Plot Summary Game IV

- The book you're summarizing 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.

A Boy and His Dog?

Artemis Fowl?

Well, at least it took two guess this time. sandragon got it!

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?

Yes, WillSteed has it.

Another one. I should start thinking of these in advance...

The Gulf war is bad: IN SPACE!

Whatever the novelization of James Cameron's Avatar is called?

#10 I don't want to be sued or anything, but you (and Avatar) remind me of Vicinity Cluster.

Dune?

No. Oh, and the enemy is absolutely terrible. No really. They are. They're going to murder your wives.
(It's not a particularly serious book).

Bill, the Galactic Hero?

Yes! Your turn StormRaven.

An alien wants to take over the world, and he does too. Showdown in the outer Solar System.

An alien... I'm going to try The Puppet Masters on the basis of the little slime-balls being part of a hive-mind.

18: Nope.

The Game-Players of Titan ?

Larklight/Starcross/Mothstorm?

20-21: No and no. A clue:

An alien from the distant past wants to take over the world, and so does his rival. Showdown in the outer Solar System.

(264? from the previous thread - sorry; been having trouble getting onto the internet. Didn't put any urgency into fixing it, since I didn't think I'd managed to get an answer right. Plus, once I get on LT, I tend to stay on all night, instead of doing my accounts, clearing a pathway through all the junk I'm accumulating, or even trying to get through my reading for the 75 book challenge ...)

Carry on - no idea; sounds like sci-fi, so that's me out.

>23 humouress: : (No biggie! Sorry you missed your turn!)

(24 - Appreciate it - extremely rare event :-) Did you find Prince of Ill Luck?)

>25 humouress: : (Not yet! I'm currently reading through four volumes of Women of Wonder -- when I'm done with that, I'm going to be due a switching from SF to fantasy!)

Not part of May's galactic milleau thing is it?

27: No.

reading_fox, WillSteed and ringman: none of you own the book. However, ringman owns several other books by the same author, WillSteed owns a couple books by the same author, and reading_fox owns one.

Protector by Larry Niven ?

29: No, but you're on the right track.

You do own this book.

World of Ptaavs by the same author?

31: You got it.

Ummm...It's all gone very quiet. Time for another clue?

'kay...

Esteem is money in the bank.

I really, really want to say Beetlejuice, even though it's wrong on so many levels.

Yes. It's wrong on pretty much every level.

I have absolutely no idea.

George Orwell it ain't

And on a more personal note: Of the 93 books we share this isn't one. In fact you have nothing by this author or by the supposed distant cousin with whom he shares a last name.

We do share a lot of books! More due to your library than mine, I guess.

ooh ooh! Is it Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom?

Ooh! Ooh! Yes it is!

reconditereader has it.

Time for some recondite clues.

Here goes:

Protagonist thinks she has special power; actually has different one instead.

The Many-Coloured Land?

Bluesalamanders has it! I thought that would be trickier. Go, Blue.

The Family Trade? Or even The Hidden Family?

That's become one of my new favorite series; I can't wait for Bitterblue!

She doesn't really get along with her family, so she goes off on an adventure, finds a magic sword, and defeats a wizard.

Well, I just suck at this :) You're up, Myriad.

Hee! I'm a lot better at guessing the fantasy books than the SF ones.

The old adage that children are to be seen and not heard? There are ways around that.

More than Human?

Nope.

New clue?

'I am watching you, sister.'

1984?

Nope.

The Magicians?

Nope.

Well that was a rather tangential guess.

The Golden Compass?

Oooo! But nope.

What was the Oooo! for?... The Subtle Knife?The Amber Spyglass?...

eta - touchstones not working

Nope; it's not a Pullman story, but your guess was the closest so far.

Little Brother ?

Nope.

'I am watching you, sister(-in-law).' or
It's a wonderful thing to be able to read.

Don't think it is but The Chrysalids by John Wyndham?

Nope.

