Looking for the title of a Book, help!

[browndog]

When I was in college (20yrs ago) I read a sci-fi short story and I can't remember the title. Maybe someone can help me.

It was about a planet that was completely enclosed. No one ever went outside because there was no need. However, one could go up on an "observation deck" and look at the sky. Most people couldn't handle it because it was too big to comprehend.

That's all I remember about it. I'd love to read it again. I read it around the same time I read "Or all the seas with Oysters." It may have been in a collection of Hugo winners, but I've not had any luck with searches.

Can someone help?
Thanks!
browndog

 

[ray gower]

The obvious answer, perhaps, are the Larry Niven Ringworld novels.

But a closer match might be a book I remember where the enclosed world was a lifeboat for the race enclosed, taking them to a new planet.

The ship had been en-route to where ever it was going that the people aboard had forgotten its original nature and purpose.

Every thousand years or so, one of the inhabitants is disenchanted enough with his lot to go and climb the edge of the world and discovers that things are not quite what they appear.

The young hero in question in this instance is able to take the shock of seeing space and discovers that the computers that control the ship's activities have become too fond of their job and have missed the planet they were aiming at.

Ultimately the hero unblocks the entrance to the ship's internal workings and begins to teach his race about space again, whilst forcing the computers to reverse tracks, back to the planet they were supposed to be heading for.

Now I've remembered the whole plot- all I have to do is remember the title!

 

[Dave]

Ray -- What you are describing sounds like 'The Starlost'. We've talked about this atrocious heap of manure in the Television forum. But the original concept was by Harlan Ellison, scripts were written by Ben Bova and there were other high profile people involved, the problem was with Fox (rather like 'Firefly' I think!!!)

You may have read the novelisation of the script by Edward Bryant 'Phoenix Without Ashes' published in 1975. More information here: http://www.smartpedia.com/smart/browse/The_Starlost

Browndog -- It doesn't sound like the same thing you are looking for. It's not 'Songs from the Stars' by Norman Spinrad is it?

 

[ray gower]

The one I was thinking of could have been Phoenix Without Ashes, though as far as I recall there was only a single race and the system was more or less designed to create a visionary at periodic intervals and the systems were primed for the event. Certainly don't know of a TV series.

Altogether it always struck as a cut price, but more viable, Ringworld and not a bad couple of hours reading.

Unfortunately Browndog omitted to suggest if the people who lived on the planet were inside or out, so a further thought came to me of some other stories read (I really should have started to take notice of titles and authors back then).

This was a world shrouded by a forcefield originally designed to keep things out. The chap responsible for the sky discovered that the shield was in danger of collapsing and that the swarm of meteorites heading for them would destroy the planet.
I don't recall it being a wildly exciting book and if it was a Hugo or not I honestly wouldn't like to say. Probably bad enough, IMHO.

The other was from Space Family Robinson (a comic) and not, in this case, relevant. Though the set up was similar, the sky was shrouded but an alien race (the Robinsons) penetrated it. With the habit of stories being recycled, I suspect there are a few novels based on the same concept.

 

[browndog]

More thoughts

Thanks for the starting point. I'll try head to the library and look up "Phoenix" and "Songs".

The people were enclosed in the planet. I don't think they were actually underground, maybe the inhabitants had built so much that they just covered the entire planet...and liked it that way. They never went up to look at the sky/space because they had no desire to do so.

It could be that I'm on a quest only to find a sub-standard piece of fiction. I may be remembering that it was better than it really is...but, heck, I was in college, drinking beer and reading sci-fi.

Thanks!
bd

 

[ray gower]

Think I can offer another possible story here, though it is considerably older than 1980.

It is a short story by Robert Heinlein called Universe. The majority of the occupants knew they were in a ship, but no longer knew why, simply following the teachings of Jordan. (If nothing else it proves there is nothing new under the sun).

As to where you could get a copy, I know not, only that it appeared originally in Galaxy magazine in the 1950's. But I can direct you to a recording used by the X Minus 1 radio series at www.cyber49er.com

 

[Meepski]

Heinlein's Universe was the first Heinlein I ever read, and one of the first science fiction "books" I read!

My Dad had a copy (now mine) of it in a mini-book form from Dell -- cover price 10 cents. In those early days of paperbacks there were all kinds of fun sizes before standardization kicked in -- it was kind of like the microcomputer world of the early 80s.

Universe was actually the first part of a two part serial published in Astounding in 1941. The second half was "Common Sense", and they were published together as a book called "Orphans of the Sky". It's a legitimate serial, not just two stories set in the same universe -- Universe even ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.

As to where to find it -- try www.abebooks.com -- a wonderful site! This is the pooled inventory of just about every independent used book store in the U.S.! I have yet to come up with a blank there (a quick search turned me up 249 copies of "Orphans of the Sky" some for as low as $1 ).

Realistically, this is unlikely to be the story you are talking about, but I couldn't resist leaping into a conversation about one of my childhood favorites!

Just to get even more unlikely, but continuing in the exploration of this vein in SF's past, I recently read a pulp age story called "Tumithak of the Corridors" by Charles R. Tanner (Amazing magazine, 1931) "in which a boy thinks of the universe as an intricacy of dusty corridors, all of them so far underground that he's never even heard of something called the sun!" (blurb from the Feb '67 Amazing reprinting). Not surprisingly, this story doesn't hold up as well as Heinlein's does.

Well browndog, that should help you not at all. I think my mission here is done.

 

[ray gower]

Welcome and thanks for that Meepski.
Living on the UK side of the pond, my supply of Amazing and its contemporaries was largely dependant upon what I could 'borrow' from US aircrew. The books tended to be even more difficult to acquire.

As for Heinlein and co. We have seperate sections for the bigger authors, so please pile in there and we'll chew the cud over them!

 

[Yoss1138]

Ok, I just posted my question about a mystery short story and then read the posting directly below it, made yesterday! They sound very similar but are complete coincedence.

Does my description sound familiar to you, browndog?

Your description of a "observation deck" sounds like the beginning of the first book in the "Foundation" series, now that I think about it. It's not a short story though.

 

[Meepski]

Originally posted by ray gower
Welcome and thanks for that Meepski.
Living on the UK side of the pond, my supply of Amazing and its contemporaries was largely dependant upon what I could 'borrow' from US aircrew. The books tended to be even more difficult to acquire.

As for Heinlein and co. We have seperate sections for the bigger authors, so please pile in there and we'll chew the cud over them!

Roy, thanks for the welcome. I plan to be an irregular regular around here as I find the time!

I hadn't really thought about it before, but it seems offhand to me that SF is becoming more of an international thing these days. It seems like there are a lot more British, Canadian, and Australian authors than there used to be. Do you find that to be so, or has it just become a smaller world and I'm hearing about them more?

Maybe I'lll start a thread on the topic, since I've already hijacked this thread enough!

<Edited for typos>