon.

I think one of the characters was named "Charlie George," and there was a line involving a young child killed by the terrorist as she saw him when he was escaping. The comment was something like "of course he shot her for knowing too much; she was all of 5."

[Humots]

I'm looking for the title of a story -- I think it was by Mack Reynolds -- where the basis was a comedian (who was, during the story, kidnapped and mutilated by a terrorist) convinces the media to report all incidents involving terrorists as if the terrorist was a buffoon.

I think one of the characters was named "Charlie George," and there was a line involving a young child killed by the terrorist as she saw him when he was escaping. The comment was something like "of course he shot her for knowing too much; she was all of 5."

That sounds like a novel by Dean Ing, I think Soft Targets.

[swampyankee]

Soft Targets sounds like it came out at around the right time. Might be it.