New clue:
Many thousand members have this book, although not nearly as many thousand as that have The Golden Compass. Even though this book was also made into a movie and cross-marketing did take place.

The Dark is Rising?

The Neverending Story?

Nope.

It also has more than a hundred reviews and is listed in less than a hundred conversations, and it is nearly universally beloved (average LT rating of 4.27). It last came up in a Green Dragon thread in March.

ETA: Nope to both.

Not Inkheart? Or Alice in Wonderland?

No and nope.

New clue:
It's not just having the brainpower; it's knowing how to use it.

Flowers for Algernon? It would have to be the novel as I don't think Charlie's sister was in the short story.

Nope, sorry.

New clue:
If her parents had the brains to be aware, they would have realized their real troubles began the moment the heroine realized she could toddle off to the library.

Is it Matilda?

Yes! Your turn, Octane!

So, who is the sister-in-law?

Agatha Trunchbull, in the telekenetic writing on the blackboard, in which Matilda pretends to be Magnus, Miss Honey's father: "I am watching you, Agatha."

Coming up with a summary is a lot harder than I thought...

Pension scheme involves a new career and lots of travel

Old Man's War?

Yes, your turn! Too easy?

Oh, heck! That was a guess. Umm...

With interlopers in an alien world dying left and right, only going native saves the sole survivor.

Is it another planet or another dimension?

Are the aliens themselves killing the interlopers, or is it the hazards of the world?

Oooo, questiosn!

Answers:
It's another environment.

To be quite frank, stupidity seems to have killed off most of them.

Something by Anvil?

Nope. Anvil typically has the interlopers win.

A little birdie is chirping "Le Guin" in my ear.

Closer, but it's not by a female author.

Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin?

(And not Alexis Panshin as the touchstones seems to say)

Nope.

Here's a hint:
The ships that the interlopers were traveling in were not space ships (as one would commonly define the term).

And another hint:
This novel is a bit of a mash-up. Think one-half marauding, fantastical monster and one-half historical narrative.

It's been discussed before in this group, but not yet this year.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Nope.

ETA: New clue:
According to LT stats, this book is the author's most popular non-SF novel.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth?

I've never actually read the book, but I know the story. Does this count as non-SF?

Nope, that's not it.

Journey's taglist as visible on the works page gives common tags as: sci-fi, science fiction, sf, sff

This book's common tags, according to stats, include: supernatural, survival, fantasy, monster

The Terror by Dan Simmons?

Yes! You're up!

Interstellar lottery leaves the winner wealthy but in need of therapy.

Guess this needs a clue?

Losing the lottery often means death, often by fairly gruesome means. Spaghettification springs to mind

This sounds a lot like an episode of Sliders, but I can't remember the name of the book it was based on. Dang!

Is it by Alan Dean Foster?

I can think of one where winning the lottery could be, em, uncomfortable; Gateway by Fred Pohl?

Edit: Of course, you could become fabulously wealthy, as in the first clue, as well.

Once again, can all the clues please be combined into one post?

No Need #102 - justjim has got it!

Wow! I got one!

The king is murdered. Innocent son blamed and imprisoned. There's a dragon!

Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King?

Well, that was my moment in the sun.

Absolutely correct. You're up.

Civilization ends. Botanist finds himself unexpected expert on the enemy. Running from dictatorship and religion he adopts a family and survives. Did Humanity destroy itself?

Earth Abides?

Sorry - No.

The other obvious one is Canticle for Liebowicz, but I don't think that's it.

Not Dies the Fire?

Sorry - no to those also.

The plant theme makes me think of John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids.

It's a stretch, but I Am Legend?

Correct it is Day of the Triffids. Justifiedsinner has it and is up next.

42 Hitch-hikers guide to the Galaxy

Sorry, no. (I don't remember a menagerie in Hitch-hikers).

And since I've been asked to re-iterate the clues:

Last survivor of the human race sets out with his menagerie to find the answer to the ultimate question.

This is the only published work of a (reputedly) extremely prolific author.

There was a pair of mice!

