#1: A man is murdered by his wife. Instead of going to heaven or hell, he comes unstuck in time — something like Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse-Five, except that he is always moving “forward.” Each time he emerges he is somehow associated with the current version of his wife, who he eventually learns is his “fatal affinity” (I believe that’s the term). He eventually encounters beings who explain that there’s no way to return him to his initial time, but since the universe is cyclical they can place him at the same place in the next cycle if that’s what he wants. He agrees, and with a final admonition to “beware the fatal affinity” they send him off. So he ends up back where he began, with a twist (obvious in retrospect): he’s now his wife.
#2: The “battle of the sexes” has reached the point where men and women can no longer live together, so they have retreated to separate and hostile city-states (no mention of what, if anything, is going on elsewhere). The only place where they interact is in a set of ruins between, where the young of both city-states meet for sexual encounters followed by a duel to the death. Somehow the son of the high priest and the daughter of the high priestess meet, fall in love, and decide to run away. This apostasy is intolerable for both sides, so the high priest and high priestess decide they must work together so that their children can be tortured and executed publicly. I misremember how it ends, but IIRC there’s at least a hint that the hostility is beginning to thaw.
I don’t think the first is a full-length novel, but I’m pretty sure the second is.
Short story. I have an idea it was part of a series with various scenarios that cause the end of the World. This one is NOT Kurt Vonnegut’s *Harrison Bergeron *or The Sirens of Titan, but something with a similar idea. It starts with the discovery of America’s most average man. He is absolutely at the exact average in all qualities: average height, average intelligence, average income, and so on. One of the main American parties asks him to to be their candidate for president. He agrees, even though he is a card carrying member of the opposition. He is elected President. Everyone starts following his example and tries to be as average as possible. The world stagnates in a sea of mediocrity and conformity.
Sorry, I missed your first response. The overall Wikipedia description sounds vaguely right, though I distinctly remember that the protagonist was “flung forward” as a result of being murdered rather than a scientific experiment going wrong (as the article implies). Also, the title doesn’t ring a bell. Guess the only way to find out will be to get hold of the story, which may be a challenge.
In any case, thanks. I appreciate the information.
In the spirit of the approaching Holiday, this one is a short-short story that might actually be more horror than SF…it is from the point of view of a High Priestess of some Diabolical version of Witchcraft who finds herself standing somewhere, holding up a bowl full of fire. The story goes on to imply that she and her coven have magically triggered a thermonuclear holocaust that killed everyone but her and she is left alone, abandoned even by her familiar demon. The last line has stuck with me to this day"…and she would burn in Hell forever".
OttoDaFe, there are a variety of ways you can get hold of Timeliner. You can order it from several online booksellers or get an E-book copy of it. It’s very cheap.
I remember a cheapo novel, probably from sometime in the early- or mid-Seventies when supernatural or demon-themed novels were in vogue, that started with the forging of a magical sword. I think it was during the Renaissance. The sword was tempered, in part, by being used while still red-hot to kill a condemned man - somehow his screams or suffering were important to the process. Eventually, in the present day, the sword is used to kill the bad guy. The very last scene, I’m pretty sure, had the body of the bad guy being found, while the person who killed him walked downstairs, quiet and unnoticed.
Link didn’t work — it said I’d exceeded my allowable page count — but I did find an ebook elsewhere, and yes, it is the same story.
That said, a cursory scan suggests that it’s somewhat longer and more detailed than I remember (particularly the last chapter). What I came across lo these many years ago may have been a shorter version that was included in a long-lost anthology, which would also explain why the title didn’t sound familiar. In any case, thanks (again).
As for my other item, it’s probably obscure for a reason: IIRC it came out around the time that the Womens’ Lib movement was starting to hit its stride, and it was probably a hack job intended to cash in on the phenomenon. Looks like it sank into well-deserved oblivion, and there let it lie.
Apparently, it was an expansion of a radio play called “The Einstein Highway” - and a radio play would be shorter than even a short novel. Interestingly, the Wikipedia page on Timeliner indicates that the critical response to it was very negative. Timeliner - Wikipedia
I’ve heard of the trope of quenching a sword in the body of a condemned man, but I’d heard it in an urban-myth purporting-to-be-fact context. Though I suppose that it’s possible that the myth was started by someone who read the same book, and thought it was more historically accurate than it actually was.
Book I read back in the '60s. People are being mysteriously paralysed (frozen in position, I think, though I couldn’t swear to it, and unresponsive). For some reason Our Hero is thought to have some sort of contagious disease that is the cause of the paralysis. He goes on the run, but manages to find out the real cause. The only scene I remember clearly is where he writes down the details – cause and cure – and gets the letter to the officer in charge of an Army patrol that’s looking for him. The officer opens the letter, and since it’s a single page, glances at the signature at the bottom. When he sees that it was written by Our Hero, he throws it into the campfire without reading it.