I'm trying to remember a book I read in the mid to late 90's (but which I think was written in the 60's or 70's) in which the hero was a spy that got captured by his rivals, blinded and put in a prison.  There he somehow manages to build a device that allows him to see what nearby animals can see, with a dial to select between animals.  He uses this to attempt an escape.  I don't remember much else except that the planet that captured him had a strict Lutherian communist economic structure in which the local currency was something like 'an hour', representing precisely the amount of time you worked to get that amount.  Anyone remember the author and title of this book? I never owned a copy. I lived in a shared house at the time and I no longer have contact with the house mate that leant me his copy to read.
14086
I read a story once about a man who escapes from his pursuers by doing an uncontrolled jump into hyperspace. If I'm not mixing my stories up he was blind but could see through the eyes of other sighted people/animals nearby. He was able to see through his pet but it dies and he thinks he's finished - he's blind and lost in hyperspace but there's a rat on board which he eventually catches by turning off gravity and then he can see through the rat's eyes. He works out how hyperspace operates and can hop back to where he came from.   Can anyone remember the name of the story and the author? I enjoyed it when I was a kid and would like to read it again.
84803
When I was rather young I had picked up a bunch of SF books at the library,  one had a kind of interested plot about an undercover Space Cop of some sort who had somehow been turned into a slave.  It might have been part of a series.  The main character was female and she had some sort of pain / pleasure implant.  She had been turned into the slave of some sort of Space Pirate whom she was intent on bringing to justice or something.  It was rather a graphic book, both sexually and when it came to violence.  It also wasn't what you would call well written.  Though at the time the idea of a future with some sort of Space Patrol going undercover to capture Space Pirates had fascinated me.  Recently someone mentioned the same book and neither of us could remember its name.    We were both pretty sure it was written in the 80's or 90's and most of it took place on a space ship where the girl was kept hostage.  We think that the Pirates hadn't known she was an undercover Space Cop and she may have been drugged and implanted with this device.  She might have been a crew member at first (maybe an engineer) that the Captain turned into a slave, we're really not sure about that.  We can't even remember how it ends for sure...  Can anyone help us?
98652
I once read a sci fi novel where the protagonist was a boy with one different colored eye, maybe gold colored.   It must have been sometime in the 70's. It was written in English. Unfortunately I have no recollection of the cover.  The time was in the not too distant future.   Actions, relationships and all other aspects of life were controlled by a central computer. As the boy grew he heard stories from his grandfather about how the central computer was built. When he became an adult he joined a group of free thinking rebels that planned to destroy the computer, but were foiled when they bombed the fake computer that was set up as a display/decoy.  One scene sticks in my mind. The group used to meet in a museum where one of the displays was an "antique" car and the people marveled that drivers had control over their own vehicles. One person remarked "I don't think that accidents happened as frequently as we have been told" or something like that. Another detail that I remember is the referral to an aluminum manufacturing plant, specifically an ALCOA factory.  He was captured and offered a chance to become of the "programmers" but eventually found and destroyed the real computer, which was right where his grandfather had said it would be.   The story ends with the now young man heading home in a helicopter as rain begins to fall during daylight hours, a sign that the central computer had relinquished control back to nature.
107450
Another dim memory from my sci-fi reading binges in the 1980s... this one almost definitely in one of the big hardback collections full of late Golden Age short stories.  The story is told from the perspective of a robot (maybe cyborg?) tank that has stopped responding to control signals and is aggressively "defending" some portion of the Moon, to which it was previously assigned. Maybe a war had ended, or maybe it became confused about an exercise that it thought was real?  There was a person trapped in a cave trying to communicate with the tank. The tank mostly ignores him, so the main purpose of what he says is exposition for the reader. I think this person was an expert on this type of robot/cyborg sent to "talk it down", but the tank had attacked, and this guy was the only survivor. The expert was badly wounded -- I think he mentions his suit had to amputate his leg to seal a hole -- or maybe flood it with water which would freeze to seal the hole but mean that his leg had to be amputated later. He keeps trying to convince the tank to stand down, at one point saying that he knew it "back when it was just a two-wheeler an autocyber in boot camp" or something along that line. (Edit: I must have been reading too fast and/or distracted back then, since per the quote below I seem to have misread "motorcycle" for "autocyber"!)  One detail of the attack stands out -- the tank was low on ammunition, I think, so it used a kind of bomb with an electric/magnetic "catapult" (aka "magnapult") to hit the expert's transport. The tank was proud of itself for figuring out a way to hit it far out of the normal range by 1) using its own top speed to add velocity to the projectile, and 2) building up the catapult's energy past its normal operating range, which caused it pain but made the bomb go much further. It catches the transport by surprise, since they thought they were safely out of range of the armaments it had left.  The premise sounds a lot like a Keith Laumer "Bolo" story, but I'm fairly sure that it's not actually one of them. It had a somewhat grimmer feel to it. I could be wrong, though, since it's been 30 years.
