I'd like to know the name of this book/short story/comic

[Kewangji]

I apologize profusely for getting that that wrong!

[diotimajsh]

I'm responding to posts that are so old (three years!) that it's likely that the post-ers either have found the book already or will never see this reply. But, for posterity, I present:

... some sci-fi book that is divided in stories, each of which is based on the same principle: what would be the world like if a certain physical constant had a different value?

That sounds a bit like Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. Though, I don't know if those worlds were defined/specified by altering a single physical constant.

It was about this guy who falls in love with a weird, moody girl and takes a trip to her creepy family mansion with her... ... it turned out his girlfriend/wife (can't remember if they got married or not) was really a child witch in disguise attempting to claim the power of the creature for herself. The creature was basically a disgusting heart sitting in a locked box... In the end the guy gets saved because he was wearing a zip-loc bag full of magical protective hair (yes, hair) under his shirt...

That's definitely Treasure Box by Orson Scott Card.

[shanen]

I'm looking for a comic with two guys saying "I love you" to the same woman. The first guy has a thought balloon saying "I think she's sexually available" and the woman is thinking something like "All my girlfriends say he's a terrible liar but great in bed." Presumably she's smiling but I have no idea of what she's saying. The second guy's thought balloon says "Finally, a woman who wants to sleep with me" and I don't know what her thought balloon says. Perhaps "Boring"? I do look at a number of comics, but this one seems like the kind of thing XKCD might have somewhere, but I've been told that it is not here.

[Aldarion]

In October I saw this book in a London bookstore, which I can't remember the name of, no matter how hard I try.
What I remember about it is that it was set on board a ship from Ireland to America in, I think, the 19th century, and that it was a murder mystery.
Does anybody know what it could be?

[semicharmed]

In October I saw this book in a London bookstore, which I can't remember the name of, no matter how hard I try.
What I remember about it is that it was set on board a ship from Ireland to America in, I think, the 19th century, and that it was a murder mystery.
Does anybody know what it could be?

Star of the Sea, by Joseph O'Connor!

I'm actually in the middle of it right now. Really good so far, worth a read.

[Abderite]

You sir, are a bonafide genius! Your long shot has hit the target. I am reassured that I am not mad, but turns out it is an Alan Moore creation, so it is probably more evidence that he is mad. I'm going to buy a copy this weekend.

I tried searching for "comic alien yoghurt pregnancy" as well Must have missed that 2000 AD link.

This was from ages ago, but I just noticed it! So thank you, and sig'd

[EdgarJPublius]

Bleh, this is probably going ot be too vague to turn up anything, but I can hope.

I read an article recently (a month or so ago) on I think io9, but possibly boing-boing or some other sci-fi/tech blog style site about a new short story collection with a sort of retro/space-opera type feel to it.
The title and cover art initially caught my eye (of course, now I can remember neither, I think the cover may have been blue) and I've been on kind of a retro/rocket-punk kick recently so I filed the thing away to check out later and of course completely forget every useful detail.
I tried trawling/searching through io9s archives, but that was a painful task even before the wretched new site design.
Does anyone else read io9 and remember anything like this? anybody have any ideas?

[Von Haus]

Little Bunny Fru Fru hopping through the forest, picking up an army and crushing all resistance!

And since reading that I have been reminded of a book but as suggested by posting here I have no idea what it was called.
It was sci-fi, and sort of an account of one part of a war, humans vs invading lizards, there were APU's and a giant (I mean GIANT) tank, and it had a bunny painted on the side, the bunny was from a real life webcomic which I can't remember the name of either, is this possibly ringing any bells with anyone. Or maybe just a webcomic with a violent rabbit in it? It would be a start. The cover had a picture of the tank with the painted on rabbit plainly visible and men in blue militaty armour in the foreground.

Edit: Managed to find it myself after trying keyword after keyword. Hell's Faire. The comic was Sluggy Freelance.

[SecondTalon]

Yeah, John Ringo's Posleen War series.

