Can anyone help me identify a few sci-fi books I read in the 70s?

This one (from a long time ago memory) has hydroponic gardens on a generation ship.
Thousands of colonists in hypersleep but linked into VR and a starship named Perseus. It was written in the 1970s

Trap for Perseus by Ludek Pesek
 
@dannymcg Trap for Perseus - I don't think that is the right book, and it doesn't seem available in ebook form for me to easily check, though it does sound an interesting read..

The VR one I'm trying to identify where they all have the tattoo Persius 7 or something like that only had a small crew maybe 10 people or less

Also you don't find out anything regards the fact they are actually on a crippled spacehip till towards the end of the book

I try to recall - I think at the start of the book our lead character is taken to meet the group of people who have been taken individually to a planet on some sort of quest, expedition or mission - (which eventually turns out to be a simulation, 90% of the way through the book) by some religious or mystical or god-like character, and this character is involved with them disappearing. The could have been in some sort of camp, thinking about it.

One of the characters in the group, a woman, acts in a brazen/slutty manner amd seduces or has sex (or tries to) with most of the other characters. I remember them all discovering they have the same tattoo, and the planet has insects or flies with 'miniature television cameras' that watch them - it specifically described them that way, and I found the description dated/archaic even in the 70s or 80s when i read this. When the VR world collapses, I think in a hurricane, storm or earthquake or something like that, and they are all back on the spaceship I remember at the end they are going to restart the VR after making some changes to the program, and the lead charactes wanders away into the corridors while they are doing that and meets the same mystical character in the real world, that appeared in the VR, who then leads him away 'into the light' or something like that. The End.

It's the other book that was on a generation colony ship where 'she walked' and 'the children died' and there is this urban myth or nursery rhyme near the start of the book, the story then revolves around the passengers or crew discovering what happened (possibly years or generations before). I wish I could remember more, or something about the other novella in the same book. Of that I only remember the opening line that 'In the beginning/at the start (he?) had two (blue?) eyes and a (something else) and in the end he had neither' or 'he had lost both'. This story ithink involved a young person (male) and a really bizaare but friendly creature on a moon or something. I think this is gonna be very hard to identify these novellas, which I can only assume were by the same author but may not have been for that matter, but hopefully someone might.

Here is one other - read in early 90s and it is one I remember enjoying- Not sure if this was a novel or a novella, or maybe even a short story. Something about a spaceman alone on a Jungle or Forested world with a creature that he thought was a a cross between a 'Fury' and a 'Harpy' and he calls it a 'Hury' - and falls in love with it. despite it not even being mammalian but an egg laying species. Heavens, I can remember some weird stuff!
 
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Oh WOW it's a Phillip K Dick book.! I didn't expect that. (Though maybe I should have done, having read Ubik and one or two others)

I guess this is one of his lesser known ones which is why it took a little while to track it down plus my misspelling of Persus 9/Persius 9?

Excellent - I see it is available cheap on Amazon Kindle and has 4 stars rating too so hopefully it is as good as I remember. I will give it a second reading.

Thank You Dan.
 
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Found on......
..... This site!

Help remembering the name of 2 Sci Fi novels

Hi all, I was quite young when I read a couple of science fiction books which got me hooked on the genre. I've now forgotten their names and try as I might, I can't get them out of my mind. I'll describe them both here and if anyone of you could help me that would be great. If this is not...
www.sffworld.com www.sffworld.com
 
Hmm interesting. Apparently I am not the only one who had such an impression form this book it stuck for nearly 50 years! I don't suppose others here read it otherwise they would have recalled it straight away from my description
 
peligroraton said:
Hi folks

I'm trying to find a few sci-fi books I read back in the day, early to mid 70s but I still recall them though I don't remember what they are called or who they are by

Some of these books (like Hothouse and Non Stop) I remembered the names, and reread

Some of them like The Godwhale I recalled a character like A.R.N.O.L.D (Augmented Renal Nucleus Of Larry Dever) and google did the rest.

