Questions tagged [soft-sci-fi]
Soft science fiction is a term for works in the science fiction genre which do not apply a rigourous scientific model for the universe. It can also be used to describe work where the science fiction aspect is incidental to the story (the same story could be told without the science fiction elements).
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1980's (maybe 70's) Scifi book series about other planets which were colonized one by native Americans, one by Mennonites, one by Mormons etc
I'm trying to remember the name of a book I read in high school (about 1984) that was about other planets which were colonized one by native Americans, one by Mennonites, one by Mormons etc. Very ...
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1answer
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Story with a 3-layered world
I read this story in the 1990s or early 2000s, I believe.
It was about a world with three layers or zones, and in order to travel from one zone to the next, travellers could only do so naked, ...
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Do the writers of Star Wars agree on what is Lightspeed and what is FTL?
SPOILERS FOR DOCTOR APHRA 6
I always thought hyperspace was established to be faster than light, and lightspeed is just slang. It approaches lightspeed when jumping but then breaks the barrier. Yet ...
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Help me identify this science fiction graphic novel involving spacefaring mice/rats that I read in 2013
I have been looking for the name of this sci-fi graphic novel that I read in 2013. I do not remember the name of the novel, only a brief summary of the story.
Here it goes:
The story is set on board ...
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bad military sci-fi; from fending off Zerg-like hive to fighting the reified multiverse/sum of history
Every once in a while I recall reading this series, which was mostly notable for the number of trope and genre mashups it crammed in, and for diverging into silly fantasy territory at the end. I ...
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Sci-fi novel or novella where “Eliza Tertia” was one of the main characters
There's a book I borrowed from my grade 8 teacher's lending shelf (in Ontario, Canada) that I've been trying to identify for years.
The main character was a man in a futuristic setting who... I think.....
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1answer
143 views
sci-fi book where everyone older than 18 was dead
This was a sci-fi book where everyone older than 18 was dead. The eldest was some boy who's 17, I think, and I believe that they all had superpowers, if not all then some of them. The book started ...
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2k views
Story about a world of magic where science has been forbidden [duplicate]
I am looking for a book that I read in the 80s where magic is used to help with tasks and science is forbidden.
What I recall is that the protagonist (I think a boy) has to move a something heavy like ...
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147 views
50/60’s sci fi movie using Pi to communicate to aliens
What 50/60’s sci fi movie uses Pi to communicate with aliens?
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161 views
Title of science fiction novel from the '80s or early '90s with small furry aliens [duplicate]
There was another alien species that was invading Earth, and the little furry aliens helped us out. I think they liked having sex all the time and ended up having sex with the humans as well.
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Short story where the ship's cat saves them by playing with the defense system?
I'm looking for a sci-fi short story I read ages ago, where the crew of an experimental new spaceship that scans their minds to anticipate their orders get drunk one night and scan in the cat, which ...
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Book series about pairs of clones, Pratwa, that were mentally linked [duplicate]
There was a great sci-fi book series that I read about experiments with clones (Pratwa?). The lab produced sets of 2 clones that were linked mentally. When they meditated and merged consciousnesses ...
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Movie about two kids who find an astronaut in the desert
The setting is an Earth-like desert. A brother and sister find an astronaut they believe to be an alien, although he's entirely human in appearance (as are they). I don't remember much about the plot, ...
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2answers
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Looking for a book about talking dragons with no humans
When I was a kid I remember going to a relative's house and reading the beginning of a book about warring factions of Dragons. I was not able to finish before the weekend visit was over. I've never ...
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Short Story “Slow Topiary”
Short Story: Woman suffering from terminal cancer meets weird guy who has a topiary in his isolated home that is the size of a large oa
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1answer
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Sci-fi TV series about medicine/virology/pathogen/germ warfare investigation
Unfortunately, the only details I am really sure of are the specific scenes I mention below. The rest I am quite hazy on.
IIRC it aired sometime in the mid to late 90s (maybe even early 2000s?) and it ...
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142 views
Book where the world is divided into seven parts where each part only lives for one day of the week and is in suspended animation for the rest [duplicate]
There was a book I read quite a while ago where due to population problems the population of the world was divided into seven parts. Each part actively lived one day a week and were in suspended ...