Shit you can get for free because John Ringo and Baen Books are awesome - Most of that series. Hell's Faire is the 4th one.

[Von Haus]

Yeah, John Ringo's Posleen War series.

Shit you can get for free because John Ringo and Baen Books are awesome - Most of that series. Hell's Faire is the 4th one.

Holy shit that's awesome, I am going to have to read the whole series now, I'd only ever read the fourth one before which which great and I was missing all of the backstory. Though that is going to have to wait until I've read the 12 other books I've got sitting on my shelf unread...

[yadayada]

This probably wont work but a very long time ago i remember listening to a book on tape (as in cassette tape) about the second comming of Jesus in an English boys boarding school. I'm not kidding, this actually what it was about, I only heared the first bit of it though and i'm really curiose about how it ends.
The main character is a kid in the school, i think it was all from his point of view. At the start of the story a new boy starts at the school, and at some stage while in a room alone with the main character has what appears to be an epileptic fit, when he wakes up he tells the protagonist that this is not the first time this has happened to him. According to the boy, during these fits he sees God, who speaks to him because he's the second comming, and this time around God has told him that the first person he sees when he wakes up will be his first apostle. The protagonist is sceptical but goes along wth it, that's about all I remember other then something about rugby, the school rugby star might have ended up the second apostle.
I have no idea whether or not the boy was delusional, just lying, or actually the son of god, if this sounds at all familiar to anyone, the title of the book would be greatly appreciated.

[SecondTalon]

Yeah, John Ringo's Posleen War series.

Shit you can get for free because John Ringo and Baen Books are awesome - Most of that series. Hell's Faire is the 4th one.

Holy shit that's awesome, I am going to have to read the whole series now, I'd only ever read the fourth one before which which great and I was missing all of the backstory. Though that is going to have to wait until I've read the 12 other books I've got sitting on my shelf unread...

I should point out that John Ringo is awesome for certain values of Awesome.

See Also : Oh John Ringo No!**
But at least he completely understands what it is he's done. Which ... may make it worse, I suppose.**

**Trigger warnings on those for sexual violence, though if you're familiar with the Oh John Ringo No! meme, you already know this.

[spupy]

I'm trying to recall the names of 3 sci-fi books/stories I read when I was little. I didn't read them in English so I can't find them using what I remember of the titles.

1. Medieval knights in space. They kick some alien ass. That is all.
2. Some aliens arrive on Earth. The interesting thing was that the aliens weren't the usual little green people - they had unusual and almost indescribable shapes.

3. I'm most interested in finding the name of the 3rd book. The title was something like "The Tears of Earth", or "The End of the Earth" or something similar, the cover had a "crying" planet Earth. It described a future where the Earth was almost dead. The land was literally cracked and broken and transformed to an inhospitable endless mountain-desert by frequent earthquakes, signalling the death of the planet. The last humans were desperately searching for water, since all bodies of water disappeared deep underground in the shattered earth.

[zombie_monkey]

1. The High Crusade by Poul Anderson.

[Silas]

There was this Russian short story I had to read for one of my exams. It was about a student at the University who, for one of his exams, had been told to draw a map of the facilities. While he was drawing it, he spilled a drop of ink, and decided to embellish it into a picture of some lilac bushes. When he presented his map, the professor challenged its accuracy, complaining that there were no lilacs in that spot. The student, unwilling to admit his mistake, insists that there are, and tries to bluff his way through by inviting the examiner to come with him tomorrow and see. The obvious results ensue, and ultimately the student's wife enlists the groundskeeper's help to plant a stand of bushes overnight.

Anybody know what it's called, or who wrote it?

[You, sir, name?]

Comic book.
Hero: Anthropomorphic Duck.
Setting: Gritty, stylized, somewhat sci-fi-eqsue. Often in an urban environment.
Had nice quality print, nice drawings.

I'd describe it as a dark and gritty take on Darkwing Duck. Took itself very seriously. Don't really remember much else, sadly. Vague plot elements. I think there was one story where people were being replaced by androids. I also have a vague recollection of an old destroyed building (or a greenhouse? lots of broken glass windows) overtaken by vegetation and someone (the villain?) reminiscing about what had been lost.