However there are others that google won't help.

One all I remember is the 'BOLG' is coming - all I recall this Bolg destroys worlds and was a gaint 'macro antibody' basically. Anyone know what book that is? Google insists I am dyslexic and am really searching for the Blog doh!

Another one I am trying to find was a really weird story where a group of people go to a planet (or are taken there by a mysterious character?) to search for something? Things get very strange, everyone has the same Tattoo that says 'Perseus 7 or Perseus 9' or something like that but no one knows why - there are insects with 'miniature television cameras', someone or something is killing the characters or they are disappearing one by one and the world all gradually falls apart, eventually in a kinda apocalyptic way. Then you find out reason and what their situation really is.

SPOILER Actually they are all trapped on a crippled spaceship (called Perseus 7/9) with no possibility of rescue and they are using a 'virtual reality entertainment' machine to pass time because there is nothing else they can do. The whole story is a kinda 'bad trip' they experience caused by one of the people in the virtual reality I think. This is a probably a precursor in a lot of ways to The Matrix or Dark City. But written in the 50s or 60s most likely. Anyone know what that is? (sorry there is some spoilers here if anyone wants to read it)

The other I only really vaguely remember - there were two novellas in one book and possibly a female author... On story starts ; 'in the beginning (the lead character????) had two blue eyes and (something) in the end he had neither' but I don't remember anything else about it. In the other story it is set on a generational colony ship I think and is about some powerful being they encounter. There is like a nursery rhyme/urban myth at the beginning of the story 'she walked in the ponics???? and the (people?) cried, she walked in the (nursery??) and the children died - and people think the rhyme cried/died is back to front. The whole story is about discovering what really happened. I read that in the 70s got it from the public library so it could be older. I really don't remember much about this one but it sticks in my mind I really enjoyed both novellas at the time.

One other but this was a film not a book This was shown several times in the early/mid 70s on UK public TV. This one starts with some people (on a university?) with a time machine that is like a big square window in a room, They can use it but only to look into the past or future but then something happens and they find they can walk through the time window. They then go into the future where there is a robotic society ? and people? who are trying to escape from something on a huge rocket/spaceship. They somehow end up back at the time machine room but moving out of sync with time (too fast so their own past selves still in the room who can not see them - bit like a famous Star Trek episode) they do something to the time machine then escape through the window again into another time in the past or future. Then it loops back to the beginning where the original version of the characters find they can walk through the window This would have been made in the 60s I am pretty sure. Anyone know what that film is?


I am sure you good folks here can identify some of these

Thanks for your time
Rich
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I was searching the Internet looking for the novella which referenced ponics and came across your post. It was a multigenerational starship, lost in time ponics were the plants and the implied cave like existence was in the decaying ship with a population with no idea of it's past and purpose. The book ends with the revelation that it's a starship as, after millenia it reaches orbit and the ship begins to disassemble, each section a landing craft.
I had the impression that it was a multigenerational battleship but I could well be wrong.. I remember the feeling I had when I got to the last page or two when reality was revealed and thinking what a nightmare they where about to awaken to.
I wish I could remember the title. I read so many short stories in those days. In the meantime I'll just have to keep googling.
 
peligroraton said:
Yes excellent work guys. Thank you, what a nice place I found :)

Now can anyone get the more obscure ones - I am sure there is enough I remember of the one where they are in a virtual reality machine on a crippled starship. I recall now that the captain is dead and only he can control the ship so they are stranded in deep space with no way home

I update profile so now you understand my forum name?
Click to expand...

I just posted a question about the very same book it seems. If you ever do figure out it's name, I would love to hear about it please.
 
peligroraton said:
@Lefeu That one was already identified
it's A maze of death by Phillip K Dick
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Thank you Peligroraton! This is awesome! I've been searching for this book for such a long time. Now if only I could find the name of the second book I am looking for, that would be super.
 
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