I’m looking for the title of a dystopian SF novel, in which the name of the heroine is AMitY (yes, with that capitalization) and her best friend is Prudence (with capital letters strewn through that name as well). AMitY and friends go to a pastoral other world/dimension somehow in order to protect the natives from some great threat - it turns out that they are the great threat!. Two other details - Prudence was going to be sterilized because a distant relative of hers had diabetes, and being friends with people who live nearby was forbidden.
Doesn’t ring a bell for me, but as a librarian I’ve sometimes been able to identify books in these threads even when I haven’t read them. I haven’t had any luck on this searching just now, but if your wife has any idea when this book might have been published then that could help. Also, was this a novel written for adults or one for YA/teen readers?
Oh, and is she CERTAIN of the names? I’m finding very few instances of “Amity” being used as a character name, and so far none in science fiction or fantasy.
She read it between 1988 and 1990 (and she thinks it was a relatively new book at the time); she’s certain of the names and reasonably sure that it was aimed at young adults. Thanks.
Andy I think that you and me are the only ones who have stumped the Dope on a question like this. In the “What was the first thread you started” thread I found out that my first was a SF short stroy ID question. No one had a clue.
“Anyone know this short story and author? I think I may have read it in Analog. It goes like this:there is this guy who is either a scientist or politician. He is depressed because of the short-sightness of the American people when it comes to space exploration. The character is somehow involved in the fight to keep the space program funded and he feels he is losing the battle. The character is at a party when he is approached by a stranger. The stranger convinces the scientist that he is a time traveller. the stranger came back to tell the scientist that his efforts were not in vain and that humans had reached the stars. It ends with the scientist saying something like , “I knew America would raise to the occasion and continue to explore”. The stranger says " I never said it was America.” I think it was written about the time of the Challenger disaster. May have been written by Eric Iverson (aka Harry Turtledove). I was thinking about this story when I heard people complaining about the latest proposal to head for Mars. "
I’d be pretty sure it’s not Sheri Tepper, because I’ve read most of her books and this one isn’t ringing a bell. Doesn’t seem like her style of character naming either.
I just checked the February 1988 Analog. Yes, that’s the story. I don’t have time to read all of it, but it certainly ends with someone saying that he didn’t say it would be Americans.