The second Plot Summary Game

It's JustifiedSinner's turn.

What's your clue?

For anyone new to the game, a repeat of the rules:

- The book you're summarising must be scifi or fantasy.
- There must be at least 500 LTers who own the book. (It must be fairly well-known, for the obvious reason that if you pick a book nobody's heard of the book will strand.)

General observations which'll no doubt get forgotten: (^-~)
- Most people use HTML coding to set their summary apart from the rest of the posts.
- Hinting if no one gets it, can take any form.
- Weekends are fairly slow for the guessing.
- Round about 300-350 is a nice length for a thread before moving onto the next.

That all said - whee! New game! ^-^

Sorry for the delay. I didn't think I'd got that one.
This one has over 550 copies:

A thief and a dragon steal a star map on a planet with wings

Anyone need a clue?

I'm not proud - I'm stumped! give us another hint.

It sounds kind of Pratchetty, but I wouldn't know which.

I doubt I know this. If its Pratchetty or McCaffreyey, I won't know it.

Thieves, dragons, star maps - dime a dozen! Now a planet with wings, that's got me stumped.

Maybe it's a golden snitch.

Dragon and Judge fits the description reasonably well, but I can only find on the order of 50 copies, not 500!

The dragon's small and doesn't breath fire but can spit a corrosive neurotoxic venom and is an empathic telepath.

The dragon description reminds me of Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series. But the rest of it doesn't fit.

The dragon sounds like the SPITTING COBRAS behind the bar ...

My google-fu tells me that it's Tar-Aiym Krang by Alan Dean Foster. It's in the copies limit, and Alan Dean Foster books turn up a lot around here.

Congratulations: WillSteed you're up!

Sorry about the delay, I only just got back to the keyboard.

I'm thinking of a book...

A maverick therapist recommends his own special school for a very intelligent and innocent young boy

The Mysterious Benedict Society? It's YA, and I'm not sure "therapist" is quite right, but thought I'd take a stab at it.

Evil Genius.

Cmbohn has it. Cadel's therapist enrols him in a University for Villains.

I'm always stumped, but I seem fatally addicted to this. My strength is fantasy, but I always seem to be absent when fantasy comes up. Oh well, will keep watching from the sidelines.

@20 ~ Don't feel bad, humouress, I read Evil Genius and didn't remember the therapist. Ah well, better luck next challenge :)

w00t!

Group of pioneers narrowly escape with their lives before founding a new colony. Only then do they realize they have forgotten something.

The Legacy of Heorot?

Nope.

Snare?

No on both. New clue?

New clue it is.

Group of pioneers narrowly escape with their lives before founding a new colony. Only then do they realize they have forgotten something. Or was it someone?

No one? This book has over 5000 copies, in several languages. I know some of you have read it. Next clue:

Group of SOFT AND CUDDLY pioneers narrowly escape with their lives before founding a new colony. Only then to they realize they have forgotten something. Or was it someone?

OOOOOOH!

Watership Down

You got it! Your turn, Morphy.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood maybe?

Or Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey?

*dingdingdingding*

ninjapenguin has it. I need to start doing harder plot summaries!

You see - that's what I would have said, IF I had been here.
And it must have been too easy, if even I could have got it (sigh). Don't mind me wittering on; I just needed to get this second 'Plot Summary' thread onto my 'Your Posts' list.

Policeman investigates conspiracy to overthrow city government and temporarily gains a new pet.

Caves of Steel?

Nope. I wouldn't call R. Daneel Olivaw a pet.

Sounds like the policeman is Vimes and the pet a dragon ... Guards Guards, maybe?

I have to admit I never actually finished Caves of Steel!

Ding ding ding! You've got it, hfglen.

Oo-er. Now I need to go and search for a plot to summarise.

Princess, betrothed to a demon, escapes by impassable route to make safe marriage and rule her kingdom.

Daughter of the Blood?

Magic Casement?

No and no. I can't help feeling that Will and Humouress are missing something obvious.

Beauty and the Beast?