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Pre-1990's sci-fi novel about a man who becomes a legionnaire in a Roman/Romanesque Empire
I remember reading it in the late 1980's or early 1990's. If I recall correctly, it was:
set in the future
based on the Roman model of civilization and empire
about a guy who was training to become a ...
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Children's book about a long neck blue alien wearing a turtle neck sweater
I read a book in the 1980s that I am looking for title and publish date.
Book Type: children's picture book
Plot:
A long necked blue alien visits earth and disguises themselves by wearing a turtleneck ...
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Looking for an old sci-fi book/series about kids crashed on a planet
Ok, so it might be a long-shot, as I was around 12 when I read this book (or books?) — which was 30 years ago.
I'm not sure if it was a series of books, or just one book which I never finished.
The ...
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looking for science fiction short story about boy and friends who jump through planet gates to watch star explosions
This story is relatively new. It's short probably from one of the most known sci/fi magazines (Asimov, Analog, The magazine of fantasy and science fiction, Clarkesworld) I just read it earlier this ...
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Short Story - Robert Silverberg. The Story is about a solitary Pilot or Engineer of a pilgrim or colonization ship and his spiritual stowaway
I recall reading this story in the early 2000's in an old (90's) Silverberg anthology. The spiritual stowaway, a young girl desperate to escape her boring life in this story has somehow stolen the ...
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259 views
Funny, Jewish sci-fi novel
I read it mid 80's and found it a few years ago, but with the publication of a new Jewish sci-fi novel, it's harder to find it again.
The story is about an investigator working for a government ...
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Old cartoon/movie with tiny character driving a toy red Chevy Bel air
I watched this Disney-style cartoon on tv between 1997-98 but it was probably much older than that since the car in question appears to be, if memory serves me right, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air ...
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80s/90s Scifi movie where an alien family is stuck on Earth [duplicate]
When I was younger I remember watching a copied VHS that had a partial sci-fi movie on it. From what I remember a humanoid alien family somehow gets stuck on earth.
There were 2 sisters whose hair ...
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166 views
Alien doomsday movie where a good and bad alien fight whilst two kids look for a doomsday device
There are two kids and two aliens in this alien doomsday movie, one good and one bad. I believe the "good" alien is Dwayne Johnson or Vin Diesel. The "bad" alien is of size and shape of the ones in ...
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1answer
236 views
TV show / Film where a space ship breaks apart in a supernatural way near the end
I am having a super difficult time remembering this. I believe it was a TV show but it might have been a film (about 95% sure it was a TV show). I believe the premise was that some planet had an area ...
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1answer
168 views
90s-00s novel about a boy with a dimension hopping device
Trying to find a book that I read 10-15 years ago.
The novel is about a boy which one day gets visited by himself. His other self has a device with which someone can jump from one dimension to ...
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1answer
3k views
Late 90s movie about people disappearing (down drains, I believe)
I only remember the trailer and vaguely at that. It began with a statistic about how many people go missing every year and are not found. There was an "at first they thought people were being abducted ...
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Prince Rupert's Drops [duplicate]
Does anyone remember a short story involving "Prince Rupert's Drops"? Story character finds these beautiful iridescent golden glass-like objects on the beach at one of the Great Lakes, and thinks it's ...
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Short story with an astronaut in space wearing a semi-sentient suit
Some astronaut is in space, and his spaceship is destroyed. For some reason, this dude is wearing a semi-sentient suit that keeps him alive indefinitely, and he's just floating through space for ...
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Short story where the labour class lives in another timeline to the privileged class
A short story was mentioned to me and we are trying to figure out the name of it.
It was apparently written years ago and was hoping to find it.
It was apparently a short story based around divided ...
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1answer
136 views
Sci-fi/time traveller cartoon where a time traveler on a training mission saves a girl from being killed which makes Earth disappear [duplicate]
Sci-fi/time traveller cartoon from the early to mid 2000's.
The plot goes like this:
A time traveler was in some sort of training mission. Whilst he was on this mission he witnesses this girl that ...
