# Help me I.D. this sci fi novel **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522 "2005-04-22T00:50:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/1 "2005-04-22T00:50:07Z")
It was definitely out by the late '80s. It was about a guy who goes to this planet where a very few people somehow gain incredible psychic powers. He eventually gets more powerful than all the rest, and becomes one of the gods of the planet, including being able to go into the past, thus being one of the original gods. Some of the odd specifics I remember are that he always wore black, which was considered bad luck on the planet because it was associated with the viewed-as-evil god that he eventually became. And one of his godlike adversaries was modeled on Thor, including hammer and goat-drawn flying chariot. Also, something about a nuclear-type crater that eventually became a lake with swan boats on it or something. And I want to say that “Hammer” was in the title, but that I’m not sure about. Any ideas? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/2 "2005-04-22T00:58:28Z")
I don’t know. But your explanation has made me curious as well, should somebody come along with an answer. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/3 "2005-04-22T03:18:13Z")
Hammer of Darkness by Modesitt? Did it have little black specks in the air, and was it light all the time? ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/4 "2005-04-22T10:44:14Z")
Bingo! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/5 "2005-04-22T12:30:02Z")
Cool, added to my randomly suggested reading list. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/6 "2005-04-22T14:01:51Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Hammer of Darkness by Modesitt? Yeah, but he stole the plot directly from Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/7 "2005-04-23T18:33:20Z")
> [@Fiver](#): > > Yeah, but he stole the plot directly from Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park. I just looked up _Mansfield Park_, and the description of the plot doesn’t look even remotely similar to what **FlyingDragonFan** is describing. Am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/8 "2005-04-23T18:59:34Z")
A sense of humor, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/9 "2005-04-23T19:26:04Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > I just looked up _Mansfield Park_, and the description of the plot doesn’t look even remotely similar to what **FlyingDragonFan** is describing. Am I missing something? **Fiver** mis-typed. He meant to say Shakespeare’s _A Winter’s Tale_. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/10 "2005-04-23T19:43:25Z")
I thought the plot was stolen from Duran Duran’s _Rio_. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/11 "2005-04-23T20:32:45Z")
Okay, okay - it appears there’s an inside joke I wasn’t inside of. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/12 "2005-04-24T00:27:33Z")
Well, that’s what happens when you miss staff meetings. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/13 "2005-04-24T03:11:11Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Okay, okay - it appears there’s an inside joke I wasn’t inside of. I’m sorry aobut the tone of my previous post. However, there’s no inside joke here, just an outside joke. **FlyingDragon** gave a description of a very far-fetched science fiction plot, and Jane Austen is known for staid, proper stories. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/14 "2005-04-25T00:49:12Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Okay, okay - it appears there’s an inside joke I wasn’t inside of. Unless you meant _Rio_, which can be explained [in this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=296939). ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/15 "2005-04-25T01:39:29Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > I just looked up _Mansfield Park_, and the description of the plot doesn’t look even remotely similar to what **FlyingDragonFan** is describing. Am I missing something? This post has given me hours of mirth today. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/16 "2005-04-25T04:26:07Z")
> [@Fiver](#): > > This post has given me hours of mirth today. This thread has given me about 20 minutes of mirth. Just once… ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-i-d-this-sci-fi-novel/300522/17 "2005-04-25T15:56:46Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Well, that’s what happens when you miss staff meetings. Well, at least I didn’t get appointed to head up some committee. When I read **Fiver** ’s post I thought, “Gee, did Austen write something outside of genre, as so many authors have done?” Forgetting that this was Cafe Society rather than GQ, I ran off to look it up. _sigh_