30541
Looking for the title and or author of a long ago favorite; I have searched the web for it on and off for years.  I read a paperback novel about 40 years ago; it was probably a used book at that time. Probably pre-1975 publication.  In my memory it was written in the style of Andre Norton I have looked through her , but I am not finding it. It was a young adult sci-fi novel.  Plot; a young woman (gender was not strong, but I remember the main character being female) can see different colored circles floating around. When she looks at them just right, she can jump through to another universe.  In the other universe, things change.  She might become a lion, or maybe she is carrying a seed that becomes a net in the other universe.   Two bad guys are chasing her around the different dimensions, I recall one scene where they are all sliding down an icy slope and she jumps through a portal, to escape the bad guys.   There were a lot of complexities about, dimensions, what became what, different colors of portals and such.
64144
I read this book probably 10 or 15 years ago. I remember it starting out with a  young woman (I think) talking to a computer and altering her appearance in a mirror. I believe she was making subtle changes that were up-to-date with what was popular for the time and I believe the book explained that other people had chosen to make less subtle changes and go full-on were-animal.   The book follows her and her father who becomes a leader of a new civilization, when the main computer is hit by terrorists or something. They fall into the dark ages and have to resort to surviving like they did in the middle ages. It was very descriptive at one point as the woman was trying to figure out how they used to handle menstrual cycles without technology. I remember there was bad guy, and I believe he was were-tiger or panther man, but he wanted the girl. He started raiding the small settlements that had arose in the aftermath, and became like a warlord wreaking havok, pillaging, and raping. The girls boyfriend fought the last battle with him and lost his arm.   I'm pretty sure the book was written in the 1950s. I remember thinking that it was strangely accurate and advanced for when it was written. I have been trying to remember this book for the last 10 years because it was open-ended and I believe it was part of a series. I remember this book being one of the best I've ever read. It could make you clench your teeth, laugh and cry all at once. Can anyone help me find it?
41575
I remember this book from 15+ years ago about a normal boy who was working on his computer (replacing the motherboard maybe?) and he touched something and got zapped. When he came to he came to realize that the computer shocked itself into his head.   Cut to being the hero sometime down the line and maybe saving someone who was kidnapped? Or was kidnapped himself and had to get out of it using the computer?  I don't know why it's in my head all of the sudden but Google isn't helping me at all!
115246
For years I've been trying to find a book I read as a teenager (late 90's). It was written in English, and I was reading it in England. I suspect it was a teen level novel, but can't really say for sure, that may just be because of my age when I read it. My memory of the details is somewhat vague but I'll do my best.  It follows various perspectives throughout, beginning with a reptilian assassin sneaking through border control when entering a planet (possibly?). I think he is there to assassinate a girl, possibly royalty.  The other major perspective is that of a programmer/hacker who works through VR, and falls in love with said girl.  I recall one scene where the lizard goes into the slums and finds a bunch of other lizards there, who are potentially treated as inferior. He is treated with respect due to the colour of his neck - I think.  At one point the girl has a tracking bracelet on, and I think the hacker guy manages to redirect it whilst the assassin is going after her.  I don't have many more details than this, unfortunately, hopefully it is enough for someone!
35750
My son was telling me about a book that he read last year in class that had a picture of a bee on the cover, but where its abdomen is a syringe (with the needle in place of a stinger). It was kind of post-apocalyptic where people were being driven insane by bee stings or something. Somehow he's not even sure of the major plot points. :)  Anyway, we would like to figure out the title and author of this book. Apparently it is fairly recent, and a second book in the series was released this year.
3720
I've been looking for the name of a sci-fi romance book about space travel but haven't been successful so far. I came across it a few years ago, read the plot on its back cover but didn't read the book. It is about two spacecraft pilots, a man and a woman, who travelled at light speed (or maybe FTL, I can't remember) in separate ships. Every time they return to Earth, centuries have passed on Earth because of time dilation. They meet each other for a few times on Earth in different eras, but don't know when, if ever, they will meet again. I don't know how it ends.   If anyone knows which book I'm talking about, could you please tell me the name? Thanks a lot!
26730
Does anyone remember the title and/or author of a sci-fi book about single-celled organisms that ended up saving the life of some astronauts?  The organisms launched a mission into space and fixed something in the astronauts spaceship.  The book dealt extensively with the concept that time passes much more quickly for single-celled organisms.  I read it in 1984.
