(Found) Two people living on large estates surrounded by machines afraid to meet. Larry Niven ! early shorts !

[Wyld-Cat]

The COVID-19 coronavirus got me thinking about this Larry Niven short story, pre 2000 !
The story I am looking for, remembering is ... a world that people became afraid to meet face to face.
They lived, the last two, on large estates serviced by machines.
They were paranoid of disease, and seldom ventured, refused to go, beyond the borders of their compounds.
One sent out a distress message because the other had stopped communicating (by radio), a broken leg - I think !
Well someone heard the message and came to the rescue , space ship...
Details of the strange existence come out and they eventually get help, and get together - to breed and repopulate the world.
I think it was a short story and I don't remember the title of the collection, or the Story ??
I am pretty sure it is a Larry Niven short story, but I could be wrong
Maybe some one knows ?? Thanks for your efforts !!

 

[Danny McG]

I got a faint memory of this, was it maybe Asimov?

 

[The Judge]

The setting, with the large estates and the population being serviced by machines, certainly reminds me of The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov, so I wonder if he recycled the idea somewhere else. (It isn't TRoD itself, as the other details don't fit -- there are more than two people living on the planet in TRoD, and it's really a detective novel trying to work out who killed one of the humanoid robots.)

 

[J-Sun]

Asimov had used the motif in The Naked Sun and The Robots of Dawn but I think this particular story could be Robert Silverberg's "Neighbor."

-- Well, on second thought, the latter parts don't sound right. Up to "stopped communicating due to injury," it sounds like "Neighbor."

 

[tegeus-Cromis]

You know, there may be the germ for a fascinating story in the notion of machines "meating."

 

[Wyld-Cat]

Yes, apologies for miss spelling meet in the title of my post !
I have read many of Asimov's works, very thought provoking and enjoyable they are too.

- - More on the story - -
It turns out that there was a small handful of people that didn't know each other existed on the world. Until the visit of -?- .
I say people, but they are not known - they are a new discovery, a new world, found by a space cowboy, umm (sheriff, officer?) Out on patrol...
It was mentioned as an opening story line, That this person heard the faint signal repeating over and over and went to investigate .
He followed the signal to the estate of one person and made contact by radio, and learned of the problem and paranoias of the people...
And - see previous post !

The Adventures of -?- (someone?) ... a set of short stories, about the adventures, life, of this person. ?Maybe?
Other stories I remember, from the same source, I think ? Are ...
Another story, was about solving why some people got killed in a Puppeteer hull, going around a blackhole! It turned out the gravity sensor was the problem - cause. And another one about a hull vaporizing, was from an antimatter planet shedding particles into space.

I don't know why but I keep thinking it has something to do with Known Space. ‍
Puppeteer ship = well the hulls made by them !
Help ! I am missing some pieces, I know !
Thank you for your replies

 

[Dave]

Maybe you read it in an anthology with a number of different authors. I think I've read most Niven and I don't think it is his. The second story is, obviously. Not sure about the third.

 

[Wyld-Cat]

Maybe you read it in an anthology with a number of different authors. I think I've read most Niven and I don't think it is his. The second story is, obviously. Not sure about the third.

Yes an anthology maybe ?
The puppeteers had this person solving problems for them. One was an unknown signal, from the planet - they sent Gil Hamilton to investigate ?

I came across Gil Hamilton in a list of Niven's books, Not sure if he is the person I am thinking of or not, just sounded familiar !

Thank you for your input people !!

 

[Wyld-Cat]

Hummm I see you have a time limit on editing a message - I ran out ! !

Yes I remember reading an Anthology of Science Fiction, but I keep associating Niven and Known Space with the story, Dave.

- - - 3rd story from above, more on it, Dave - - -
The outsiders, (bathe in radiation on the outside of their ship, are seldom seen), told this mega rich person about the antimatter planet when he wanted to see something unusual, that no one had seen before. The outsiders warned him not to land on it. It was traveling through space not orbiting a sun. So they tried to match speed with the planet and their hull vanished ! A tidbit about how puppeteers hulls are made cane out !

- - - More on the story - - -
The puppeteers had a person solving problems for them.
One was an unknown signal, from a planet - they sent ?(Gil Hamilton)? to investigate it !
I came across Gil Hamilton in a list of Niven's books, Not sure if he is the person I am thinking of or not, just sounded familiar !
A question, does Gil coincide with the Puppeteers ? IDK ! . . . If no I got the wrong person!
I have been thinking and I think while editing and me thinks - Gil is not the right person, I am looking for !

Another idea, could this be a subplot in a larger story, just a piece out of a larger story ?
I am pretty sure I read the story in the 1990s though it could be in the 2000 - 2010 maybe !
If it was new or a reprint, I don't remember ! ... I wish I could remember more !
Well, my quirky memory may come up with more ...
Thank you for your input people !!

 

[Dave]

I have a paperback from the seventies, The Long ARM of Gil Hamilton. It includes all the short stories about him up to that point, and I'd have to look again but I don't recognise it. It could have been a short written later, but I think he stopped writing short stories in the eighties and became more collaborative with other authors. The are some longer stories about the ARM, such as The Patchwork Girl. It isn't something I remember in that. Many of these stories got repackaged and extended within the Worlds series (with Edward M. Lerner) in the noughties. I have read those but my memory of the new stuff isn't as good.

