Crucifixion Variations by Lawrence Person - in Asimovs in May 1998, and in The Mammoth Book of Extreme Science Fiction in 2006 (Title: Crucifixion Variations)
"Lawrence Person’s well-written speculations – again using a variation on time travel of a sort – on the true account of the Crucifixion ends up (wisely) not supporting the truth or falsity of Christ’s divinity, but concluding that without some sort of Truth (regardless of its nature), “we’re all alone in the dark.” “Crucifixion Variations,” replete with collapsing wave functions and a hard sf rationale, is a thoughtful and successful novelette. Kudos to this relatively new author. "
I’d pretty much reached the same conclusion about the Dresden Files which is what led me to post here… I’ve been muddling around for a long time convinced it had to be in one of the Dresden books because the character is so similar.
I have a couple of stories in the SF/fantasy vein that I read back in middle school, but have since forgotten the titles of. Coming as they did from my school library, they were likely intended for middle school-aged kids. They were both published before 1997, but may even be older by a decade or so.
I think the first story was about a colony on another planet, perhaps several generations old. The main character was studying to become (or already was) a ‘technician,’ a position of some renown. I believe the colony in general was trying to develop a new means of generating power. I recall references to farming and frequent use of computer terminals. I guess that’s not much to go off of.
The other story I remember is more in the fantasy vein. The main character is searching for or following his older sister, who is some type of wizard or magician. The world he lives in is split into two factions, one that idolizes straight lines and another that prefers circles (or maybe just curves). I recall one scene where he’s trying to disguise himself as a peasant from one faction but gives himself away because he’s using an item from the opposite faction. This story ends with his sister apparently teleporting to our world (perhaps as part of a planned rite of passage) where she lives a new life in (I think) Scotland, or something.
Well, that’s the best I can remember of the two. I know it’s not much. It’s been over 20 years, after all.
Actually Caz was attacked by a guy with a knife, that pierced the tumor encysting a demon, the demon whosshed out and dy Gironal and the demon were taken by The Bastard[a god] leaving Caz more or less healed of the demon infested tumor - he still had to heal from the knife wound, but compared to having a demon infested tumor growing in him, easy peasy =)
I still haven’t ever discovered the SF book from the early 70s [or perhaps very late 60s] that I would love to reread … sigh
Domed city in empty ‘wasteland’, man who has the job of inventing flavorings [his pride and joy is inventing a really great Strawberries and Cream synthetic flavor] ends up accidentally outside the domed city and discovers a world of people and real food rather than synthesized foods. Anybody?
I remember a story from childhood. It was from the young adult section I am sure.
The idea was that some kid found himself a means of cloning (or creating a duplicate) of himself. His twin was supposed to be doing all the drudgery stuff while he did fun stuff. He had a girlfriend (or was getting to know a girl) but he was jealous of his twin who was also spending time with her. The twist of the story was that the twin cloned himself too and the third clone was an evil little shit. I recall there also being a lighthouse involved.
Now my memory of this is obviously hazy (see the first line of “The Pusher”) but does this ring any bells?
It goes back to at least the myth about how part of the secret of Damascus steel was it being “quenched in the belly of a muscular slave”. So I’d call it the pre-modern equivalent of an urban myth.
The one with the artificial flavorings also harkens to Asimov’s “Good Taste”, but that’s set in one of many orbital habitats around the Earth, not in a domed city in a wasteland. Well, I guess technically, an orbital colony is “a domed city in a wasteland”, but you know.
Of the 5 Gods universe, Curse is my favorite, though Paladin of Souls is also good - though I am not overly fond of Hallowed Hunt.
I enjoy Bujold, she has several series and a stand alone - It is somewhat odd to shift between future SF and fantasy, but she manages. Her Wide Green World series is on my comfort food reading list.
Late 1950’s or early to mid 1960’s; may have been published in a general magazine of some sort, probably not in a specific f/sf publication.
Story about a man who’s eating, as contraband, in a place like a speakeasy, food that was actually grown in fields and as part of animals (pretty sure both vegetables and meat were involved), as opposed to synthetically-produced food. This has become illegal; I think he gets arrested.
No; can’t be. This is something I read as a child or young teenager; I hadn’t really run into science fiction yet, and I remember being puzzled by it. It must have been published by the mid-60’s at the latest.
It occurred to me years later that it might have been meant as a satire on drug laws; but it might have been meant to criticize the beginnings of ultra processed foods.