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  3. #scifi nerds, I need your help identifying an #SF novel I read decades ago

#scifi nerds, I need your help identifying an #SF novel I read decades ago

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  • Jonathan Kamens 86 47J Jonathan Kamens 86 47

    @DoomsdaysCW @reallyzen Hmm. So.
    It turns out I actually have all three of the Dancers at the end of Time books on my bookshelf in the "books I haven't looked at in decades" section.
    So it _could be_ that.
    But I read the Wikipedia plot summaries, and they don't sound quite like the book(s) I remember.
    Here's my theory: I probably read them when I was a pre-teen, so maybe a lot of the stuff in the synopsis just went completely over my head then, and didn't stick in my brain?

    Jonathan Kamens 86 47J This user is from outside of this forum
    Jonathan Kamens 86 47J This user is from outside of this forum
    Jonathan Kamens 86 47
    wrote last edited by
    #11

    @DoomsdaysCW @reallyzen The thing that's tripping me up is that it seems like time travel plays a significant role in the Dancers books, and I don't remember that _at all_ in the books I read.
    But like I said, maybe I just forgot?

    Jonathan Kamens 86 47J 1 Reply Last reply
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    • Jonathan Kamens 86 47J Jonathan Kamens 86 47

      #scifi nerds, I need your help identifying an #SF novel I read decades ago.
      The main characters each possess some sort of device which gives them essentially infinite power. They use it to create and destroy whatever they want, to travel all over the planet, basically anything.
      They don't understand how the devices work. Turns out they're connected to giant machines—maybe originally for terraforming?—that are starting to break down, and the knowledge of how to fix them has long since been lost.

      Northern ScrubN This user is from outside of this forum
      Northern ScrubN This user is from outside of this forum
      Northern Scrub
      wrote last edited by
      #12

      @jik it's a bit outside of your description, but it sounds like what happens when Teela eats the tree-of-life root and becomes a slightly dodgy pak protector in Ringworld. Pak protectors featurein other parts of Tales From Known Space as well, notably they have an artificial world of islands on which they stock samples of every known race, but shit is a little bit broken there.

      Jonathan Kamens 86 47J 1 Reply Last reply
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      • Jonathan Kamens 86 47J Jonathan Kamens 86 47

        #scifi nerds, I need your help identifying an #SF novel I read decades ago.
        The main characters each possess some sort of device which gives them essentially infinite power. They use it to create and destroy whatever they want, to travel all over the planet, basically anything.
        They don't understand how the devices work. Turns out they're connected to giant machines—maybe originally for terraforming?—that are starting to break down, and the knowledge of how to fix them has long since been lost.

        The Peter Pan of Nerdery™ 🇦🇺D This user is from outside of this forum
        The Peter Pan of Nerdery™ 🇦🇺D This user is from outside of this forum
        The Peter Pan of Nerdery™ 🇦🇺
        wrote last edited by
        #13

        @jik @SeaFury I think I saw something similar to this plot on Fox News the other night

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        • Jonathan Kamens 86 47J Jonathan Kamens 86 47

          #scifi nerds, I need your help identifying an #SF novel I read decades ago.
          The main characters each possess some sort of device which gives them essentially infinite power. They use it to create and destroy whatever they want, to travel all over the planet, basically anything.
          They don't understand how the devices work. Turns out they're connected to giant machines—maybe originally for terraforming?—that are starting to break down, and the knowledge of how to fix them has long since been lost.

          Northern ScrubN This user is from outside of this forum
          Northern ScrubN This user is from outside of this forum
          Northern Scrub
          wrote last edited by
          #14

          @jik the other title I'm thinking of is more fantasy, being the Wind Singer

          Jonathan Kamens 86 47J 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • Northern ScrubN Northern Scrub

            @jik it's a bit outside of your description, but it sounds like what happens when Teela eats the tree-of-life root and becomes a slightly dodgy pak protector in Ringworld. Pak protectors featurein other parts of Tales From Known Space as well, notably they have an artificial world of islands on which they stock samples of every known race, but shit is a little bit broken there.

