All Questions
107
questions
31
votes
1
answer
906
views
Novel: Woman lives her entire life, then finds out it was just practice
I read this book sometime between the late 1980s and the early 1990s. The story follows the life of a woman, which starts when she is a newborn in a kind of robotic creche that cares for her, teaches ...
- 14k
29
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Book Identification: Gas Giant with breathable atmosphere and burning core
I am trying to remember the name of a science fiction book I borrowed from a library in Ohio sometime between the years 2001–2009, though it was probably closer to the end of that period than the ...
- 331
28
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Older science fiction book about time travel to retrieve things but they went sideways through the dimensions instead
So, as I vaguely remember it. It was set in the distant future were a dictator rules the Earth. By this point carbon dioxide was so high most life outside of humans was extinct. So the dictator built ...
- 383
26
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Sci-Fi book about female pilot in the distant future who is a linguist and has to decipher an alien language/code
This book I read in college, I think it was published between the 1970s to 1990s.
It's about a female pilot (I think her first name began with an R) in the distant future who is famous and is also ...
- 259
23
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Series Whose Protagonist Is a Leper
I am trying to remember a series I read some time ago (probably in the early aughts) about a leper who is transported to another world where he leads an army. In the real world, he cannot feel most of ...
- 1,765
23
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Book about accidental robot civilization
I have a memory of a book or short story that I read years ago. It was about a group of human explorers who are investigating an uninhabitable planet. They find that a robotic colony ship had crashed, ...
- 434
22
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Identify a book featuring overpopulated world with limited living space assigned to individuals
When I was wee I would read books by pile and a specific story came to mind and I wish to identify it. I have lots of the premise in mind but weak google-fu.
Details include:
A man awakens from ...
- 221
19
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Book where aliens are selecting humans for food consumption
I have read a science fiction years ago. About aliens selecting humans on Earth and people trying hard to fit in their criterias in order to be the "chosen ones" and go away with the aliens.
But they ...
- 191
19
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Book about a boy thats transported into a medieval fantasy computer game [duplicate]
This is a long shot but I'm really in need of help for this because it was an amazing book. It was either a kid's or YA book. A guess from what year it was published would be 90s-mid 2000s, as I read ...
- 333
17
votes
4
answers
4k
views
What's the name of the book where a girl is built into a spacecraft?
There was a sci-fi book a book I saw about 10 years ago, that featured a society of people where (I think) some chose to become parts of spacecraft. I was very young at the time so i only remember ...
- 179
17
votes
1
answer
1k
views
1980's sci fi book series, subspace is a sponge, young man in emergency suit can propel himself by sucking in the sponge stuff
I read a couple of sci fi books in the 1980's from UK library, they were from a series... I don't think I read them in the right order so I've a mish-mash of memories. From the context of romance and ...
- 27.8k
17
votes
3
answers
619
views
What poetic old detective noir book has mutants smuggled out of a ghetto being blackmailed?
Years ago I read this old science fiction book that was written in a poetic noir style, and I remember bits of the plot, but not any names to google. Could you help me find it?
It was from my Dad's ...
- 567
16
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What is this book about an obsidian pyramid?
Ok I have a very hazy memory of reading a book with an obsidian pyramid. I think I probably read it in the 90's but it could have been in the early 2000's.
There was something evil about the ...
- 1,225
16
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Looking for the title of a novel about a divine/heavenly being turned into a dog
I read the book about 19yrs ago (2003/2004). I think it was published by Orion books as I seem to remember a dog-looking-at-stars logo.
In it, a being is maybe banished from the heavens...either was ...
- 163
16
votes
1
answer
523
views
Fantasy book with battle between owls and crows
I have a difficult one here. I am trying to track down a fantasy book for my Dad, but the problem is that his memory is not quite there these days. He remembers really enjoying the book but ...
- 161
16
votes
0
answers
534
views
Book about wooden sailing ships with FTL
I read this book in the 1990s; I'm trying to remember the name. It seems like a the start of a series I'd like to read the rest of now.
It's a space opera about humans traveling our galaxy with giant ...
- 161
15
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Looking for a book: title contained a number (maybe), story was about a female humanoid operative
The book documented the adventures of a female humanoid being whose body was altered to enable her to be a message/document carrier as well as a highly trained military-esq operative when needed for ...