What? What! What did I miss? Again...

that the author is seen here in the GD regularly?

I have a feeling I know what this one is, and if so, it was actually used in a previous Plot Summary.

I think I know what it is, but I haven't read the book. I just happened to have read the back of the book where the author describes the system of magic and demons in her book. It's on my tbr pile.

To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts?

dingdingding! Sandragon's up.

The Time Traveler's Wife?

Another quick one. I've got to come up with harder clues!

Your turn StormRaven.

Sorry, got tied up at work.

Seemingly ordinary boy discovers he has supernatural powers, and so do other kids, and he must save the world by finding something that was lost.

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper?

Hmm, I'm thinking my plot summary was too generic.

Seemingly ordinary boy discovers he has inherited supernatural powers, and so do other kids, and he must save the world from disastrous war by finding something that was lost.

The Lightening Thief?

cmbohn has it!

Oops, just now saw this. Hmm.

Going shopping leads our hero into a whole new world.

Is this Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold! by Terry Brooks?

Yes! Nice job, ninjapenguin.

Bridge of Birds?

Yep. You're up!

Never heard of the last two. They must be fantasy, I'm guessing?

#68, yep, they're both fantasy. It's been ages and ages since I read the Brooks one. It's the first in a series where a guy from our world buys a magical kingdom (which, of course, he doesn't believe at first) and ends up being its king.

The second I haven't read, but is based on ancient China, if I recall the description. It sounds fascinating (to me) so it's on my wishlist. ^-^

sick engineer wakes up in a strange place and finds he has inherited someone else's life, and the task the Goddess had recruited them for.

(I forgot when I knew the answer to the last one (just re-read Bridge of Birds) that I had to come up with something clever myself - though I'm not sure this is very clever)

One day an SF book will show up again.

Sorry stellarexplorer, I could have come up with SF, but thought of this first.

And most of my SF books are under the suggested copies limit. :(

>69 sparrowbunny:, Bridge of Birds is awesomely fun. I think you'll enjoy it.

>72 NorthernStar: No prob NS. Fair is fair. I'll bide my time, as the Wicked Witch once said...!

I realized I hadn't checked the number of copies for my book, and when I did I found it is quite a bit under the limit (under 300 LT copies). I've got another plot summary in its place, and bonus marks to anyone who can get the first one! (I found an SF for stellarexplorer)

Military school reject turns to interstellar commerce

Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon?

Phule's Company by Robert Asprin?

Shanra has it!

I was going to say - yay, fantasy at last; shame I still can't get it.

Whoo!

Boy saves world by reading and then goes off to have adventures.

The Neverending Story?

Yep! Your turn, Sandragon. ^-^

Hint?

It's a SF for stellarexplorer.

I'm stumped.

New clue:

Man enters a world where 'Use it or lose it' is a physical law.

Thanks sandragon. Appreciate the gesture. In case there is any confusion, my SF preference is not a claim of expertise, rather an acknowledgment of complete lack of knowledge of the fantasy genre.

But I did notice you have a couple of the author's books stellarexplorer, though not this one.

Drat! I should have had this one instead!

Is this in a series?

No, this is a standalone.

The man is helped along by a pixelot and a repair robot that keeps getting better at its job.

The Practice Effect?

DingDingDing

StormRaven's turn.

If this was Facebook we could poke StormRaven. What's the LT equivalent?

Sorry, I got swamped at work and at home. Umm, let me think:

Humanity is exiled, the protagonist lives several lives, aliens want our bodies.

Hyperion?

96: Good guess, but no.

Old man's War?

98: Nope.

To add a clue: And transhumanism is the in thing.

Triton by Samuel Delany?

101: Doesn't match this part: Humanity is exiled, the protagonist lives several lives, aliens want our bodies.

The Ophiuchi Hotline?

Ding, justifiedsinner has it!

I want to play but you people are goooooood. I only twigged to 2 in the previous posts.

105: Well, I wanted to pick The Golden Globe (Itinerant actor bums across the solar system to confront and kill himself) or Red Thunder (Teenagers show up NASA, the Chinese, in race to the red planet), but both fell below the minimum number of copies.

