Sometime in 1976 I read part of a book and never finished it.  The book or short story involved the following.  Multi-dimensional worlds. Possibly multiple duplicate worlds. Our world causes conflict by sending things to another dimension, unknowingly causing damage. The other dimension then retaliates. I remember something about damage to some kind of theater.  Any ideas who the author could be and the work's name?
22366
In the 1960s I read book--an older children's book, I think--which I loved, and still remember, roughly.  I have no idea what the title is or who the author is, and I'm wondering if anyone knows this one:  Scientists had invented a device which they didn't fully understand, and which had puzzling effects.  For example, when a pencil was put into the machine, it disappeared, and then reappeared inside out: The lead was on the outside.  When people went into the machine, they came back dead, having died from fright.  Finally they sent a very open-minded person into the machine.  She was an artist, I think.  She was able to return alive, and described an alternate universe in which geometry was very different.  I distinctly remember that there were supposedly square triangles or four-sided triangles--or was it three-sided squares?  (This is, of course, a literally contradictory claim, but I didn't see the matter as clearly then.)  Thanks!
1834
I'm looking for a plot line (it should be a short story) that depicts Earth population (or their close descendants) establishing contact with another intelligent life form deep into space.   After careful studying of DNA samples and language / communication symbols they then realize that the civilization in question is also from Earth but that they departed very long ago and travelled throughout the galaxy in the completely opposite direction so that they are now meeting practically at the point of the circle opposite to Earth. There might have been some anatomical differences as well.  As far as I can remember, the story concludes shortly after that.  This should be a work of a well-known SF author, so I'm hoping for a quick response (if time didn't corrupt my memory too much).  I don't think it was part of an anthology, but it's entirely possible it was in a magazine.  As for the timeline, I've read it about 2-3 years ago, but since I have a passion for older SF works it might not be of much use.  Edit: Not sure if this could help but for what it's worth, it might be contained in .
36998
For some reason I've been off and on trying to remember for this for some years now.  In short: The protagonist wakes up to discover his body has been replaced by a tank and is being forced to fight to in a war for his alien enemy against some other enemy.  I read this most likely in the mid/late 1980's. I'm fairly certain it was a paperback and was probably a few years old by then. I think it may have had an outline of a tank on the cover. I'm fairly sure I had read "Armor" by John Steakley in the same general time frame.  More detail: The protagonist was on Earth as part of a resistance against an alien invasion.  Near the beginning of the book they had augmented his strength, reflexes, etc.  After going through all of that, he was immediately killed in his first encounter.  Eventually he wakes up again to discover that he is now a brain in a box and his body is now a tank fighting some other war.  He was likely able to break free and regain consciousness because of the augmentations he received.  I believe that from there he went about waking up the other human brains and leading a revolt.  Not sure why it stuck in my head but there was a scene when they were testing his augmentations.  They had him in a weight machine and he was complaining that the shoulder padding was too soft because the bar was digging in his shoulders.  The comment back was that the pads were made out of oak or some such.  Does anyone recall the name of the book, author, etc so I can track it down again?
100995
I'm trying to find a story for my father, from the 70s or earlier  Earth is at war with aliens (possibly Martians) and was unable to effectively fight back as the aliens had planetary (or at least city-protecting) force fields through which no bombardment was possible.  Earth eventually wins through invention of a device that allows them to teleport weapons (nukes?) under the force fields.  originally believed to be one of Harry Harrison's 'One step from earth' shorts, but this is not the case.  Thanks in advance for any help here!
15033
I read this book many years ago and it had a nice plot. For the life of me I can't remember the name or author so I need help.  Story: one asteroid shaped object appears close to Earth orbit or in the Sol system.  People get on board and start exploring. They find machines/computers that can teach them anything in a very short time (languages, crafts etc).  Towards the end, something happens and one of the characters goes into a long tunnel where he/she opens a portal in time with the help of a device he/she has.  In the epilogue it states that he has been transported back in time to Egypt.  I think there were no pyramids.  Sorry for being brief but this is all I remember. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
1792
I remember a book that described various lifeforms evolving in the galaxy (and i think may be the overriding theme was extinction).  One of them was 2-D species evolved on rapidly changing environment (probably rings of some planet?)  For some reason I'm thinking it may have been "Manifold" series but I honestly don't remember anything about that series, so it's just a vague feeling.
112423
What is the correct term for a book that sits alongside another book in time and universe, sharing some characters and events? Not after (a sequel) or before (a prequel), but parallel.  Example: I've just read "Ender's Shadow". It's a [something] of "Ender's Game".
1917
I am looking for a short story and anthology / anthologies containing it: A multi generation ship has landed on a planet with very hostile inhabitants on it. The aliens are chipping away at the hull of the ship with primitive instruments.   The leaders of the space ship decide to breed aggressive children to counter the aliens. They know that this is suicidal as the children will be so aggressive that they will kill the parental generation.   I think I read this in an anthology in early 80's / late 70's. Most likely published in 70's.
54522
I can't remember the gender of the main character.  I remember bits and pieces from different books, but I think they're all part of the same series. The pieces may not be in order or from multiple books.   Boy somehow ends up in a mirror universe that's darker and seems to have no people. He has to travel to a certain office(?) building and steal a book. I think this is towards the end of the book (I can't remember the events leading up to it). I think he finds the portal in a forest or something behind his school. He goes into the ocean with mermaids or something and has to save the ocean from pollution. Aliens exist and are observing Earth, because they think it's undeveloped and are waiting for them to be advanced enough. His mother ends up in hospital and he does something to save her. He goes to Ireland(?) and enters a mountain or something to find a race of people. I can't remember who showed him how, but I'm pretty sure she used magic. He goes to Mars and saves a race from war with themselves(?). This place was hidden inside an illusion. He's also grouped with a linguist that learned their language. He travels to another world where there's a prince. I can't remember, but I think it might've been part of a tournament. His sister goes to a robot planet through a portal. I think the actual planet was a robot/AI and had lots of little robots on it. Can't remember what happens here, but he goes there and saves her from something.   It was set a few years ago, when computers weren't common (his family got one early in the first book, I think).  Thanks in advance if someone finds it.
