Psionics

[MoonDoggie]

I was recently listening to the soundtrack of Heavy Metal and the song Veteran of the Psychic Wars by BOC is a favorite. I can just picture a type of soldier called a Betty. They wear armor covered in shrapnel and pop up out of a concealed hole and use telekinesis to force the shrapnel away from themselves killing enemy soldiers.

So, I was wondering if there are books that are have psychic warfare or psionics as an integral part of the story? Anything with soldiers using telekinesis, fire-starters, and levitation?

[kennychaffin]

Why not just squeeze the enemies heart til they die?

[Ropie]

So, I was wondering if there are books that are have psychic warfare or psionics as an integral part of the story?

I'm sure there are many but off the top of my head:

The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
Ubik by Philip K Dick
More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon

No soldiers involved in those though.

[Vandervecken]

So, I was wondering if there are books that are have psychic warfare or psionics as an integral part of the story?

Doc Smith's Lensman series is heavy on the use of psychic talents, if you exclude Triplanetary.

[Omphalos]

Pretty much anyone who wrote for Campbell in the post Golden Age used psi powers. Mark Clifton did it best, IMHO.

Here is a list of others from my own website. There are some great ones in there.

• The Man Who Could Work Miracles, Wells, H.G.
• A Princess of Mars, Burroughs, Edgar Rice
• Last and First Men, Stapledon, Olaf
• Odd John, Stapledon, Olaf
• City, Simak, Clifford
• The Lion of Comarre, Clarke, Arthur C.
• The Science Fiction of Mark Clifton, Clifton, Mark
• Ingathering: The Complete History of the People, Henderson, Zenna
• Looking for Something, Herbert, Frank
• Childhood's End, Clarke, Arthur C.
• More than Human, Sturgeon, Theodore
• The Big Front Yard, Simak, Clifford
• Way Station, Simak, Clifford
• Dune, Herbert, Frank
• Planet of Exile, Le Guin, Ursula K.
• Rocannon's World, Le Guin, Ursula K.
• The Featherbedders, Herbert, Frank
• The Einstein Intersection, Delany, Samuel R.
• Neutron Star (Collection), Niven, Larry
• 2001: A Space Odyssey, Clarke, Arthur C.
• The Santaroga Barrier, Herbert, Frank
• Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (Collection), Tiptree, James Jr.
• TheWorlds of Frank Herbert Herbert, Frank
• Dying Inside, Silverberg, Robert
• On the Last Afternoon, Tiptree, James
• Encounter in a Lonely Place, Herbert, Frank
• She Waits for All Men Born, Tiptree, James
• Worlds of Exile and Illusion, Le Guin, Ursula K.
• Survivor, Butler, Octavia
• The Dead Zone, King, Stephen
• With Delicate Mad Hands, Tiptree, James
• Foundation's Edge, Asimov, Isaac
• The Gunslinger, King, Stephen
• The Man who Melted, Dann, Jack
• Ender's Game, Card, Orson S.
• Foundation and Earth, Asimov, Isaac
• Watchmen, Moore, Alan & Dave Gibbons
• The Nothing, Herbert, Frank
• Guide Dog, Connor, Mike
• This Year's Class Picture, Simmons, Dan
• Parable of the Sower, Butler, Octavia
• Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge, Resnick, Mike
• Parable of the Talents, Butler, Octavia
• Dead Like Me, Castro, Adam-Troy
• Tendeleo's Story, McDonald, Ian
• The Martian Child, Gerrold, David
• Ghost Dance, Alexie, Sherman
• Sergeant Chip, Denton, Bradley
• Fledgling, Butler, Octavia
• The Third Craft, Harris, James T.
• The Living Dead, Adams, John Joseph
• The Passage, Cronin, Justin

[Raule]

Joan Vinge's Cat series: "Psion", "Catspaw", and "Dreamfall" (not soldiers though).

[phil_geo]

Star Wars






seriously!

[MyklSkeleton]

I just finished Three Ring Psychus by John Shirley and it has exactly what you are looking for.

Due to an event known as The Great Unweighting humans have new telekinetic powers that they can use to alter the gravity around other objects and themselves. At first they primarily use this power to Up themselves (fly) but later they start using it more aggressively against other tribes who threaten their survival. An interesting twist is that if you kill someone with your Up field you experience some psychic feedback that can drive you insane or at the very least hurt like hell. It even explores what the military might due with that sort of power.

[MoonDoggie]

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions. That should keep me busy.

Star Wars, hmm. I gotta admit I haven't read any of the SW books. I tend to have a hard time reading books with characters from movies I've seen. Not sure why. The only Potter books I ever read were the ones I hadn't seen the movies for.

Are there any SW books that don't have the main characters (Han, Luke, Vader, etc.) of the movies?

[krisbslick]

Star Wars

seriously!

My thoughts exactly!!

Are there any SW books that don't have the main characters (Han, Luke, Vader, etc.) of the movies?

I, Jedi - was pretty good if I recall.. and no main characters. The Darth Bane books had no main characters in it either.

but honestly, most of the SW books focused the main movie characters. The more recent books include their children as well. You're limiting the options by a lot if you don't want any of the main characters in the book.

[psikeyhackr]

They wear armor covered in shrapnel and pop up out of a concealed hole and use telekinesis to force the shrapnel away from themselves killing enemy soldiers.

That seems a very silly use of psychic powers to me. A electro/mechanical device using explosive could be a lot smaller and more difficult to detect.

psik

[kennychaffin]

That seems a very silly use of psychic powers to me. A electro/mechanical device using explosive could be a lot smaller and more difficult to detect.

psik

My point exactly.

[krisbslick]

That seems a very silly use of psychic powers to me. A electro/mechanical device using explosive could be a lot smaller and more difficult to detect.

psik

You know.. Sometimes psik u really can be a downer.. Lol. And that exists ..
it's called a grenade

[D.R. Stevenson]

Psionics would be better used to track and locate military forces then trying to kill them with their minds. They would be able to scan for troop movements and locations. Knowing where your enemies location is half the battle. Scanners would locate and then aim artillery at the enemy. Now that would be a good use for psychics. Maybe use a telekinetic spotter to help guide the artillery shell towards the ememy.

Psychic foot soldiers would be able to spot hidden boobytraps. They could also be telepathicly linked to a commander who can see the entire battlefield psychicly and is able to tell troops were to go. You could also have soldiers telepathicly linked to a canine unit who has better senses.

[MoonDoggie]

You know.. Sometimes psik u really can be a downer.. Lol. And that exists ..
it's called a grenade

I was thinking of the bouncing betty actually. Someone who could get past all types of bomb detecting security. No need for explosives or even metal. They could be wearing plastic or ceramic material. The song just makes me think of what a Psychic War might be like. What kinds of psi abilities might there be (thought of Lumley's E-Branch)?

Human flame-throwers, locators, precogs, psi-blockers, mind-scramblers, and even Heart-crushers for Kenny.

I figured it would be more entertaining to have different types of psi-soldiers with varying levels of abilities, not just a bunch of people fighting it out mentally (aka Dreamscape or Matrix).