            Jonathan Kamens 86 47J This user is from outside of this forum
            Jonathan Kamens 86 47J This user is from outside of this forum
            Jonathan Kamens 86 47
            wrote last edited by
            #15

            @northernscrub nah that's not it, sounds cool though 😉

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            • Northern ScrubN Northern Scrub

              @jik the other title I'm thinking of is more fantasy, being the Wind Singer

              Jonathan Kamens 86 47J This user is from outside of this forum
              Jonathan Kamens 86 47J This user is from outside of this forum
              Jonathan Kamens 86 47
              wrote last edited by
              #16

              @northernscrub Nope, that's not what I'm thinking of. The plot isn't right and it was published much too late for when I would have read the book.

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              • Jonathan Kamens 86 47J Jonathan Kamens 86 47

                @DoomsdaysCW @reallyzen The thing that's tripping me up is that it seems like time travel plays a significant role in the Dancers books, and I don't remember that _at all_ in the books I read.
                But like I said, maybe I just forgot?

                Jonathan Kamens 86 47J This user is from outside of this forum
                Jonathan Kamens 86 47J This user is from outside of this forum
                Jonathan Kamens 86 47
                wrote last edited by
                #17

                @DoomsdaysCW @reallyzen I suppose I'm going to have to read Dancers at the end of Time again to settle this.

                DoomsdaysCWD 1 Reply Last reply
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                • Jonathan Kamens 86 47J Jonathan Kamens 86 47

                  #scifi nerds, I need your help identifying an #SF novel I read decades ago.
                  The main characters each possess some sort of device which gives them essentially infinite power. They use it to create and destroy whatever they want, to travel all over the planet, basically anything.
                  They don't understand how the devices work. Turns out they're connected to giant machines—maybe originally for terraforming?—that are starting to break down, and the knowledge of how to fix them has long since been lost.

                  Daniel CarosoneU This user is from outside of this forum
                  Daniel CarosoneU This user is from outside of this forum
                  Daniel Carosone
                  wrote last edited by
                  #18

                  @jik it's not the novel you're looking for, and probably more recent, but there are similarities with Karl Schroeder's Ventus, which I really enjoyed a mere couple of decades ago, and will take the opportunity to recommend.

                  TIL there was a followup prequel, so thank-you for the prompt to discover this!

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                  • Jonathan Kamens 86 47J Jonathan Kamens 86 47

                    @DoomsdaysCW @reallyzen I suppose I'm going to have to read Dancers at the end of Time again to settle this.

                    DoomsdaysCWD This user is from outside of this forum
                    DoomsdaysCWD This user is from outside of this forum
                    DoomsdaysCW
                    wrote last edited by
                    #19

                    I lost my copy (or else I borrowed one from a friend). Now I want to read it again! @jik @reallyzen

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                    • Jonathan Kamens 86 47J Jonathan Kamens 86 47

                      #scifi nerds, I need your help identifying an #SF novel I read decades ago.
                      The main characters each possess some sort of device which gives them essentially infinite power. They use it to create and destroy whatever they want, to travel all over the planet, basically anything.
                      They don't understand how the devices work. Turns out they're connected to giant machines—maybe originally for terraforming?—that are starting to break down, and the knowledge of how to fix them has long since been lost.

                      mobidicM This user is from outside of this forum
                      mobidicM This user is from outside of this forum
                      mobidic
                      wrote last edited by
                      #20

                      @jik

                      The "Forbidden Planet" was published under the name W. J. Stuart (a pseudonym of Philip MacDonald).

                      In Forbidden Planet, the godlike capability is primarily from a planet-wide (underground) machine, not one handheld item per protagonist. It’s common for recollections to compress that into “devices” (e.g., personal access/controls) because the machine effectively makes thought into reality at planetary scale.

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                      • Jonathan Kamens 86 47J Jonathan Kamens 86 47

                        #scifi nerds, I need your help identifying an #SF novel I read decades ago.
                        The main characters each possess some sort of device which gives them essentially infinite power. They use it to create and destroy whatever they want, to travel all over the planet, basically anything.
                        They don't understand how the devices work. Turns out they're connected to giant machines—maybe originally for terraforming?—that are starting to break down, and the knowledge of how to fix them has long since been lost.

                        Den of EarthD This user is from outside of this forum
                        Den of EarthD This user is from outside of this forum
                        Den of Earth
                        wrote last edited by
                        #21

                        @jik
                        Looping in @nyrath and @isaackuo

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