I don't know what it is, but that last clue really intrigues me.

#119, ditto!

(As to HHGttG, they were searching for the question to the ultimate answer!)

#118 The mice appeared later.

The menagerie I'm thinking of is a dog an owl and an ambulatory sex toy (or am I being too unkind?).

Last survivor of the human race sets out with his menagerie to find the answer to the ultimate question.

This is the only published work of a (reputedly) extremely prolific author.

Wow, that completely boggled my mind.

Not Red Dwarf, then.

No, but it is a comedy.

Apparently the author, who committed suicide in 2004 by drinking Drano, wrote 117 novels and over 2,000 short stories most of which were published as fillers in pornographic magazines.

Venus on the Half-shell?

Indeed - by Kilgore Trout, the fictional author created by Kurt Vonnegut and supposedly based on his neighbor Ted Sturgeon. The published novel was of course really written by Philip Jose Farmer with Vonnegut's permission although he later regretted he gave it.

Stellarexplorer is up!

Hee hee. Sneaky game js, well done!

Lord of the Rings, Pawn of Prophecy, Magician... It's such a trope I thought I'd better guess a few.

No. But I didn't want to give it away quickly with an excess of specifics. And I couldn't generate a clever clue like js did.

I will add, to help out, that it is not particularly a book in the fantasy genre.

Daughter of the Blood?

Unwind?

No, neither of those.

Again, not fantasy. "Eerie" was meant to convey reader reaction, not supernatural forces.

More clues please.

Never Let Me Go?

#137 would be my guess too.

cmbohn is correct, and first!! Your turn...

Ah. The post, it was, that pipped me.

Hexwood?

Deep Secret. Definitely.

WillSteed's got it!

Will Steed me ol' cobber. I know it's winter down where you are and you're probably out having lots of fun; surfing through the snow on Bondi beach, throwing another polar bear on the barbie. But up here in the parched Northern hemisphere most of us are shivering over a computer in our AC blasted offices desperately waiting for the relief of another clue!

Sorry - was AFK for the night.

But it's *my* dragon! I inherited it! Give it back!

The White Dragon?

No.

The clue is a little misdirective.

Dragon Bones?

Another clue:

Different character: I'm 14 and I'm totally grown up. If you don't believe me, I'll have a tantrum.

Edit: Still nothing? How about another couple of characters:

Wow, she's so cute, I think I'll try a detox. Later.

and

Oh, better far to live and die
Under the brave black flag I fly,
Than play a sanctimonious part,
With a pirate head and a pirate heart.
Away to the cheating world go you,
Where pirates all are well-to-do;
But I’ll be true to the song I sing,
And live and die a Pirate King.

Bumping for the new clues in #150

Mmm. Somehow, I don't think it's the Pirates of Penzance.

Ship of Magic?

Yes, it's Ship of Magic. I thought for a while the clues were too devious. Maybe they were and humouress is just on my wavelength.

You're up, humouress.

It was the Pirate King that made me think of it. Oh - my turn; let me think....

Let's see how long I manage to last this time (laughs deviously) :

Runaway saves the day

Trickster's Choice?

Edit: touchstone didn't work

No.

More clues?

Worldshaker?

This is going a little too slowly. Perhaps another clue would help.

Sorry, folks - had a misery of a cold and couldn't muster the energy to totter to the computer at the end of a long day (felt like it, anyway)

Is this still too obscure?:

Runaway saves the king and the kingdom

Court of the Air?

No. Usually people get it within 5 seconds of my first post, so I was trying to make it harder.

Green Rider?

There you go. It still wasn't so hard, I think; it only took 4 guesses.

Keeping with female heroines:
Young girl saves a world

Zoe's Tale ?

Bah, too easy. Right in 1

Uh..Hello..Ringman...anybody home?

Okay. It's been 4 days. I think ringman has officially left the building. Romula - do you want to go again?

Ok, let's try again.
Shipwreck survivor meets characters

Silverlock?

