Skip to main content

story identification - Alien studying human race for mental capacity and ESP


I am trying to remember a novel I half read as a teen (1984-1986), I borrowed it from the library but had to take it back before finishing.


I believe it was in an omnibus/ compilation edition book with two or three SciFi stories by different authors.


The plot was an alien studying the mental capacity and ESP of the human race.


The alien abducts a low level criminal/ wise guy from America and takes him to a base in the Arctic (perhaps) for study.


He is subjected to a number of physical and mental tests to find out how dangerous or powerful the human race could become.


I got as far as the criminal overpowering the alien and escaping in his spaceship to explore the galaxy.


Unique things I remember;




  • The human is put in an exo-skeleton to test and improve his flexibility.

  • The human manages to fool the alien ESP testing/ training equipment.

    • Escapes his cell at night to use it unsupervised to increase his ESP powers in order to gain the upperhand.



  • In his travel through the galaxy he meets a insectoid race, (butterfly like? or maybe bat)

    • The insectoid is amazed humans still dream, when he gets telepathically pulled into a dream the main character is having.




  • ESP powers the main character gains includes matter translation, like turning wood into a steak or hamburger.

  • The main character doesn't understand the risks of overuse of ESP powers.



Answer



I think you're looking for The Ultimax Man by Keith Laumer. Duplicate answer of this question; Kidnaped human(hitman),Neanderthal . From Kirkus Review; Minor hoodlum Damocles Montgomerie, whisked from the path of a speeding bullet to a concealed alien research center at the North Pole, achieves untold powers of cerebration in the course of having his brain picked by the donnish Xorialle. Once in command of his new abilities, Dammy promptly commandeers Xorialle's ship and sets out to track down the ""Galactic Concensus"" in the neighborhood of Deneb. The closer he gets, the more bewildering his discoveries about the origin of the whole adventure--the most curious pieces of the puzzle being a mild-mannered, bee-like creature by the name of Floss and a telepathic proto-hominid called Sport. You also have the exo-skeleton which improves flexibility and gives him the motor memory of several martial arts and card sharp skills. Damocles sneaking out of his confinement to increase his skills and esp. enter image description here


The only collection I could find: enter image description here


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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.
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more