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1answer
198 views
Movie Identification: Police chase in a SF movie
Based in the future. The only scene I remember is that the guy is running away from the police. As the police are chasing him (in a tunnel-like environment), the cost of the chase (i.e. the fuel cost ...
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Science Fiction book where an experimental ship with a 2 navigator hyperspace system leaves the crew dead
Trying to find the title of a book I believe I read in the '70s. The plot involves around a hyperspace navigator that interfaces directly with the ship from a jump chair. Normal navigation was done ...
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What was it that “powered” Auto-Man and Cursor to allow them to exist in the real world?
In the early 80s sci-fi show Auto-Man , the titular hero is essentially a humanoid form program made by a police-computer genius, and given physical shape in our reality. It was described as thus:
...
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Space colony novel where space pirates attack a planet and take a boy hostage who fights his way back eventually
I think it was a 1970s novel and might have been simply titled "Colony". These days it would likely be classed as young-adult, but I don't think such a category existed back then. I probably read it ...
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315 views
Old scifi book featuring krakens attacking humans
My memory of it is vague because I read it 30+ years ago. I believe it was published by Penguin. It's at least forty years old.
The basic plot:
Krakens from the deepest ocean come ashore and attack ...
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1answer
824 views
80’s kids film about two kids who rent a film and get sucked into the TV
This has been bugging me for such a long time. It’s a film about two kids who go to a video store, and this particular video stands out as it has a silver cover.
When they play it, they are sucked ...
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1answer
378 views
Old book about a young man marooned in space who is drawn to an alien shipwreck by a ring he is wearing
It was a school library book I read in the 70s, about a young man marooned in space who is drawn to an alien shipwreck by a ring he is wearing. Can't seem to remember more, but the image has stayed ...
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1answer
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Stunning CGI short film about war and love where the leader of one world invades the other after being rejected
The story is about two people - both leaders of their respective species. On one side, the tall, powerful looking male character, and a young, beautiful queen, who he is in love with. After being ...
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Sci-fi novel where a mother and son are captured by another tribe
This was a sci-fi novel I read decades ago.
Most of the story takes place after a mother and her son have been captured by another tribe and are being transported back to their encampment. I believe ...
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Science Fiction Story About Two Kids That Build A Spaceship Pre-1994 [duplicate]
Most likely, pre-1990.
This is a story (book for kids) about two kids that build a spaceship. I remember the spaceship being constructed of shiny metal or tin on the exterior of the ship. I also ...
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Sci fi book about virtual reality where a race disappeared due to playing too much
I am trying to find the title of a book I read about all humans playing virtual reality games. My memory is a bit hazy on this one and I don't remember author or title. It was hard cover and more than ...
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1answer
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2000s(?) anime: a girl uncovers a government secret and can control a phoenix-like monster
All I remember about this anime is a girl and her brother go to a boarding school (I believe) and the girl ends up uncovering a secret. The government is secretly trying to either destroy or control ...
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Sc-Fi book with psychic game
I'm looking for a book from 90's (I think). The French version had a cover in the style of Philippe Caza and the story is about a universe where people can play a sort of "psychic game".
In the game, ...
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Book - society of humanoid people that practise open relationships until they reach a certain age then have a monogamous partner
I think they lived kind of adjacent to a human race that had technology. They were the protagonists of the story. I read it around 20 years ago and it was probably about 15-30 years old then. They ...
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1answer
112 views
Sci-fi book about future of earth where the land has been submerged, and aliens use it to breed [duplicate]
1970's or 80's book about the future earth.
Aliens invaded, and sunk the land, now there are floating islands, and the aliens come back every so many years to plant eggs in the sea to hatch.
There ...
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154 views
A sci-fi-ish movie about toys coming to life I saw on TV when I was a kid
I've been looking for this movie for probably two decades - not because it's brilliant or anything, but just because I can't leave a mystery unsolved.
It was a movie about a kid who loved toys and ...
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90s (or earlier) sci fi book about demons being an ancient alien race
I'm trying to remember this book I read back in the 90's but I suspect may be older.
Humanity gets discovered by three alien superpowers and they split humanity into three groups and take over/...