Wikipedia says that the The Long ARM of Gil Hamilton (1976 collection) was reprinted as Flatlander in an 1995 omnibus. I don't have that, never read it, but maybe that is what you are looking for? Sorry, I can't be more helpful.

 

[Vince W]

This couldn't be a Beowulf Schaeffer story could it?

 

[Wyld-Cat]

This couldn't be a Beowulf Schaeffer story could it?

Yes Beowulf Shaeffer's stories are certainly apart of what I have been remembering.
"Shaeffer is approached by a Pierson's Puppeteer" ... His adventures are exactly what I'm remember.
That is apart of the mystery solved.

Thank you Vince W

 

[Dave]

Then you may be looking for the first of the Worlds series... Fleet of Worlds (2007.) That repackages many of the Beowulf Shaeffer short stories contained in Neutron Star (1968 collection) starting with At the Core, and turns them into a novel, with additional new material concerning ARM agents. I'm sorry but my memory is sketchy on the plots, and I still cannot remember the story you described, but it is right for the date you gave and ticks all the other boxes.

 

[Wyld-Cat]

Hello people, I think I have found the story I am remembering ! "The Naked Sun and also The Robots of Dawn"
Chapter 10 of The Naked Sun covers what I was thinking about remembering, mostly !
Where the human colonists lead a hermit like existence, ... with robots running their estates.
"a Solartian takes pride in not meeting his neighbour." a quote from ch 10 .
Yes it is a detective story about Detective Elijah Baley and the robot R. Daneel Olivaw !
Not what I thought I was remembering for sure... The Foundation novels had Daneel in them too ? I guess I have got some rereading to do !!

I have not reread the whole book, yet, but I feel it is the source of my remembering's
Thank you J-Sun, The Judge, and dannymcg you pointed me at it in the beginning but I was following the Niven connection
I only looked into the Asimov connection after looking up the synopses of the Niven stories and realizing that what I was seeking was not there.

Thank you Dave, and Vince W. for you help on the Niven angle. I don't think I would of found the Beowulf Shaeffer angle..

Sorry I don't know how to do the quote, and {Found} title to let people know I have found my answers ?? !! ??
?? Insert Link ?? is that it ?? No doesn't look like it !! Oh well need to check the main page info I guess !!

 

[The Judge]

No, only mods can do the "(Found)" bit, and it's been done for you now, so all's good.

Meanwhile:

• do stick around -- we're always interested in meeting SF readers and hearing what they think of particularly writers and books, so let us know how you get on with the Asimov
• I'm claiming this as a GOT IT!! since I was the first to name one of the novels even though I didn't think it was the right one! (It will only be my third in the 11+ years I've been here, so if I have to fight in single combat to keep the GOT IT I will!! )

 

[J-Sun]

if I have to fight in single combat to keep the GOT IT I will!!

No need! Not to speak for dannymcg but he got the author and I may have gotten the title, but wasn't giving it as the answer, so I think you got the closest.

I guess I have got some rereading to do !!

Spoiler: Foundation series spoiler

This is so spoilery to me for folks who haven't read the books but, since you know about it, I'll just say as a reminder that, while he has a huge conceptual role, in terms of "screen time," Daneel is not a big player in the Foundation series and only appears in one book plus the two prequels (the last three written) and not the original trilogy or first sequel novel. So I wouldn't go to the Foundation series for Daneel as the main draw, though it's an essential series in general.

 

[Wyld-Cat]

No, only mods can do the "(Found)" bit, and it's been done for you now, so all's good.

Thank you The Judge for the helping hand !
I see my thread has been moved, took me bit to find it, thank you !
Yes I think I will stick around, and learn more about the Science Fiction & Fantasy forums ! Got it bookmarked for future reference

J-Sun, yes I have some reading to do ! My memory locked on apart of the story, but there are a lot of pieces I had forgotten, in the 20+ years since I read The Naked Sun and The Robots of Dawn.

Have been rereading the thread, oh boy, did I get some of the truth muddled ! Thanks everybody for seeing what I needed !

All that is happening with COVID-19, is making me think the world may end up like the Solartians' living alone and afraid to meet face to face !?
The Spanish Flu lasted three years !
Its only been 3 to 4 months and the world is responding strongly to the situation - as it develops !

= = = An after though ! Is there a chat for socializing in SF&F ?? = = =

 

[The Judge]

I see my thread has been moved, took me bit to find it, thank you !

Ah, that wasn't me -- I hadn't cliked it was in the Niven forum! Sorry you got a bit lost -- we usually send out a note and leave a redirect to point the way, but sometimes they get mislaid.

Yes I think I will stick around, and learn more about the Science Fiction & Fantasy forums ! Got it bookmarked for future reference

Excellent!

= = = An after though ! Is there a chat for socializing in SF&F ?? = = =

We don't have a chat room as such here, but we do plenty of socialising in different threads, inlcuding silly ones in Playrooms. Have a good look around and you'll find somewhere you feel at home.

Welcome aboard!

 

[HariSeldon]

This certainly is not the story I was looking for.

It's a short, very short in fact. Robots of Dawn is a novel and a chapter in The Naked Sun doesn't fit either.

I am still convinced it is Heinlein, IIRC it had his writing style. The key element is large screens like Bradbury employed in Fahrenheit 451, not robots.