[Jorpho]

Surely you're not asking about the infamous Howard the Duck?

[Kewangji]

Comic book.
Hero: Anthropomorphic Duck.
Setting: Gritty, stylized, somewhat sci-fi-eqsue. Often in an urban environment.
Had nice quality print, nice drawings.

I'd describe it as a dark and gritty take on Darkwing Duck. Took itself very seriously. Don't really remember much else, sadly. Vague plot elements. I think there was one story where people were being replaced by androids. I also have a vague recollection of an old destroyed building (or a greenhouse? lots of broken glass windows) overtaken by vegetation and someone (the villain?) reminiscing about what had been lost.

Stål-Kalle? I remember the greenhouse scene from that. There was (is?) a magazine dedicated to that character and it was gritty and good and my dad made me stop reading it by making 13-year-old me think it was 'childish'.

Edit: for non-Swedes: Paperinik, is his international name, apparently. An alter-ego of Donald Duck, from Italy.

[You, sir, name?]

Comic book.
Hero: Anthropomorphic Duck.
Setting: Gritty, stylized, somewhat sci-fi-eqsue. Often in an urban environment.
Had nice quality print, nice drawings.

I'd describe it as a dark and gritty take on Darkwing Duck. Took itself very seriously. Don't really remember much else, sadly. Vague plot elements. I think there was one story where people were being replaced by androids. I also have a vague recollection of an old destroyed building (or a greenhouse? lots of broken glass windows) overtaken by vegetation and someone (the villain?) reminiscing about what had been lost.

Stål-Kalle? I remember the greenhouse scene from that. There was (is?) a magazine dedicated to that character and it was gritty and good and my dad made me stop reading it by making 13-year-old me think it was 'childish'.

Edit: for non-Swedes: Paperinik, is his international name, apparently. An alter-ego of Donald Duck, from Italy.

That lead me here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PKNA

Which seems to have been it.

[Snowfox]

Hey guys,

Long time reader, first time writer, blah blah blah...

There's one XKCD strip that I really want to reference to a friend, but I can't find it. I've clicked through hundreds (literally) strips from multiple directions looking for it, as well as using search functions among other things. Here's what I remember from the strip.

A girl asks a guy why guys don't ever share their feelings. The guy then responds by sharing his feelings, which include his fear of the future and several personal fears. The strip then ends with the girl saying something along the lines of "I find you so unattractive right now".


At the moment, I'm beginning to question my sanity as I'm starting to think it never existed in the first place.

Thank you for your help! And I apologize if this is the wrong section, I couldn't find a place where it seemed these requests were usually made.

[Kewangji]

This does not sound like an xkcd strip I've read. You should search for it on the Internets as a whole. (Though I could just not remember it, I guess).

[M1k3_Nix]

have to agree with Kewangji. Dont recognise this one im afraid.....and ive got http://dynamic.xkcd.com/random/comic/ as my home page


sad i know


-Mike

[diabolo]

Thank you for your help!

You're welcome.

Spoiler:

from here

[Snowfox]

Thank you so much, Diabolo (and everyone else as well for the effort)! I must have misplaced it with xkcd due to the minimalistic design. Apologies to all for having got it mixed up in the first place.

[T3CHN0CR4T]

Anyone know what number the comic is with the trees? (The tree says something like "You've stumped me now" and the other one has a chainsaw.

[Kewangji]

Anyone know what number the comic is with the trees? (The tree says something like "You've stumped me now" and the other one has a chainsaw.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=xkcd%20stumped
First result.

[T3CHN0CR4T]

Haha you know that's the first time someone has LMGTFYed me. Thank you

[Von Haus]

Anyone know what number the comic is with the trees? (The tree says something like "You've stumped me now" and the other one has a chainsaw.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=xkcd%20stumped
First result.

