SciFi Books from a While Ago
March 6, 2014 6:15 PM Subscribe
I'm yet again looking for some books I read over a decade ago. Details below. Somewhere in there I swear is a link to Frank Herbert, but I don't know for sure (every time I search for his bibliography it comes up all Dune).
First book/trilogy(?):
Takes place many generations after a colony is founded on another planet. The colonists are reduced to living inside a walled compound, since going outside the compound means almost certain death from predators - the only one of which I remember are some kind of super fast worms.
The AI that runs the ship that brought them there has styled itself as a godlike being. It orbits the planet. For some reason the ship is referred to as god.
The survivors, due to a low population, are suffering from effects due to inbreeding.
The main character uses a coracle for fishing. The coracle was made from stretching the skin of something over a frame.
Second Book:
Machines have taken over the world. I don't know whether they were human invented or came from aliens.
Humans are massively augmented, and built for running. The running aspect is important - I think they have to constantly be on the move. Maybe because they can avoid detection for only short periods?
They break/sneak into machine repair facilities and break supply lines so that they can feed on the nutrients in those supply lines. (So the AI machines also consume protein, I guess.)
The story seems like it's told from a child's perspective.
The narrative is not very human, in that it speaks from their perspective and is more survival and less emotion focused than what you'd read from a modern (or historical) narrative.
(This might be a set of short stories instead of novels.)
Bonus Book:
Earth and the moon have been stolen from orbit and are being taken somewhere. The earth is in an ice age - occasionally the aliens who stole it somehow reignite the moon so that it provides light and heat to the earth.
It features the 7(maybe 11) stages of water boiling as a form of meditation.
Most people are "sheep" and shuffle about, using as little energy as possible. The protagonist is a "wolf" who jumps the queue and steals food.
There is a scene where a group of humans are in the alien ship(?). They eat protein slurry and hide from floating pyramid shaped aliens.
First book/trilogy(?):
Takes place many generations after a colony is founded on another planet. The colonists are reduced to living inside a walled compound, since going outside the compound means almost certain death from predators - the only one of which I remember are some kind of super fast worms.
The AI that runs the ship that brought them there has styled itself as a godlike being. It orbits the planet. For some reason the ship is referred to as god.
The survivors, due to a low population, are suffering from effects due to inbreeding.
The main character uses a coracle for fishing. The coracle was made from stretching the skin of something over a frame.
Second Book:
Machines have taken over the world. I don't know whether they were human invented or came from aliens.
Humans are massively augmented, and built for running. The running aspect is important - I think they have to constantly be on the move. Maybe because they can avoid detection for only short periods?
They break/sneak into machine repair facilities and break supply lines so that they can feed on the nutrients in those supply lines. (So the AI machines also consume protein, I guess.)
The story seems like it's told from a child's perspective.
The narrative is not very human, in that it speaks from their perspective and is more survival and less emotion focused than what you'd read from a modern (or historical) narrative.
(This might be a set of short stories instead of novels.)
Bonus Book:
Earth and the moon have been stolen from orbit and are being taken somewhere. The earth is in an ice age - occasionally the aliens who stole it somehow reignite the moon so that it provides light and heat to the earth.
It features the 7(maybe 11) stages of water boiling as a form of meditation.
Most people are "sheep" and shuffle about, using as little energy as possible. The protagonist is a "wolf" who jumps the queue and steals food.
There is a scene where a group of humans are in the alien ship(?). They eat protein slurry and hide from floating pyramid shaped aliens.
First one reminded me a bit of parts of Anathem.
posted by backwards guitar at 7:06 PM on March 6, 2014
posted by backwards guitar at 7:06 PM on March 6, 2014
Response by poster: Don't want to thread sit, but I solved #1:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jesus_Incident
It was written by Frank Herbert.
nonane - awesome suggestion, but isn't the match. I've read that. I'm a huge fan of old school scifi and that's one that sticks in my mind.
posted by BenevolentActor at 7:07 PM on March 6, 2014
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jesus_Incident
It was written by Frank Herbert.
nonane - awesome suggestion, but isn't the match. I've read that. I'm a huge fan of old school scifi and that's one that sticks in my mind.
posted by BenevolentActor at 7:07 PM on March 6, 2014
Best answer: The second sounds a bit like Gregory Benford's Great Sky River.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 7:15 PM on March 6, 2014
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 7:15 PM on March 6, 2014
Best answer: I have read that bonus book! Wolfbane, by Fred Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth and holy shit, it's from 1959?
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 8:06 PM on March 6, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 8:06 PM on March 6, 2014 [1 favorite]
I was going to say that the description of the robot people sounds a little like the Butlerian Jihad, but there you go.
posted by deathpanels at 4:51 AM on March 7, 2014
posted by deathpanels at 4:51 AM on March 7, 2014
Response by poster: Thanks - Great Sky River and Wolfsbane are the books I was looking for. Gonna go place an order at Alibris now.
posted by BenevolentActor at 11:29 AM on March 7, 2014
posted by BenevolentActor at 11:29 AM on March 7, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by nonane at 6:30 PM on March 6, 2014