# ID a Sci-Fi/Fantasy book **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2015, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588 "2015-10-05T06:45:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/1 "2015-10-05T06:45:20Z")
Ok…so after the recent success I had on here with identifying an obscure movie from my past, here goes with a book. Science fiction/fantasy trilogy, was in print in the mid to late 1990’s. Author was towards the end of the alphabet…probably p-z, but I can’t say for sure. Covers were all one color, with a circle in the middle. One of the covers was green, one was pink, and I think the other was purple. Not sure about the purple one. They were more pastel colors, rather than darker ones. The circle was a design of some kind. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/2 "2015-10-05T11:19:40Z")
> [@Mudshark](#): > > Ok…so after the recent success I had on here with identifying an obscure movie from my past, here goes with a book. > > Science fiction/fantasy trilogy, was in print in the mid to late 1990’s. > Author was towards the end of the alphabet…probably p-z, but I can’t say for sure. > Covers were all one color, with a circle in the middle. One of the covers was green, one was pink, and I think the other was purple. Not sure about the purple one. They were more pastel colors, rather than darker ones. > The circle was a design of some kind. Could you tell us what the story was, what the trilogy was about? Where was it set? What was the plot? What kind of SF was it? You’re asking us to identify books purely on the basis of their covers, and vaguely-described covers at that. FWIW, this doesn’t ring a bell with me so far. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/3 "2015-10-05T11:56:57Z")
I assume you don’t mean the [Hunger Games books](http://bethaneywallace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/the-hunger-games-book-trilogy.jpg)… ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/4 "2015-10-05T12:03:30Z")
Was it [Hugh Cook](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2180/2272605261_d2afe5c8a2.jpg)? I know his name is not at the arse end of the alphabet, but all his book titles [began with a pair of 'W’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronicles_of_an_Age_of_Darkness). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/5 "2015-10-05T12:31:16Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Was it [Hugh Cook](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2180/2272605261_d2afe5c8a2.jpg)? I know his name is not at the arse end of the alphabet, but all his book titles [began with a pair of 'W’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronicles_of_an_Age_of_Darkness). I looked his works up on the Internet Speculative Data Base. You can navigate to pictures of the covers. They don’t appear to match the OP’s description. The covers aren’t all one color, and the title is sometimes in an oval, but not in the middle [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Hugh\_Cook](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Hugh_Cook) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/6 "2015-10-05T12:59:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The covers aren’t all one color, and the title is sometimes in an oval, but not in the middle Oh. I thought it was the circle that had the colour. My mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/7 "2015-10-05T15:41:58Z")
That sounds very much like the Wizard’s Spell Compendium, a set of 4 books, not 3, which were not novels, but a RPG supplement for Dungeons & Dragons. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/8 "2015-10-05T16:39:24Z")
Was it the Apprentice Adept series by Piers Anthony? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/9 "2015-10-05T19:48:28Z")
Kind of a long shot, but could it have been [Ben Bova](https://www.google.com/search?q=ben+bova+earth&espv=2&biw=1600&bih=775&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAgQ_AUoA2oVChMIivj2mIysyAIVi0SICh1P5QJr#tbm=isch&q=ben+bova+earth+jupiter+titan)? Not the end of the alphabet, and a square instead of a circle, but your description reminded me of his covers just the same. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/10 "2015-10-05T21:31:02Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > You’re asking us to identify books purely on the basis of their covers, and vaguely-described covers at that. Don’t judge. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/11 "2015-10-05T23:46:45Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Don’t judge. …lest ye be judged. I never understood that saying. It’s not as if you’re striking a bargain, and other people won’t judge you if you agree not to judge them. You’re simply abdicating your right to judge, and the other people are free to judge you or not. And they probably will. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/12 "2015-10-06T00:12:46Z")
I’m guessing this isn’t it, but these [_Lord of the Rings_](http://www.adazing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/LOTR9.png) covers come pretty close to your description. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/13 "2015-10-06T00:14:43Z")
Without any other description of the story, I have to assume that the OP stashed some cash between the pages of one of the volumes and then forgot which book the cash was in. Let it go, dude. It’s gone. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/14 "2015-10-06T00:20:03Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > …lest ye be judged. > I never understood that saying. It’s not as if you’re striking a bargain, and other people won’t judge you if you agree not to judge them. You’re simply abdicating your right to judge, and the other people are free to judge you or not. And they probably will. I’m not religious, but I think this comes from the idea of final judgment after death, and that you will be judged more harshly by God if you have been judgmental in life. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/15 "2015-10-06T01:14:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > …lest ye be judged. > I never understood that saying. It’s not as if you’re striking a bargain, and other people won’t judge you if you agree not to judge them. You’re simply abdicating your right to judge, and the other people are free to judge you or not. And they probably will. That’s because you’re only quoting 1/3d of the actual verse. In context it makes sense > [@Matthew 7:1-3](#): > > 7 Judge not, that ye be not judged. > > 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. > > 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? In other words, if you’re judging someone, you better not be a hypocrite about it, 'cause you’ll be judged by the same standard. The quote doesn’t say judging someone is good or bad, it’s just saying that you better practice what you preach. Also, it implies in part 3 that the Niven/Pournelle book about the asymmetrical aliens is really good. ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/16 "2015-10-06T03:38:08Z")
[The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix?](http://www.amazon.com/The-Abhorsen-Trilogy/dp/B011KHOL88/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1444102599&sr=8-11&keywords=garth+nix) ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/17 "2015-10-06T03:57:37Z")
[The Immortal Eyes Trilogy by Jackie Cassada](http://www.amazon.com/Court-Kings-Immortal-Eyes-Book/dp/1565048628/ref=la_B000AR9OWI_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444103549&sr=1-2). I found it on Amazon…Thanks all. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-sci-fi-fantasy-book/733588/18 "2015-10-06T04:01:22Z")
:smack: How did no one figure that out from the description in the OP? :dubious: :rolleyes: 😛