Skip to main content

story identification - book about telepaths hunting humans


I remember reading this book years ago, but I'm unable to remember the title. I'm hoping someone else has read it and remembers the title. Here is a quick synopsis from what I remember:


Humans, while testing their first FTL drive, travel to the closest star and destroy it. However, there was an unknown, inhabited world around the star. The world was populated by telepaths; when the telepaths realized what was going on, they 'screamed' out into the universe with their last dying breath, asking all the other telepathic aliens to kill these other aliens (humans) in revenge. It tells the story through generational gaps, as humans attempt to survive the ensuing genocide committed against them.



If anyone could give me the title for this book, I would love to re-read it!



Answer



This is almost certainly Earth Ship and Star Song by Ethan I. Shedley. The first human starship accidentally destroys another civilization, which gives a telepathic alarm, and thereafter, humanity is hunted and destroyed whenever they gather together.


@Jim2B's summary sounds very familiar, though I haven't read the book since the 80s and don't remember exact details.


Here's the summary from the inner flap of Earth Ship and Starsong:



The year is 2100, and mankind has destroyed the earth's ecology. Faced with irrefutable evidence that the end is near, the technocracy that governs the remnants of the human race realizes that there is no workable alternative but to emigrate from this "bitter lesson called Earth."
But there are dangers. Man must adapt for the journey, and must perfect the power source for his Earth Ships—a drive based on the controlled creation of black holes in space. Blind to the existence of any sentient race that has not developed along technological lines, man destroys a telepathic race while refining the Black Hole Drive. Realizing its doom, this race spreads a call for revenge throughout the galaxy. The reader will follow with fascination as man—the hunted—tries time and again to found a new home, only to be destroyed and driven to the fringes of a hostile universe by increasingly virulent attacks. Will man be allowed to atone, or must he strike back to regain his place in the cosmos?



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...