- 1,382
15
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Book about a boy and girl in proxy magical competition including a field of ice in a magical circus?
I remember reading a story a few years ago, maybe around 2015, a small new paperback book, maybe around 300 pages, about a young boy and a young girl with magical talent, who were supposed to show ...
- 3,511
15
votes
1
answer
429
views
Science fiction book about a world where bioengineered animals are used for common functions
A novel/book from the 90's. Society used genetically modified animals to perform basic tasks. For example, birds were genetically modified to be large enough to carry passengers like our passenger ...
- 153
15
votes
2
answers
748
views
Female hacker who sees how a lot of people die; possibly called "Beautiful Net"
I remember I once read a book (around 2008) about this hacker girl who mysteriously sees how a lot of people die in strange circumstances. The story takes place in a very near future (I hope), when ...
- 251
14
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Book where boy doesn't have magic but everyone else does
I remembered reading a book about a boy who doesn't have magic while everyone does. His uncle is a famous wizard and helps him get into a wizard school. Later on, it Is revealed that the boy doesn't ...
- 141
14
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Book series about post alien invasion Earth being exploited
I'm reasonably sure this was a book series that I read in the 80s.
It's set on Earth post alien invasion, the planet is being mined heavily and humans now live a very basic existence.
Scenes I ...
- 143
13
votes
1
answer
426
views
Book with a crazy cult which eats vat-grown flesh of Jesus for Communion
I think this book came out 5-10 years ago. It's a near-future dystopia that takes place in a very Balkanized America. There's a teenage boy who lives with his family in a gated community compound. ...
- 131
12
votes
1
answer
1k
views
YA novel about a girl in dystopian society who gets surgically altered to be a double for a dead girl
The series is set in a dystopian society where everyone takes a test at 17-ish to determine their “number” which determines their place in society. I think 7 or 8 is the highest but only the founding ...
- 129
12
votes
1
answer
428
views
Sci-fi book (no magic, hyperspace jumps, blind protagonist) [duplicate]
I'm trying to recover a book from my childhood:
I believe I read it in 199x, maybe early 200x
No magic. Space sci-fi with hyperspace jumps between stars. The plot is all about jumps. Hyperspace jump ...
- 609
12
votes
1
answer
513
views
Trying to remember a book that had people (I think they turned white?) segregated into a compound
I think the main character was a prince or high born person, who one day wakes up and looks in the mirror and his hair is turning white, I think his skin bleaches out too... His servants notice and ...
- 3,996
12
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Science fiction novel featuring a hillbilly roadside mechanic
I'm looking for an old sci-fi book. It features a hillbilly roadside mechanic who turns out to be some kind of super genius with mechanical things, but has poor money and social skills. He fixes the ...
- 689
11
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Sci-fi novel from 1980s(?) about colony on Mars
Plot Summary: I honestly don't remember much of it, but here it is... There are some humans who have colonized Mars. Some of them just want to live peacefully on the colony, while there are other ...
user112267
11
votes
1
answer
2k
views
New trilogy about a battle between ancient inhabited spires or towers
About a year ago (i.e. in 2020) I read a book which was intended to be the first of a trilogy about a sneaky invasion by the inhabitants of one giant spire against another. The story is told from the ...
- 119
11
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Story about two sisters and a winged lion
I read a book about 7-8 years ago about two sisters. I think it was (kind of) a young adult's book, but I really want to finish the series, so I'm asking for help finding the book I read. Okay, these ...
- 3,098
11
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Fantasy novel: magic school, talking rabbit, character bites off another character's fingers
The plotline as a whole is completely lost to me, but it was a big inspiration to my preteen self at the time and has shaped my creative development up to now. I'll list some of the big points that I ...
- 121
11
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Looking for a novel about a mysterious sphere/cube shaped object
I read a story years ago that revolved around a mysterious ‘ship’ (it was a basic shape - I believe the name of the book was also around this shape) found in the universe. It had some species worried ...
- 221
11
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Book about a boy that enters a medieval fantasy PC computer game
This is a repost with additional info of an older question that was never answered. I have stumbled upon this old question while also trying to find the name of the book series myself, as I dearly ...
- 197
11
votes
1
answer
402
views
A book, two agents going to a possible lost colony, apparent religious background, very political
Novel from the 1960s-80s, no later than the early 1990s.