Wee..Ah, now I have to pick one...Hang on a minute. Back in a mo.

Duo are hired to protect a city's food supply
Parental Warning Involves rodent romancing and skeletal sex

Swords of Haven?

It sounds like a Xanth book, maybe.

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents?

No, No and No. Although Swords is in the title.

Swords and Deviltry?

Close but no cigar.

Sword Dancer?

Ach du Leiber - you've gone cold again (and it's Swords not Sword)

So if I listed all the Lankhmar books, it might be in there? Didn't quite seem in Fritz's vein of humour, I thought.

The Two Swords by Salvatore? I read it a while ago and it sorta sounds familiar...

Clue for #118. It's a novel (the only one in the series I believe).

Since you aimed a clue straight at me, I did some research, and I've come up with:
Swords of Lankhmar?

Bingo! Humouress is up!

Phew! That was hard work - but it may be the only chance I get; better go & look up the next one, then ...

The agents of good and evil decide the fate of the world

(how do you get italics?)

124: Put an i in between a the left pointing arrow (over the comma on a standard keyboard) and a right pointing arrow (over the period) to start the italics. To close them put an /i in between them.

I found this helpful: http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=35356

Humouress, for italics it should look like this (if I did everything right myself):

<i>The agents of good and evil decide the fate of the world</i>

before you hit post and all should be well. ^-^ (Theoretically, you could just copy/paste that too, yes.)

----

As for a guess... Good Omens?

(Edited for clarity and subsequent broken display fixing.)

For Love of Evil by Piers Anthony?

Thanks for all the tips.

Not that I need them now, because Shanra got it, first go! 'Good Omens' it is.

You can always make reference of them for later when you need them again. ^-^

American girl and her cat move to haunted farm in England

Is that Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle?

So it is. Your turn, Ninjapenguin! ^-^

I'm thinking one of the Ender books? Maybe Children of the Mind?

Right track, wrong book.

Ender's Game?

Ding ding ding! Your turn.

Gah! Lurking for weeks with no success and StormRaven beats me to the punch ;-)

Valentine Pontifex?

Unfortunately, I have not read that one (but it is on the big list of books to read), so no.

Ah, well, thought it was a wild guess (especially since I don't remember him being enslaved, but it's been a while since I read it), though I should actually have said Lord Valentine's Castle, anyway.

Okay, I give up.

Hmm, let me see if I can add some more to it:

Man loses memory, is enslaved on enslaved planet. Planet threatened with destruction by its star. Man regains memory, travels to ruling planet, planet saved. Imperialism is awesome!

Also, I own the book, and have reviewed it.

I probably missed something, but the only one that seemed it might fit was The End of the Empire
by Alexis A. Gilliland, but since there are only 28 copies, I doubt that's right.

The book I am thinking of has more than 500 copies on LT. Actually, it has more than 1,000 copies on LT (but less than 1,500).

I did some catalog sleuthing before realizing: I've read this book!

The Currents of Space

saltmanz has it!

Writing these things is tough!

Slave girl flees the city, then falls in love with a soldier--but accidentally betrays him and his country, becoming a war hero in the process.

There are more than 500 LTers who have this catalogued, but it's still pretty rare, so my apologies in advance. I'll add more clues as needed.

Maia by Richard Adams?

Ding ding ding!

Second Foundation?

153: Close.

Foundation?

If one were a psychohistorian, would they have been able to predict that stellarexplorer would be correct? Because he is.

Clue:

Keep going faster

Tau Zero?

What else? Your turn, StormR!

Consciousness: no longer confined to a single body.

You guys are good!

I Will Fear No Evil?

161: That's not it.

Methuselah's Children?

I'd say any of Steven Erikson's Malazan books featuring D'ivers shapeshifters, but that's probably not it. :)

163-164: No, those aren't it. Here's a small clue: the summary is not tangential to the plot, it is the plot, almost in its entirety.

