I would like to find out the name of a sci fi book that I originally
read in my high school or middle school library circa mid-80s. It was
probably a juvenile book, but I don't remember. It might have the word
"Star" in the title.
The book's background: Humanity has already gone through a period of
space exploration, with advanced tech: spaceships as well as
spacesuits consist of energy fields, not physical material. But a
dictatorial, mind-controlling government has halted all exploration
for a period of retrenchment.
At the start of the book, the gov't assembles a secret mission to
check out a signal or other lost expedition. The ship is basically one
big hologram, rooms outfitted according to crew's psychological needs.
The protagonist is an experienced pilot unhappy at status quo, but he
has to be careful since the gov't can read his mind.
When the spaceship and crew reach their destination, the planet there
is lifeless, covered by a black lava-like substance. They discover a
cave created by the original inhabitants and listen to a recording by
their last survivors, now dead, detailing what happened. The natives
were a peaceful race that had developed a weak, race-wide mental force
to catch fish to sustain themselves -- a fairly idyllic life. Then
other aliens came, harsh ones who kidnapped the natives, performed
experiments on them, and possibly when they proved unsuitable or had
been exploited enough, destroyed them.
We also find out that the evil aliens left behind a guardian, a huge
spider that attacks the human expedition. Part of the philosophy of
the human gov't is that we've gone past evolution, all the old
aggressions of the human psyche are no longer needed in an
all-controlled society, so the protagonist must struggle with this
brainwashing in order to actually rouse himself and fight this spider.
In the end, the aliens come back and attack the human ship. There's
some hint that the evil aliens are actually just humans, though I
don't remember this being explained.
I have already asked on rec.arts.sf.written about this book, without
success. I have also searched on Amazon for all books with "Star" in
the title. There were thousands of results, and I went through maybe a
hundred or so of them without success. |
Clarification of Question by
catnipgate-ga
on
05 Mar 2005 11:05 PST
It does sound close, but I can't be sure.
(1) I don't remember that title at all, and it's memorable enough that
I would think it would've stuck with me.
(2) The blurb, which seems to be the only information about the book
on the Internet, is light on the kind of details that I do remember.
(3) The mention of a specific planet the protagonist is from doesn't
jibe with my recollection of this being an entire civilization.
This could be my book, I could very well be mistaken about all the
above points, but I will have to look at its contents to be sure.
I will be ordering the book today and should get it in a few days, and
will be able to tell you then.
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