50948
I'm trying to help a teacher friend of mine with finding a short story he read when he was a teenager and has not been able to find since.  He described the story in the following way:  In a post-war world there is a setup in which Soviet/Russian soldiers are required to fight against American soldiers in an arena in which both sides have equal setup: a forest, a lake, etc. The winner of the 'game' has the right to govern for the next several years.  It's told from a first person point of view like you're watching the Olympic games and one American soldier gets shot, but is not killed.  He falls and other bodies fall on top of him so it seems the soviets win, however their last two soldiers happen upon him and he kills them first, rendering the United States victorious.  Given that he was the only survivor he has a sort of political amnesty in which he can do no wrong legally. He returns home and he essentially suffers from a form of PTSD.  The story ends with him watching a young girl next door get off the school bus; he walks to the neighbor's home, goes inside and, in front of the girl's parents follows the girl into her room and shuts the door, leaving the reader to assume whatever happens behind the door.  He's been looking for this story in different anthologies for some time.  Can anyone help?  Thanks so much! :)
86204
I read this novel back in the mid-80's but I'm pretty sure it was written in the 70's.  Strange things start to happen around a homeless man - like the laws of chance are changed.  The investigators discover that they can figure out what is going to happen next by interpreting the dreams/vision of the man.  One such dream is of a large body of water that is split into two pieces. Turns out that means that "C" (sea) - the speed of light has been halved.  The homeless man had become the embodiment of the creator essence. The creator was hiding, because it was tired of trying to keep the universe working and from the fight with is adversary - chaos.  At the end of the book, the creator allows the world to be destroyed and recreates it - except that planets are cubes and move in squares.  Yes - it was rather bizarre.
54346
Looking for a book. A series,  actually.  The main characters were a Jewish man and a black woman who was his wife. There was a running gag when she would tell people her last name and they thought it was unusual that a black woman would have a Jewish name.    They went on adventures in parallel dimensions. I believe that each book had a word repeated in the title, maybe "mirror?" Or "maze?" Or "page..."  it seems they jumped into worlds through a tool like a mirror or a book.   The parallel universes were like pages, and the pages closest to you were most similar but the further you got the further they were from your life.  One page over might be that you had something different for breakfast and so now you have a tummy ache, a few more pages over you might have become a prostitute, too far and it was theorized that humans had evolved differently altogether, I didn't get that far in the series.  For adults, and humorous.  I read them about 15 years ago, so they are not new. I would love to find them again.
20704
So my dad told me about a short story he had once read. It must be older like before 1986. It is about two men who traveled through space and found a dead planet. On it was what he calls a super museum. They set it up as a heritage/legacy for those in the universe that were intelligent enough to find it. As a twist it turns out that this planet is actually earth and that the men must have traveled to the future. (Kind of like planet of the apes)  I have found a few topics that looked similar. But it's not resurrection bij a.e van Vogt.(because they know it is earth they are visiting) Although this seems very similar. He also says it is not all the way back from michael Shaara.   Anybody have any idea? If it helps, the story was translated to Dutch and was in a book with other stories as well. I don't know if they were from one author or various. It has been bugging me for years as my dad always told me the story moved him deeply and as I love science fiction I would love to read it. Just found this site so thought to give it a go.thanks in advance!
123268
Sorry I don't recall much about this at all. A friend, who had recommended many other books/authors I ended up liking, told me about a story in which a scientist develops some kind of special glass, that had some property like slowing down light by a factor of a trillion, or something else odd like that, adventure ensuing. He's since moved away, and now I'm wondering what this book might have been.
25658
I'm looking for the title of the short story, and any of the volumes of anthology it may have appeared in. I know for SURE it's in one of Jerry Pournelle's anthologies, either Star Empires and There will be War, but as I have all the eBook version of THere will be war, I'm almost certain it wasn't there.   Anyway, the book is about a Commodore who went back to the academy to visit. I'm not sure what his name was, but I'm pretty sure he lived at "Mercer Hall". He had 2 roommates, and a butler to take care of all their needs, like putting away their stuff. (He even tried to argue with the hall monitor) The butler once took away their bottle of booze UNTIL they study for mid-term, and only gave it back AFTER they wrote to their mother AFTER the exam.   The book also goes heavily into "Bless you!" or the translated version, "May the great cosmic magnificence be benevolent toward you" or something like that. Basically, it's about as inoffensive as possible, and if you say it enough, and the aliens are reasonable, they will give up and things will resolve peacefully.   My Google-fu is weak and I can't find this particular story, or which volume of anthology was it in.   Little help?
31176
I'm trying to remember the name of a short story I read about 25 years ago or so. I'd also like to know of any collections it appeared in.   The details I recall involve a family who are embarking on a hyperspace journey. To undertake this journey you have to be put to sleep. One of the children pretends to be asleep, and when the jump is complete the child has gone insane. From the child's point of view the jump lasted for an eternity while in reality it was only a few seconds.
26305
I read a short story, can’t remember if it was part of a larger narrative or just on its own.  It was about a crew that was taking a bunch of space tourists to a planet that had plants with seeds in glass-like structures that make certain sounds. The main character in this story feels connected to this planet because there’s a Valley of Sound, where there’s a large number of these glass plants that make all sounds imaginable.  People can almost pick out a loved one’s voice for instance. I absolutely love this concept but can’t for the life of me remember what the story/book was called!