# Ask the guy who is pretty good at SF Story Identification **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [September 7, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417 "2008-09-07T00:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 57
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1121 "2023-01-24T19:15:54Z")
The Long Walk, Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1122 "2023-01-24T19:17:41Z")
Thank you. Quick service. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1123 "2023-01-24T22:59:56Z")
Man, the one time I actually know one… The Long Walk may be my favorite King novel. He really sticks the landing for once. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2023, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1124 "2023-01-25T13:25:20Z")
Ironically, the very ending is up for debate. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1125 "2023-01-25T16:08:39Z")
That’s what I love about it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1126 "2023-01-25T18:14:25Z")
I liked that book, but not nearly as much as some of his others (_The Stand, 'Salem’s Lot, Firestarter, The Dead Zone, 11/22/63_ and _Misery_ are my favorites). I was intrigued, though, by King’s allusions to the alternate history underlying its dystopic setting, including a U.S. commando raid against Nazis in South America IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1127 "2023-02-09T23:12:17Z")
This story appeared relatively recently, I think it was in Analog but I’ve been wrong about that before. The story starts with aliens landing, I think at a major NASA space center. They’re greeted by a bunch of officials and NASA employees. The aliens start asking around for specific names of humans, the first names they call are for NASA people already right there at the landing. Then the aliens start shooting the specific people they were looking for. All of the people had put their name into one of those massive list of supporter names carried on many modern space probes these days. The aliens have come to kill them one by one. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2023, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1128 "2023-02-09T23:13:39Z")
Yikes! I don’t recognize it because I’m a bit behind on Analog, but I’ll look ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2023, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1129 "2023-02-09T23:26:31Z")
I got so excited to see you starting to type your reply almost instantly after I posted, and I was thinking I was about to see a new Doper record, but alas. I might not have been clear in my question: The aliens want to kill every last person who signed up on the internet to put their name on the list carried by the probe, no matter how long that takes. Thousands and thousands of names they have to track down. The names at the top of the list were course all NASA employees. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2023, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1130 "2023-02-09T23:38:34Z")
Actually that does ring a bell. About to run off for a meeting but will work on it tomorrow ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1131 "2023-02-10T01:51:08Z")
From fifth to eighth grade I read a ton, and nothing but SF short stories (I have clear memories of sitting in those back shelves of our town library, on the floor with a stack of SF anthologies next to me). A story that I’d love to find again: An evil CEO of some Sciencey Corporation has a nemesis… maybe the guy who did most of the work on their biggest invention, who the CEO gets imprisoned. But the guy has smuggled something into prison… that big invention. It’s a wire that’s only one molecule wide, with much larger handles on the ends. He loops it around the prison bars, tugs, and cuts through them effortlessly. I’ve completely forgotten the rest of the book, except for the the guy’s very clever last lines to the CEO: (paraphrased from 60 years ago) > I can’t put you in jail, but don’t forget what I have possession of. Think of that invisible, efficient wire every time you walk through a doorway, every time you reach into your mailbox, every time you swing your legs under your desk… I think of that story often, but have no idea where to look for it. But after reading this thread, I’m amazed at everyone’s detective skills… so I have hope. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1132 "2023-02-10T01:56:36Z")
Thin Edge, by Randall Garrett? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1133 "2023-02-10T03:29:05Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Thin Edge… That’s it! (And the text is online! Html or ePub or Kindle or plain text) (And the last line is just as powerful as I remembered it) (Thank you so much!) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1134 "2023-02-10T12:51:44Z")
Glad to hear it. (And, yeah, he’s great with last lines; _Despoilers Of The Golden Empire_ is a classic.) ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1135 "2023-02-10T15:15:31Z")
I have one that I read in the mid 80’s, it was a short story so probably in a compilation. It has a feel of Bradbury, so probably isn’t. A man is taken into a psychiatrists office on earth in a straight jacket. After listening to his story, the Doc diagnoses him as delusional as he seems to think they are on a spaceship that has been boarded by aliens. Luckily there’s a pill to treat that and he offers it to the patient. He refuses, saying that it is the Doc who is delusional as he’s suffering from space sickness. There’s a different pill that treats that and the patient agrees to take his pill as long as the Doc takes that pill. They both swallow their pills and the office dissolves to reveal the spaceship and laser wielding aliens. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1136 "2023-02-10T15:26:22Z")
The Yellow Pill, by Rog Phillips? ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1137 "2023-02-10T15:44:45Z")
That’s the one. Thanks for the speedy reply!! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1138 "2023-02-10T15:50:24Z")
You could say it was on the tip of my tongue. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1139 "2023-02-10T17:36:13Z")
I remember my dad telling me about this short story a long long time ago (the 1980s) but I have no idea the title or context. But basically this demon wants to torture a blind man, so he sticks him into a maze with a bunch of knives and various other sharp objects in the walls, so the blind man has no way of escaping the maze without being cut a bunch in the process. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1140 "2023-02-11T23:22:00Z")
I’ve tried searching things like this [https://www.google.com/search?q="analog+science+fiction"+NASA+aliens+names&hl=en&tbm=bks&ei=\_iHoY4qsKO2z5NoPmf22cA&ved=0ahUKEwiKo-CFzY79AhXtGVkFHZm-DQ4Q4dUDCAg&uact=5&oq="analog+science+fiction"+NASA+aliens+names&gs\_lcp=Cg1nd3Mtd2l6LWJvb2tzEAM6BAghEApQ1gFYvRJgjR5oAnAAeACAAXqIAd8GkgEDNS40mAEAoAEBwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz-books](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22analog+science+fiction%22+NASA+aliens+names&hl=en&tbm=bks&ei=_iHoY4qsKO2z5NoPmf22cA&ved=0ahUKEwiKo-CFzY79AhXtGVkFHZm-DQ4Q4dUDCAg&uact=5&oq=%22analog+science+fiction%22+NASA+aliens+names&gs_lcp=Cg1nd3Mtd2l6LWJvb2tzEAM6BAghEApQ1gFYvRJgjR5oAnAAeACAAXqIAd8GkgEDNS40mAEAoAEBwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz-books) and searching SF short story review sites, like this [https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Atangentonline.com%2F+++nasa+aliens&client=firefox-b-1-d&ei=tSLoY\_6jA9TR5NoPy6e9uAk&ved=0ahUKEwi-0tzczY79AhXUKFkFHctTD5cQ4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=site%3Atangentonline.com%2F+++nasa+aliens&gs\_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQA0oECEEYAUoECEYYAFBUWFRg1QNoAXAAeACAATSIATSSAQExmAEAoAEBwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#ip=1](https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Atangentonline.com%2F+++nasa+aliens&client=firefox-b-1-d&ei=tSLoY_6jA9TR5NoPy6e9uAk&ved=0ahUKEwi-0tzczY79AhXUKFkFHctTD5cQ4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=site%3Atangentonline.com%2F+++nasa+aliens&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQA0oECEEYAUoECEYYAFBUWFRg1QNoAXAAeACAATSIATSSAQExmAEAoAEBwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#ip=1) with no luck yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417.md?page=56) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417.md?page=58)