# 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:** 87
**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:** [May 31, 2025, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1721 "2025-05-31T18:05:11Z")
True… ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1722 "2025-06-01T00:47:45Z")
I have bad news, Andy\_L. I copied NoCoolUserName’s question into ChatGPT, and it replied > The story you’re recalling is likely “Swarm,” a 1982 science fiction novelette by Bruce Sterling. It was first published in _The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction_ and later included in Sterling’s collection _Crystal Express_. “Swarm” is set in the Shaper/Mechanist universe and was adapted into an episode of Netflix’s anthology series _Love, Death & Robots_(Volume III, Episode 6). and then went on to give a plot summary. I then copied Lumpy’s question from May 26, and it replied > The story you’re recalling is likely _ **1985** _ by Anthony Burgess, published in 1978. This dystopian novel offers a satirical critique of a future Britain dominated by trade unions and progressive ideologies. and gave a plot summary. Finally I tried Chronos’ question from March 25, and ChatGPT replied > The story you’re recalling might be **“Tangents” by Greg Bear** , first published in 1986. This novelette features a reclusive mathematical genius, Peter Tuthy, who lives with a woman named Alice to conceal his homosexuality from a society that would persecute him. Tuthy mentors a young boy named Tom, recognizing his innate mathematical talent. Together, they explore higher-dimensional mathematics, leading to the construction of a device that facilitates communication with beings from a higher dimension. The story delves into themes of societal prejudice, the beauty of mathematics, and the possibilities of dimensions beyond our own. Sorry, but I’m afraid that your job may soon be obsolete. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1723 "2025-06-01T00:59:09Z")
Post Apocalypse novel from the 70s or 80s. During the Cold War a non-nuclear war erupts between the Eastern Block and NATO, American troops launch an armored spearhead attack from West Germany and drive into Eastern Europe, maybe somewhere in Poland. With NATO on Russia borders the Russians launch a massive nuclear attack on Western Europe. All communications collapse and now Europe is a nuclear wasteland. Through this the American soldiers receive their final message, something along the lines of “If you can reach Plymouth in Western England we can boatlift you back to the United States”. So now a bunch of left-behind American forces now have to fight their way through both the still hostile Polish and East Germans, but also the raiders of the ravaged wasteland of Western Europe. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2025, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1724 "2025-06-01T01:35:51Z")
Hmm. Concerning ---
**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:** [June 1, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1725 "2025-06-01T01:37:25Z")
I don’t know that one off the top of my head like some of the other recent ones, but I’ll look around ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1726 "2025-06-01T01:38:34Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Sorry, but I’m afraid that your job may soon be obsolete. I, for one, welcome our new AI overlords. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1727 "2025-06-01T01:42:14Z")
FWIW, this is what ChatGPT says about this one. Unlike the last three I gave it, I don’t think it’s correct about this one. I haven’t read the book, but the plot summary it gives doesn’t seem a good match to Asuka’s description. > The novel you’re recalling is likely _ **Fire Lance** _ by David Mace, published in 1986. This post-apocalyptic military thriller is set in the aftermath of a nuclear war between NATO and the Soviet Bloc, plunging the world into a nuclear winter characterized by freezing temperatures and perpetual twilight. > **Plot Overview:** > In _Fire Lance_, the U.S. Navy commissions the _Vindicator_, a massive, high-tech battleship equipped with nuclear-armed cruise missiles—referred to as “firelances.” Despite the devastated state of civilization, the U.S. military remains determined to eliminate the remnants of the USSR. The _Vindicator_ is dispatched on a one-way mission across the North Atlantic to launch its missiles at surviving Soviet targets. As the ship navigates treacherous waters, it faces relentless attacks from the remaining Soviet Navy and Air Force units. The crew grapples with the ethical implications of their mission, questioning the morality of unleashing further destruction in an already ravaged world. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1728 "2025-06-01T02:19:54Z")
I can think of two possibilities: _The Ten Thousand_ by Harold Coyle, a technothriller novel (though it came out in 1993, seems to fit much of the plot) _Twilight:2000_ backstory, an RPG set in post-WWIII eastern Europe - perhaps there was a novel written with that setting? Though usually the U.S. would sealift out of Bremerhaven on the Weser in northern Germany… ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1729 "2025-06-01T02:23:53Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > FWIW, this is what ChatGPT says about this one. Unlike the last three I gave it, I don’t think it’s correct about this one. I tried ChatGPT for a book I half remembered, and it came back with a few suggestions that didn’t match. I gave it a few more details, and it came back with one book that doesn’t exist, and another that was even farther from the plot. I pointed this out, and it came back with a book and provided a summary of all the ways it matched my description. I looked at that book, and the plot was completely different from ChatGPT’s description. The more details I gave it, the more it hallucinated about book plots. I don’t think Andy\_L is in too much danger yet. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1730 "2025-06-01T02:35:49Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > _Twilight:2000_ backstory, an RPG set in post-WWIII eastern Europe - perhaps there was a novel written with that setting? Though usually the U.S. would sealift out of Bremerhaven on the Weser in northern Germany… Was gonna’ suggest that one but researching the name took me this long. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1731 "2025-06-01T02:58:20Z")