That is so cool! Where did you find it?
Sorry, that was just too easy...

[T3CHN0CR4T]

http://lmgtfy.com

Not sure, I've known about LMGTFY for years now, or at least it seems like years....

[Kewangji]

That is so cool! Where did you find it?
Sorry, that was just too easy...

I asked a silly question on a forum and someone linked me to it!

Höhöhöhö

[Von Haus]

I guess I was to subtle, I was hoping to get a LMGTFY for LMGTFY. Never mind.

[T3CHN0CR4T]

LOL Here you go:

http://tinyurl.com/5wf7s4

[T3CHN0CR4T]

Just trying to remember another strip, not 100% sure if it was an XKCD comic or just a joke I heard somewhere though.

It's a science one where a student substitutes Potassium in place of 'Ok' or K. I found it quite funny and I googled it but couldn't find it...bet it's there, I'm just too tired to think straight and really should go to bed some time soon

[tastelikecoke]

^

This does not sound like an xkcd strip I've read. .

[diabolo]

Just trying to remember another strip, not 100% sure if it was an XKCD comic or just a joke I heard somewhere though.

It's a science one where a student substitutes Potassium in place of 'Ok' or K. I found it quite funny and I googled it but couldn't find it...bet it's there, I'm just too tired to think straight and really should go to bed some time soon

Reminds me of this.

[T3CHN0CR4T]

No I remember now it was a picture at least, if not a comic.

[Bufo_periglenes]

There was this Russian short story I had to read for one of my exams. It was about a student at the University who, for one of his exams, had been told to draw a map of the facilities. While he was drawing it, he spilled a drop of ink, and decided to embellish it into a picture of some lilac bushes. When he presented his map, the professor challenged its accuracy, complaining that there were no lilacs in that spot. The student, unwilling to admit his mistake, insists that there are, and tries to bluff his way through by inviting the examiner to come with him tomorrow and see. The obvious results ensue, and ultimately the student's wife enlists the groundskeeper's help to plant a stand of bushes overnight.

Anybody know what it's called, or who wrote it?

Is it A Clump of Lilacs by Alexander Kuprin? http://worldlibrary.net/eBooks/WorldeBookLibrary.com/clumplil.htm

[Bufo_periglenes]

This probably wont work but a very long time ago i remember listening to a book on tape (as in cassette tape) about the second comming of Jesus in an English boys boarding school. I'm not kidding, this actually what it was about, I only heared the first bit of it though and i'm really curiose about how it ends.
The main character is a kid in the school, i think it was all from his point of view. At the start of the story a new boy starts at the school, and at some stage while in a room alone with the main character has what appears to be an epileptic fit, when he wakes up he tells the protagonist that this is not the first time this has happened to him. According to the boy, during these fits he sees God, who speaks to him because he's the second comming, and this time around God has told him that the first person he sees when he wakes up will be his first apostle. The protagonist is sceptical but goes along wth it, that's about all I remember other then something about rugby, the school rugby star might have ended up the second apostle.
I have no idea whether or not the boy was delusional, just lying, or actually the son of god, if this sounds at all familiar to anyone, the title of the book would be greatly appreciated.

Could it possibly be The War of Jenkins' Ear by Michael Morpurgo?
http://216.194.176.32:8000/1/kcContent? ... =titlelist

(Non sequitur, apparently The War of Jenkins' Ear is a real historical conflict. What could they have been thinking?)

[Bufo_periglenes]

2. Some aliens arrive on Earth. The interesting thing was that the aliens weren't the usual little green people - they had unusual and almost indescribable shapes.

Do any of these jog your memory?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fi ... otic_forms
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fi ... ing_aliens

In what language did you read the books originally?

[Silas]

There was this Russian short story I had to read for one of my exams. ...
Anybody know what it's called, or who wrote it?

Is it A Clump of Lilacs by Alexander Kuprin? http://worldlibrary.net/eBooks/WorldeBookLibrary.com/clumplil.htm

It is! Thanks so much. This has been bugging me, on and off, for months.