Bah, I suck at this. Right again in 1.

Just a lucky guess :)

Now, let's see...
Unpaid royalties lead to chasing a phantom

No guesses yet, any other clues?

The Family Trade?

Hmm, I thought this would be pretty easy.

It's not The Family Trade, it has been catalogued on LT more than four thousand times and it's by one of the most popular authors according to Zeitgeist.

Soul Music?

Very close!

Maskerade?

Yes!

The sunlight disturbs his several thousands years sleep and he finds himself hungry to explore the new century, especially with a beautiful woman at his side.

The Marching Morons?

nope

The Professor's Daughter?

You're on the right track. Different author.

Bram Stoker's Dracula?

No. This guy likes the sun. He thought immortality would be an advantage but grew bored eventually and had been napping for quite a while before he was found.

I was going to guess this right at #183 then thought better of it. I still think it is wrong, but is it the Call of Cthulhu?

Nope.

The closest guess has been cmbohn with The Professor's Daughter.

The author is better known for a different character she created and has written a series about him and his people. But the one I'm hinting about is a standalone (and one I enjoyed more than the series).

New clue:

StormRaven and justjim have books by this author, but not the book I'm looking for.

Well, then I guess it's not Blood Lines.

ETA: Looking at tag searches, is it The Mummy or Ramses the Damned?

Yup. NinaP has it.

Oh yay! Let me see...

Ex-con learns valuable life skills in new job.

Too vague?

Is it American Gods?

Nope.

Making Money?

On a Pale Horse?

Nope and nope. Hmmmm...

New clue: Female ex-con learns valuable life skills in new job.

Poison Study?

Ding ding ding! Your turn, Octane.

Hmm, how about this?

Unexpected assault leads to reluctantly accepted offer of education

Um... Mairelon the Magician?

Nope.

The Lightening Thief?

Assassin's Apprentice?

No and no.

Could it be The Philosopher's Stone? (It's a possibility)

Nope again. I'll try to make it a bit clearer.

Delinquent is offered education, but fears punishment

The Lark and the Wren is an unlikely possibility.

Oops, didn't see 210.

Maybe The Magicians' Guild?

The Magicians' Guild it is. Your turn!

Anyone seen infiniteletters? Ey was here a minute ago. Perhaps ey popped out to the store. Anyway it's eirs turn.

Didn't leave a note, eh?

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?

No idea, but I'm sure curious!

Sounds like Carlos Castenada

The Hero and the Crown?

I was thinking The Blue Sword

bluesalamanders has it. :)

Hah, and I thought that was a shot in the dark.

Hmmm...

Orphan apprenticed to witch

Wild guess; Wyrd Sisters?

Nope. Hm.

After her grandmother's death, orphan (well, sort-of orphan) is apprenticed to village witch.

Got it, Morph :)

Tinker?

Nope.

Blood Bound ?

Born to Run by Mercedes Lackey?

Moon Called

Edit: Never mind, 231 has Briggs covered. How about Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy?

#233 With Urban Shaman DING DING DING!

you're up next

Silverware saves the day.

Edit to add italics.

Beauty and the Beast :-)

Hee. That works well enough. :)

No one else has posted, but I'm fairly sure I didn't get it?

238: I realized after posting that the book I originally meant Steel Magic didn't have anywhere near enough copies. I was going to change it, but your guess made sense, so then I didn't.

Can we speed this up, please?

*hands remote with fast-forward button*

If only!

It is humouress' turn.

We know, but she slipped out for the proverbial pack of cigs 2 days ago and hasn't been seen since.

Oh, I see; I didn't realise I'd been given it, sorry. OK, searching brain ...

The Dragonbone Chair and the rest of Memory, Sorrow, Thorn series by Tad Williams

yes; thought it'd be too easy.

Good thing, anyway - having problems with my internet connection.

I should've checked in over the weekend. Anyways:

Not a priestess, but a leader

(connection still iffy...)

The Mists of Avalon?