A pair of agents of some sort are being sent to some planet, where the destination may be a recently rediscovered colony. Both the agents and ...
- 211
10
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Book from the golden age about insect-like aliens pretending to be humans
I read a sci-fi book a long time ago and really enjoyed it, but for for the life of me, I can't remember its title or author and only remember a few details (really few).
I'm almost certain it was ...
- 103
10
votes
1
answer
459
views
Sci-Fi book with girl who spent 3 years in space
Major Plot Points
A girl (the main character) has spent the last 3 years in space, I think because she had training of some sort.
When she comes back to her planet (starts with "V," I think), she ...
user112267
10
votes
1
answer
679
views
Novel about humans on a frozen planet
I'm trying to remember the title of a science fiction novel I read years ago about a frozen planet onto which some Earth explorers crash land. The natives don't smile except as an act of aggression(?) ...
- 101
10
votes
1
answer
392
views
Fantasy story where a young girl (I think) discovers magic, but must then hide from all magicians [duplicate]
I remember reading this story many years ago (at least ten).
A young girl (at least I think so), discovers that she has magic by throwing something. However, magic is restricted (or maybe even ...
user106467
10
votes
1
answer
836
views
80s Sci-Fi book about kid who fails magic test / woman martial artist (The Nin?) who leads revolt
I need the name of a book that I read in the 80s. Here is what I remember:
It starts on a spaceship where a young boy is being sent back to his family after failing magic school.
He failed because ...
- 111
10
votes
1
answer
288
views
Name of YA book involving hedge magic
I remember reading a young adult fiction book some time between 2000 and 2010, where one of the characters was some kind of witch who was hiding out somewhere. She couldn't do very strong magic but ...
- 103
9
votes
1
answer
244
views
60's book with purple-haired protagonist journeying into increasingly technologically advanced societies, saves the day with a sword throw
This was published in the 1960's.
The protagonist has purple hair and is on a quest of some sort that takes him into increasingly technologically advanced societies. He learns to ride dragons, and ...
- 101
9
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Looking for a book with a talking cat
I know the title is a bit vague :\
I remember reading a book with a cat that in the middle of talking would stop to groom himself. I think he talked mostly in riddles and ambiguously (As would befit ...
- 3,118
9
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Book about a girl whose hair changes with the seasons
I read this book probably early 2000's but it would of been published in the 90s. (I think)
In the story it's a girl who has to go journey somewhere (I don't really remember the main bits of the book)...
- 99
9
votes
1
answer
321
views
Book about a DNA hacker who could customize people using animal DNA
I read this book approximately 10 to 15 years ago; here is what I remember. Might not be 100% but should be close.
It was about an expert hacker who learned to hack DNA code.
He was a twin but his ...
- 504
9
votes
1
answer
752
views
What book has a space station orbiting a sun
I remember a few details of the book I'm looking for. It is a space station in close orbit to the/a sun. Only children on board who are the children of the adults. But the adults were criminals and ...
- 91
9
votes
1
answer
564
views
Story Identification: Novel in which aliens drain sun's energy
I read this book in my school's library and that was a long time ago (long enough ago that I don't remember). I will give my best to reproduce the important parts of it. Few scientists, while working ...
- 899
8
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Fantasy novel about a boy with a streak of white in his hair, as the book progresses his hair gets more white
I need to know the title of a novel I read a few years ago (90s).
It's about an orphan boy that has a little white in his hair, meaning that he has magic powers, and as the book progresses his hair ...
- 81
8
votes
1
answer
406
views
Book about a kingdom invaded by another world
This is a series my father read when he was younger (he was born in the 60s) and had me read as a kid, the book cover had the look and feel of classic fantasy novels such as the Wheel of Time series.
...
- 83
8
votes
1
answer
740
views
Post Apocalyptic Series With Alien Species
I read this series when I was younger but cannot remember the name to save my life. I remember a species of Aliens saves humanity from the ashes of an apocalyptic nuclear fallout and in the resulting ...
- 289
8
votes
1
answer
1k
views
1970s (?) book where teacher flies in a balloon and crash-lands on mysterious island [duplicate]
Plot: The teacher finds an island with very sophisticated civilization. There is a volcano on the island which causes quakes every so often. I also do recall something about families being lettered by ...
user112267