3 ms·

The concept of a solitary star without any 'nearby' neighbors features in Iain Banks' Against A Dark Background: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/422452.Agai

by diziet 12y ago

The concept of a solitary star without any 'nearby' neighbors features in Iain Banks' Against A Dark Background: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/422452.Against_a_Dark_Background https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/422452.Against_a_Dark_Ba...

pavel_lishin 12y ago
I read a short story, not too long ago, about a solitary planet on approach to a solar system. Their society was stagnating due to some cultural predilection to having a once-every-ten-year science fair, and having no technological progress outside of that. It was framed as a murder mystery, too. Wish I remembered what it was...
- teraflop 12y ago
  Sounds like "The Science Fair" (1971) by Vernor Vinge.
  - pavel_lishin 12y ago
    Yes, you're right!
- civilian 12y ago
  Sci-fi framed as a murder mystery? There's a good bet it was an Asimov novel :-P
- DanBC 12y ago
  rec.arts.sf.written used to be good for story IDs. http://www.steelypips.org/sfwrittenfaq/#01 http://www.steelypips.org/sfwrittenfaq/#01 I'm not sure if there is already a sub-reddit for story ids.
pndmnm 12y ago
A couple short stories: Arthur C. Clarke's "Crusade" is set on a starless planet between galaxies. A.E. van Vogt's "Black Destroyer" has as a minor plot point the idea that a civilization developing in a single-planet solar system extremely far away from any others would never develop interstellar travel because there would be no stepping stones.
jallmann 12y ago
George R.R. Martin's first book, The Dying of the Light (published 1977), is set on a lone "travelling" planet whose interstellar course passes it through a multi-star system. The final stages of this traversal is the premise of the book's title.
logfromblammo 12y ago
C.S. Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy takes place on a planet where the only two significant external light sources are the local star and the core of the nearest galaxy. This enables a plot point where the surface of the planet occasionally experiences intervals of the lowest light levels possible. Had this been known at the time, she could have simply dispensed with the light from the nearest galaxy altogether. Similarly, the planet Krikkit, as described in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide "Trilogy", would not necessarily be all that unique or unusual.

by diziet 12y ago

pavel_lishin 12y ago

I read a short story, not too long ago, about a solitary planet on approach to a solar system. Their society was stagnating due to some cultural predilection to having a once-every-ten-year science fair, and having no technological progress outside of that. It was framed as a murder mystery, too. Wish I remembered what it was...

teraflop 12y ago
Sounds like "The Science Fair" (1971) by Vernor Vinge.
- pavel_lishin 12y ago
  Yes, you're right!
civilian 12y ago
Sci-fi framed as a murder mystery? There's a good bet it was an Asimov novel :-P
DanBC 12y ago
rec.arts.sf.written used to be good for story IDs. http://www.steelypips.org/sfwrittenfaq/#01 http://www.steelypips.org/sfwrittenfaq/#01 I'm not sure if there is already a sub-reddit for story ids.

pndmnm 12y ago

A couple short stories: Arthur C. Clarke's "Crusade" is set on a starless planet between galaxies. A.E. van Vogt's "Black Destroyer" has as a minor plot point the idea that a civilization developing in a single-planet solar system extremely far away from any others would never develop interstellar travel because there would be no stepping stones.

jallmann 12y ago

George R.R. Martin's first book, The Dying of the Light (published 1977), is set on a lone "travelling" planet whose interstellar course passes it through a multi-star system. The final stages of this traversal is the premise of the book's title.

logfromblammo 12y ago

C.S. Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy takes place on a planet where the only two significant external light sources are the local star and the core of the nearest galaxy. This enables a plot point where the surface of the planet occasionally experiences intervals of the lowest light levels possible. Had this been known at the time, she could have simply dispensed with the light from the nearest galaxy altogether. Similarly, the planet Krikkit, as described in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide "Trilogy", would not necessarily be all that unique or unusual.