Sounds a bit like Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon

166: No. I'll give it away with this one - And baby makes three.

More Than Human ?

justified sinner has it. You're up!

Practically immortal interchange official must decide whether to make humans more stupid. (hard to imagine) A deaf mute saves the day

*facepalm* I should have remembered More than Human!

Hyperion?

No. Earlier. You have it in your library.

173: Well that only narrows it down to 5,362 titles. :)

Like Hyperion it is also a Hugo winner.

Lord of Light?

A bit earlier.

Additional plot element:
Stupid humans get in trouble for grave robbing

Oh -- Way Station by Clifford Simak

Congratulations to Stella. Bags you're it!

Near-future Earth-based panoramic vision, not set in the West.

Even though this book has fewer than the 500 copy goal, I am taking the liberty of using it because it does have several hundred and was highly acclaimed. For me, it is one of the rare truly great novels in the SF genre in the last thirty years.

But did someone just call you Stella? LOL

I pictured Marlon Brando's passionate scream :0

You picture the scream, I'll picture Brando in his ripped t-shirt. ;o)

Only fair, each to his own picturings!

180 - China Mountain Zhang?

The Years of Rice and Salt ?

(Say yes, I've always been accustomed to the kindness of strangers).

yes, I've always been accustomed to the kindness of strangers

But no to TYORAS and China Mountain Zhang.

No, but I'm curious to read that. Do you recommend it WillSteed?

I haven't read it. I remember shelving it a lot when I worked in the library. I somehow have never gotten around to scratching the itch to read it. I plan to someday.

River of Gods ?

Ding Ding Ding

Nice job, js!

Copywriter loses self, ends up saving the world

(Surprisingly few copies of this one. But over the 500 lower limit.)

Hole in One! WillSteed you're up.

Just an FYI - pouring endlessly over the poster's LT catalog doesn't help one bit. ;o)

I didn't have to do that for that one. I picked it from "copywriter". It's my favourite Pohl book.

Here's my new one (a slight stretch, but still quite gettable, I think):
Ultra-rich exile indulges in planetary speculation with catwoman in the far future

Well, it's either the novella The Planet Buyer or it's repackaged longer form Norstrilia.

Either one is correct. You're up again.

I wasn't sure how many people actually read Cordwainer Smith or just bought them because they're supposed to. I love them but they are kind of strange.

I'm an Aussie SF fan. Norstrilia is compulsory! Not that I was quick enough to get the answer in though.

I love Cordwainer Smith. His books really were very different from anything else published at that time.

But I digress

A Bildungsroman showing the progress from farmboy to a veteran with tusks and two right hands

Bill the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison

Fire up the bloater drive and death to all Chingers!

Too easy, although there are only 532 copies on site. I think we're going to have to lower the number. A lot of my favorites have less than 500 and many are classics.

Stormraven's up!

>203 justifiedsinner: "A lot of my favorites have less than 500 and many are classics."

It's true.

203: You just happened to hit on a book I read when I was 13 and fell in love with for its goofy stupidity. It helped that I had also read Starship Troopers, The Forever War, and Foundation so I knew exactly what was being parodied.

I need to ruminate for a bit on my next one. I'll put it up later this evening.

203 - Hey, I've been trying to join in since this thread started and I have to say, I haven't even heard of most of the books, much less read them. I don't think it's that easy, heh.

206>It depends on what they pick. I almost had the F Lieber one-I just put down the wrong title in the series. Some you know, some you don't. It all depends...

Ancient gods fight each other using time travel in a bizarre future landscape. A man who has replaced himself with machinery squares off against the prince of darkness.

This doesn't quite make the number of copies cut off, but it is so close that I decided to use it anyway.

Creatures of Light and Darkness ?

209: justifiedsinner has the answer. You're up.

#203 - Too easy! Lower the number!? As it is, it's well nigh impossible for us mortals! Um - I don't think I've read the classics ...

Low numbers, but an award winner:

Young girl undergoes an ordeal on a primitive planet. Survives but is unable to prevent the inhabitants being 'ethnically cleansed'

#211 If it's any consolation I am in the same position when it comes to the modern fantasy works.

