# Recommend a book about someone/people with powers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-someone-people-with-powers/447367 "2008-04-29T17:22:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-someone-people-with-powers/447367/61 "2008-05-03T02:41:26Z")
Wen Spencer’s Ukiah Oregon novels (_Alien Taste_, _Tainted Trail_, _Bitter Waters_ and _Dog Warrier_) are about a feral child turned private detective who has enhanced senses and other abilities. ---
**Author:** ![Gerome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Gerome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerome)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-someone-people-with-powers/447367/62 "2008-05-03T06:27:39Z")
Well, there’s a few Philip K Dick novels about people with some degree of psychic ability. For instance, a few of the characters in _The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch_ are precognitive, and have made careers out of it. It’s not usually the most important part of the story, though, kind of an secondary aspect. ---
**Author:** ![XaMcQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f9ae1b/32.png) [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-someone-people-with-powers/447367/63 "2008-05-03T16:29:11Z")
[QUOTE=Kat] Wen Spencer’s Ukiah Oregon novels (_Alien Taste_, _Tainted Trail_, _Bitter Waters_ and _Dog Warrier_) are about a feral child turned private detective who has enhanced senses and other abilities. [/QUOTE] You beat me to it, **Kat**. I love those books. There some great recommendations here. You might also like E.E. Knight’s Vampire Earth series. For some darker but thought-provoking material, you could try John Ridley’s [Those Who Walk in Darkness](http://www.amazon.com/Those-Walk-Darkness-John-Ridley/dp/0446612022/ref=pd_bbs_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209831308&sr=8-5) and [What Fire Cannot Burn](http://www.amazon.com/What-Fire-Cannot-Burn-Ridley/dp/0446612030/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209831308&sr=8-1), about cops who hunt people with superpowers, or [Thirsty](http://www.amazon.com/Thirsty-M-T-Anderson/dp/076362750X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209831883&sr=1-1) by M.T. Anderson, about a boy who is becoming a vampire in a world where that is a very bad fate indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-someone-people-with-powers/447367/64 "2008-05-03T17:26:06Z")
It’s less a power and more of a disability, but _The Time Traveler’s Wife_ features a man who’s born with a genetic disorder that causes him to randomly pop into different times. He often ends up meeting himself and his wife as children, but surprisingly the whole thing holds together as a consistent timeline. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-someone-people-with-powers/447367/65 "2008-05-03T17:47:09Z")
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin The power to dream reality. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-someone-people-with-powers/447367/66 "2008-05-03T18:22:24Z")
Larry Niven’s stories about Gil Hamilton. A collection of short stories, published under the title _The Long A.R.M. of Gil Hamilton_, and a novel titled _The Patchwork Girl_l. I believe they have recently been re-published, all in one volume, under the title _Flatlander_. When one of his arms is amputated, Hamilton develops an “imaginary arm”. Psychokinesis allows the “arm” to pick up objects, and ESP gives the “arm” a sense of touch. He can only reach the distance of his natural arm, but he can reach through solid objects. He returns to Earth, and becomes a cop, working for an agency called the A.R.M. (Thus, the triple pun in the title of the short story collection.) ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-someone-people-with-powers/447367/67 "2008-05-03T19:26:19Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Then there’s Andy Libby – from _Methusaleh’s Children,_ though he first appears in a short story of which I forget the title. [/QUOTE] _Misfit_ [QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin The power to dream reality. [/QUOTE] Yeah, Lathe of Heaven was awesome. Really short, though. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-someone-people-with-powers/447367/68 "2008-05-03T20:41:49Z")
[QUOTE=wonderlust] While probably not of interest to you, but significant enough to deserve a mention, is the immense surge of books about shapeshifters such as vampires, werewolves, etc. [/QUOTE] Yes, I was thinking that the OP might like some of the ones that involve magical people in modern-day, mundane settings, like Jim Butcher’s _Dresden Files_ books, Charlaine Harris’s _Southern Vampire_ series (HBO is making a show based on these) or Tanya Huff’s \*Blood \*series. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-someone-people-with-powers/447367/69 "2008-05-04T09:23:28Z")
Andre Norton (may she rest in peace) wrote a great many books about people (not necessarily humans) with assorted powers. I just got into reading the _Preacher_ series of graphic novels. While the main character DOES have a power, generally he relies on more physical means. _Sunshine_ by Robin McKinley is very good. I’m very fond of Dianna Wynne Jones’s books. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-someone-people-with-powers/447367/70 "2008-05-04T10:22:19Z")
_Ishmael_ is about a telepathic gorilla, but the meat of the book is a compelling (imho) look at human history, the religions of the world, and the global food supply. And another nod for _The Fermata_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-about-someone-people-with-powers/447367.md?page=3)