11892
I am looking for a novel that I'd love to re-read it with my wife (my 13-year old self must be proud of me I guess). Key Plot points The plot was about humanity finding an alien station on an orbit of Earth. (I'm not sure if it wasn't Moon itself). On this station there were thousands of ships ready to travel so there rose a company that paid people to get on those ships and explore the galaxy. The problem was humans didn't understand how to steer those ships so they had to rely on preset targets. Of course there was no telling where particular ship was to go and fair amount of them never returned. Chronology and other relevant information I read it as an early teenager back in early 2000s. It was Polish translation of a foreign (possibly English) story. I think (not sure) that the book wasn't new at the time. It was just one of those books you dig out in a library and take to see if it's good. I don't recall cover either and even if I did it'd be of the Polish version. Additional information could be that the narration was led along the psychoanalytics of the main protagonists where he relives his memories from inside the station and his journeys.
92754
This was the first science fiction novel I completed reading on my own some 36 years ago. Unfortunately the details are very sketchy indeed, but here's what I think I remember:   It was a hard back library book The book was 100 pages long (perhaps exactly or just over) I read it some time pre-1980, possibly in 1979 but it may not have been new then It would've been classified as a "Children's Book" back then, but would be YA or Middle Grade now The POV character was a young boy of about 10-12 years of age It was set on the Moon The boy is rescued by some space gypsies He is befriended by a young space gypsy girl with dark hair When he is returned to his family, his parents are very prejudiced against the gypsies. A scene fragment of transferring from a lunar rover to the entrance tunnel to a lunar base A scene fragment of the boy looking at a computer screen and seeing someone who reminds him of the girl   Like so many here, this is a long term unscratchable itch that I'd love to soothe. Many thanks in advance for any clues or pointers.
70886
I vaguely remember a book which I would like to read again. The plot was like this.  A man lives an ordinary life but one day he starts having some memories ... or headaches, I don't remember. The main thing is that he discovers he is able to feel and communicate with electric devices around him. And as soon as he discovers it, he starts having serious problems with some organization which had trained him and used his abilities for wrong purposes. Slowly he regains more and more memories and is forced to run and hide from physical and telepathic assassins. I remember, that there was one mystical "electrical being" which acted as his invisible "guardian angel" and this being had helped him in his early childhood when he was in a hospital. This being could manifest itself to the physical world only through electrical devices.  There was a woman who also had some telepathic abilities and her telepathic presence always was accompanied by some specific scent, like some flowers or something. This woman was an assassin sent to kill the protagonist, but then she switched sides and died. But the "electrical being" saved the woman, taking her into some "electrical" level of existence.  The style of the novel was mostly light and active adventure story. Not exactly teenager book, but also no any serious philosophical value to it.
11461
I'm looking for the name and author of a novel (or possibly novella). I first read this in the seventies, and might be older than that. It might have been written for teenagers.  The story takes place on a planet inhabited by a primitive humanoid race, roughly stone age if I remember rightly. Visiting this planet is a small team from a more advanced race, also humanoid and with spacefaring technology (obviously!). They are either there to help or observe, no nefarious purposes. I think they are avoiding contact with the primitives, at least initially. It's explicitly mentioned that the planet they are visiting is the third one of a medium sized star, just like their own homeworld. Also orbiting round the planet is an even more advanced race, using high tech to remain hidden from both the others. They are observing the whole situation, and again its mentioned that this is a 'third planet', like their own homeworld.  I'm a little bit hazy on the rest of the plot, but I think the super-advanced race end up revealing themselves, even though they are not supposed to.  The story is told from the viewpoints of both the second and third races (maybe also the first, I forget)  EDIT: For the record it turns out my recollection was faulty, and the second race are indeed coming to the planet for nefarious purposes. And the planet is at the medieval stage, not stone age.
62873
I am looking for a book that I read back in the 90's about a guy who's lost his memory and figures out, eventually, that he's a god and part of the universal battle between good and evil, or maybe chaos and order (no, it's definitely not Chronicles of Amber, although some of the story line is similar). My memory seems to think that he fights as an indestructible flying golden/metal lion or something similar at times. I also seem to remember that he loses his first major battle and has to go off for a long time to heal before he comes back and eventually prevails.   I was thinking it was a story by Roger Zelazny, but I don't see anything in his bibliography that fits exactly. Also, the gods are part of a pantheon — I just can't remember which.
116413
The book's story as far as I can remember is, space soldiers are fighting with bio mech suits against rebels (they are inside these suits and apparently there is a lot of bio gel). One soldier defects to the rebels who have alien tech. They implant alien tech into him as well and together they go searching for the creators of the alien tech. They find the alien who tells them that the tech they have is not important to it... keep thinking this tech may be alive and be an &quot;egg&quot;, not sure I remember clearly. Read the book in the late 90's early 2000's.