Skip to main content

story identification - Book about a group of escaped prisoners with tattooed faces


I recall that it might have been the second book of a series. It takes place in the future - not sure if in our universe - and there are robots who kill for the government (I think).


Story of a group of escapees from a prison that go to a massive ship and start a community.


The prisoners have tattooed faces.


I remember more the characters:



  • A lady that absorbs people and becomes them.

  • A young girl who is a genius but has to be pregnant to be balanced.


  • Two people from the prison they kidnapped and took with them.


Also I remember they terraformed the inside of their ship.



Answer



That would be Jack Chalker's 'The Rings of the Master' series.



  • They are lead by a (fairly) young Amerind man who goes by 'Hawks.'

  • The young lady is actually a creature (who goes by Vulture) created to be able to mimic DNA and thus bypass their security. ("A being who could beat the system at will. Become anyone it wished. Sail through security ports, passing every test—memory, retinal prints, even blood and tissue samples. Gain the full knowledge of whomever it imitated and therefore have full access to anyplace human beings could go.")

  • The young girl who must be pregnant (and is blind, in fact) is Song China (or the name she adopts, China Nightingale), a genius, who is saddled with that status to achieve some control over her. (She's the daughter of a high official who basically imposed this on her for being disobedient.)

  • The "two people from the prison" could be the Chow sisters (Chow Dai and Chow Mai) who are geniuses in their own right, at least when it comes to bypassing Security systems, if you are referring to the initial prison. They grab/liberate Raven (another Amerind that Hawks knew) and Warlock later, at the prison Melkior, as I recall. In addition, one of the lead scientists, Clayben, comes to join them in book 2.



They are tattooed by a process that is used to basically rebuild people; it can only be done ONCE on almost any being (or, more to the point, on any specific part of a being), so the tattoos are done at skin level, but basically become irreversible.


They all end up stealing a ship; the ship's computer, Star Eagle, becomes part of the team, not to mention developing a very close relationship with China, as she uses a mental interface with the ship to somewhat get past her blindness. They then steal a bigger ship (a Colony ship, basically) from a mothballed fleet, install Star Eagle into it, and go on a quest to retrieve the Rings from various planets where they are held, thence to return and shut off the Master System that is controlling humanity. They do make the inside of the ship into a mimicry of various home environments. Given the volume such a ship is meant to hold, they have all the space they could want.


They also are pursued by Robotic creatures called "Vals" (after Jean Valjean from Les Miserables) that are imprinted with the last recorded memory of the person they are pursuing.


Great books. :)


Comments

Post a Comment

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

What is the etymology of Doctor Who?

I recently decided to watch Doctor Who, and started viewing the 2005 version. I have the first two episodes from the first season, and I can't help but wonder what is the etymology of the name "Doctor Who"? And why does the protagonist call himself "the Doctor" (or is it "the doctor")? Answer In the very first episode of Doctor Who (way back in 1963), the Doctor has a granddaughter going by the name "Susan Foreman", and the junkyard where the TARDIS is has the sign "I.M. Foreman". Barbara, who becomes one of the Doctor's companions, calls him "Doctor Foreman" (probably assuming that is his name given his relationship to Susan), and Ian (another early companion) does the same in the second episode, to which the Doctor says: Eh? Doctor who? What's he talking about? "Foreman" is most likely selected as a convenient surname for Susan to use because it happened to be on display near where the TARDIS landed....
Post a Comment
Read more

story identification - Animation: floating island, flying pests

At least 20 years ago I watched a short animated film which stuck in my mind. The whole thing was wordless, possibly European, and I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it... It featured a flying island which was inhabited by some creatures who (in my memory) reminded me of the Moomins. The island was frequently bothered by large winged animals who swooped around, although I don't think they did any actual damage. At the end one of the moomin creatures suddenly gets a weird feeling, feels forced to climb to the top of the island and then plunges down a shaft right through the centre - only to emerge at the bottom as one of the flyers. Answer Skywhales from 1983. The story begins with a man warning the tribe of approaching skywhales. The drummers then warn everybody of the hunt as everyone get prepared to set "sail". Except one man is found in his home sleeping as the noise wake him up. He then gets ready and is about to take his weapon as he hesitates then decides ...
Post a Comment
Read more