Not the one I'm thinking of.

Black Ships?

Battleaxe?

Nope.

Politics makes for unexpected bedfellows

Primary Colors ?

No, but:
She likes green and hates orange and black

Mmmm. Irish Catholic obviously.

Heh, actually It's a world based on an oriental background

The Paladin ?

Nope
This is the first book of a trilogy with the trilogy itself part of a much larger series

Daughter of the Empire?

And we have a winner!

Alphabet of Thorn?

Nope.

Dragondrums?

No again.

Guardians of the West? Etc.

No. I'll post a new hint later, if no one gets it until then.

Can we please have all the hints in one post??

No.

Drumming interrupts search for book

Big-boned old-timer saves the day

Part of a longer series

First Truth?

No, that doesn't even have 500 copies registered... also, think more urban fantasy.

Oh; I was going to say one of the Shannara books.

Hm, I thought this would be easier...

Let's try again with more hints:

Drumming interrupts search for book.

Big-boned fossil saves the day.

Part of a longer urban fantasy series.

High average rating (>4 sandragon:), well over 2000 copies and the link to the work page ends in a number divisible by 1000

Diane Duane's Young Wizards series?

No, it's not YA. I'm not looking for a series of books, but for a book that is part of one.

My next thought was The Diamond Age, but I don't think that's part of a series...

Not part of a series: not what I am looking for.

You have the first book of the series in your library...

It sounds like one of the Dresden Files books, but I haven't read them enough to know which one - I've only read Fool Moon and Storm Front.

Jurassic Park

It's one of the Dresden Files books.

Copied from above: ...and the link to the work page ends in a number divisible by 1000

I suppose whoever manages to go to the series page and check the links to the various books first should get it now...

Dead Beat

http://www.librarything.com/work/45000

Good clue. Couldn't have found it otherwise, as I've never read the author or heard of the series. I don't read a lot of fantasy: more of an SF person. Is it good?

Yes! I assumed that more people had heard of this/read it, because I only started the series after I had them recommended to me by several people.

I liked the books a lot, one of the few urban fantasy series that I enjoyed. They've got a bit of a noir feel to them and although a lot of the usual cast of urban fantasy (vampires, werewolves, demons...) appear, they still are rather original. Plus, Jim Butcher really has a knack for writing great action scenes.

286: I like The Dresden Files, but I haven't read many yet.

Don't read Dresden or anything by Robin Hobbs when you are depressed.

I'm just sayin'.

James and the Giant Peach? The Graveyard Book?

No, neither.

Didn't they make 'The Dresden Files' into a TV series?

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss?

They did make it into a TV series, and it was quite different from the books but a lot of fun to watch and I really loved it and then it was canceled after one season argh.

(I am not bitter about this at all.)

Myriad, I hear you! I recently found that show and loved it and was very disappointed at how few episodes there were.

In fact, I seem to be finding all of the awesome one- or two-season only f/sf shows right now, it's really frustrating *sigh*

>292 humouress: No, not that one.

Additional clue:

And humankind goes in a new direction

A long shot, but Battleaxe by Sara Douglass?

no, not Battleaxe

293/294: I have 2 words for you. Season DVD.

Season DVD.

What, a little salt, some freshly ground black pepper? ;)

I think I agree with justjim, although my reaction is more along the lines of "huh?".

At least that way you have a copy of all the episodes and can properly mourn? ;)

And lo, directly by the power of this thread the remainder of my holiday weekend will be spent in front of the TV awash in fond memories.

>296 stellarexplorer:. Sounds more like syfy to me, so that's me out.

More clues!

More beer!

A Canticle for Leibowitz?

Edit: No, that's not the one I'm thinking of, but I can't remember what it's called. Dang!

No, it's the other one!

Earth Abides, perhaps, but I think I'm still confusing it with another book.

No, that's correct. Ding Ding Ding. Think no more upon it.

Oh, thank goodness!

I'll start the next one in a new thread.

310/311: Ah, that's makes sense.