#206 & #211 - I'm with you guys. Maybe we should start a 'lite' version of this thread.

>213 justifiedsinner: as am I

I think I know one. Is it Rite of Passage by Alexis Panshin?

Indeed it is. Nebula winner 1968.

Calm is up!

Oops - forgot about this part of getting one right. This one does have over 500 copies on LT.

Bookstore employee makes first contact. Art is vital for peace.

*Bump*

R.S.V.P. Does anybody want another clue?

I think so.

O.K. Let's try this

Female author.

The Lathe of Heaven?

Not The Lathe of Heaven

Another clue, please?

Let's try

Involves more than 1 alien species; published 2000

I think we're all officially stumped!

A few more clues:-

To expand on the original clue While mushroom hunting a female bookstore employee meets 2 aliens and becomes the intermediary between the aliens and the government. Other alien species have also come to Earth. Art restoration is crucial for peace.

Additional clues:-

1) A female, American author.

2) From the LT Common Knowledge Awards and Honours section

James Tiptree, Jr. Award Shortlist (2001)

John W. Campbell Memorial Award Finalist (2001)

Locus Recommended Reading (Science Fiction Novel, 2000)

3) There are 503 members with this book (including StormRaven)

4) This book is in my library and the author is listed in my "Favourite Authors"

I'm not sure what else to do if nobody can guess the title.

Given clues 3 and 4, it must be The Fresco by Sherri S. Tepper.

3) There are 503 members with this book (including StormRaven)

Given the 5,400+ books in my library, this isn't always a big help. If it is The Fresco, then the reason I didn't get it is that it is one of the many books I own that I have not yet read.

#228 saltmanz has got it! It is The Fresco

#229 Sorry if it wasn't any help to use your name StormRaven; but I looked at the list of members with the book and yours was the first that jumped out as someone who is posting on this thread;-)

edit for number of StormRaven's post.

The Fresco by Sheri S. Tepper

Oh, I didn't see >228 saltmanz:.

or 230.

My bad.

as we posted at the same time stellarexplorer not seeing the post is understandable;-)

229> Actually, that was (for me) the vital clue. Comparing your libraries (via http://www.librarything.com/catalog/calm&compare=StormRaven ) and sorting by total members, I found that there are only 2 books that you share with exactly 503 members.

Oh, and I'll get my own puzzle out soon-ish.

The Worthing Saga?

Those Who Walk in Darkness? Though only 142 members list it.

Nope and nope. This one adheres to the 500+ rule.

More clues are required, methinks.

After his wife dies, hypersensitive telepathic mathematician goes on the run.

Fewer than 550 members have this book. It's in my library, and I've read it. It's in StormRaven's library, but he has not yet read it.

Ethan of Athos? Although that's really only part of the story.

ETA: Oops, just saw the new clue. Not ole' Ethan, then.

Nope. This book contains hints of sci-fi and horror, which should not be surprising given the author.

This seems like a reach, but: Variable Star?

Sadly, no.

The Hollow Man, but that was by process of elimination in your catalog.

There you go. Whew!

Okay, here goes.

A bar with time travel (no, not Callahan's)

All You Zombies?

Nope, it's a novel.

Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grill?

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Douglas Adams?

250 - That was my guess, too.

249: Sandragon, you got it. :)

I guess I have to work on obscurity.

Thanks!

This one is definitely not obscure, but hopefully not too easy.

An absent father figure allows precocious child to start down road to villainy amongst the lower elements

Has overtones of Star Wars. But so do myriads of plots.

Artemis Fowl?

Would be my guess too.

cmbohn, your turn :o)

No clue, but we might want to start a new thread soon.

Everything was fine in their little Ohio town until soccer tryouts.

Well over the 500 copy limit. New thread for the next book?

The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

The Ohio bit solved it. :)

Hold the phone...

New thread here

There are some advantages to living in the antipodes, you get to be on LT when it's slow!

infiniteletter has it! On to the next thread!