FWIW, I tried @Lumpy’s question from [post 1932](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1032) about bombing the leg of a giant alien spaceship with a stealther crawler vehicle carrying a nuclear weapon. When I tried this query on ChatGPT a couple of years ago, it hallucinated a non-existent Heinlein novella. 🙄 When I just now tried it, the answer was correct. > The science fiction novella you’re recalling is likely “For Love” by Algis Budrys, first published in 1956. It got the publication date wrong, but I can let that pass. It links to and cites a Reddit post asking the same question and providing the answer: > **[Reddit - The heart of the internet](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthatbook/comments/bmamiq/sf_short_story_giant_alien_ship_hundreds_of_miles/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)** The reddit answer includes a link to the [archive.org](http://archive.org) copy of the story from June 1962 _Galaxy_ magazine. > **[Galaxy v20n05 (1962 06) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet...](https://archive.org/details/Galaxy_v20n05_1962-06/page/n9/mode/1up?view=theater)** > > (Contents information excerpted from The Internet Speculative Fiction Database)Art:For Love by WestThe Lamps of the Angels by Dick FrancisOn the Wall of the... ChatGPT has definitely improved in the last few years. I’ve had this question bookmarked for the last three years. I feel safe deleting the bookmark now. ---
**Author:** ![Chelonaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@Chelonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chelonaut)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1732 "2025-06-01T06:42:33Z")
I fed chatgpt my prompt from [post 1424](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1424). It suggested the only vaguely similar, but very well known, Tunnel under the World by Pohl. I gave some more details, and it suggested three more stories even less like my prompt. But at least it didn’t invent any stories. Incidentally, about a year ago I too had been trying to recall For Love. Thought of posting in this thread, but managed to find it on my own (“look ma, no Chatgpt”). I mostly remembered that the crawler was invisible, by a system of crisscrossing optical fibres. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1733 "2025-06-01T06:51:45Z")
It seems I might have mixed up plot elements from both but The Ten Thousand is most likely what I was thinking of because I 100% was thinking of something along the lines of Team Yankee when writing that and I know for sure I had a huge batch of Harold Coyle books growing up, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1734 "2025-06-02T00:12:03Z")
I read a short story many years ago and don’t remember the title or author. Society is in chaos as divisions among the populace rise to unprecedented heights. It’s not just skin color or nationality, people start fight over the color or the other person’s eyes, hair color and such. At the end of the story two exhausted men, one white and one black confront each other and wonder what all the violence has been about. They are approached by a young woman who says "We haven’t won the war against ourselves’ and passes them little bags with matches and gasoline I think in a bottle. It’s nighttime and they look across the dark landscape to see little fires in the night. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2025, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1735 "2025-06-02T01:39:23Z")
I think you’ve asked this before… > [@ID a short story please?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-short-story-please/613356): > > Probably at least twenty years ago I read a short story in which people had become way too divided over ethnic/gender/social/orientation issues. It got to the point where civil war started over left or right handedness, or the color of your eyes. People couldn’t band together at all because they weren’t just alike. At the end of the story two tired survivors are ready to give up the struggle, when they are confronted by a woman who gives them little self immolation kits, reminding them “We ha… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1736 "2025-06-02T01:40:56Z")
My memory sucks. Sorry about that ---
**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:** [June 2, 2025, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1737 "2025-06-02T01:42:52Z")
You actually asked another time, too ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1738 "2025-06-02T02:11:36Z")
ChatGPT says it’s “Fire by Night” by Rudolph Fisher, but I think that it’s hallucinating. I can’t find any description of that story that resembles Baker’s plot summary. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1739 "2025-06-02T02:11:45Z")
So I sucked twice. Sorry. I don’t mean to be a bother. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1740 "2025-06-02T02:13:51Z")
For what it’s worth, I also remember that story. Unfortunately, I remember neither the author nor the title. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417.md?page=86) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417.md?page=88)