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1MEStaton Aug 10, 2009, 8:26am I read this in the very late 80's I think it was a new book at the time but I could be wrong.



In the story a group of people travel across the universe to find God supposedly on a remote planet. There is a lot of dry social commentary kind of humour in the book.



For some reason I keep thinking it's part of the Frederik Pohl Heechee saga but I can't find any in that series that match this story but things like the description of the Heechee spaceship interiors remind me of the space ship in this book.

2jjmcgaffey Aug 11, 2009, 4:23am



God, social commentary, traveling across the universe. Might be Riding the Torch by Norman Spinrad. Skinny little book, with (my copy) a mostly black cover. Earth, I think, is dead, and all the people are traveling in a group of generation ships; they have ubiquitous personal Internet (as in, think and you have the data/images/sounds) and are constantly rebuilding the interiors of their ships/personal spaces for fashion and fun. A story-maker goes out with the scouts who are seeking ahead for habitable planets - he finds out that not only is this planet they're looking at no habitable, none of the ones they've found (which are a lot more than they've told the ship-people) have been even remotely habitable. The story-maker makes a show about how God and the Devil fought over people and God made all the worlds uninhabitable to win the fight, so the ships are their only home now...and it more or less ends there, leaving the impression that people are accepting this.God, social commentary, traveling across the universe.

3MEStaton Aug 11, 2009, 5:35am Thanks for your reply but I don't think that is it. I'm pretty sure there were no generation ships in this story and Earth is not dead. I'm sorry my details are not better.



I do remember that in the end they get to the planet and "meet" god or someone but it turns out not to be what they thought. It was a pretty humorous book as well. Perhaps I think it's heechee because it was Frederik Pohl like but might not have been him.

5MEStaton Aug 11, 2009, 6:48am Hmm that is interesting, I have read the 4 main books in the series but really don't remember the 4th one (the one you've mentioned) all that well. I am inclined however to think it's probably not the book as though it had humour I do not recall it feeling like Douglas Adams humour but I could be wrong. I also don't think Marvin or a robot was in this story.

6ForeignCircus Aug 12, 2009, 2:33am possibly The Mote in God's Eye ? I also remember reading a story years ago where a priest was traveling with an exploration team and they ended up on a planet where the sun had burned out and he discovers that the date corresponds with birth of Jesus so the slar flare that killed the world they are on was actually the star of Bethlehem. It was a great story but I can't remember the name or author.

7dukedom_enough Aug 12, 2009, 8:28am ForeignCircus@6:



Your story is "The Star", Arthur C. Clarke. Can't think of anything for MEStaton's query.

8ForeignCircus Aug 12, 2009, 12:06pm Oh happiness! sorry for the mini-thread hijack, but I'm delighted to get that info. now I hope MEStaton gets lucky too!

9MEStaton Aug 13, 2009, 4:47am Thanks guys, Although Mote in God's Eye is similar it's not the story I'm thinking of. I'm pretty sure it's not that involved. The book mainly takes place aboard the ship as it journeys to its final destination.



I'm also starting to be positive that it was written/published in the 80's I keep thinking it might be Heechee Rendezvous but when I read the synopsis it just doesn't sound completely right. I may have to read it and see.

10CatJuggler Aug 21, 2009, 11:34pm



It could be



It's about a priest, Emilio Sandoz who is recounting the story if a group of people traveling the planet Rakhat to find God.N (This story is detailed in @ MEStatonIt could be Children of God by Mary Doria Russell.It's about a priest, Emilio Sandoz who is recounting the story if a group of people traveling the planet Rakhat to find God.N (This story is detailed in Sparrow by the sam author). It is not a humorous book, however, so it may not be the one you're thinking of.

11jagfan07 Dec 15, 2009, 2:56pm @MeStation

I think I am looking for the same title. The plot goes that scientist discover that a comet comes into proximity of the earth every so many years and when it does there are outbreaks of wars caused by religious fervor. They decide to intercept the comet and send a ship after it before it gets close to earth. The story goes that as the ship gets closer to the comet its crew starts breaking down into religious factions and the fighting starts. I would love to reread this book but for the life of me cannot remember the title or author. Sound familiar to anyone?

12arrr Dec 15, 2009, 7:31pm I read a book in the 80's called The Lazarus Effect by Frank Herbert. The people in the ship were searching for a new planet, but I don't recall it being a search for God, but then I don't recall that much about the story. The title does suggest something religious, and the first book had Jesus in the title. Just a thought.

13d_perlo Dec 15, 2009, 9:59pm Its not the Lazarous Effect or the Jesus Incident , though they both have a religious theme. They are about a sentient computer (Shp) that by gaining the powers of a god, can be called God. (Capable of building worlds, changing history, etc.)

14TomWaitsTables Dec 16, 2009, 7:27pm MeStaton

Was there something about an insurance company refusing to pay one of the cosmonauts' life-insurance to his family when he leaves Earth, because he wasn't technically dead? My memory's not entirely clear, but if it sounds familiar, I'll go through my memory cache . . . Was there something about an insurance company refusing to pay one of the cosmonauts' life-insurance to his family when he leaves Earth, because he wasn't technically dead? My memory's not entirely clear, but if it sounds familiar, I'll go through my memory cache . . .

15MEStaton Dec 17, 2009, 4:53am #14 I'm not to sure about that detail but if you can find any titles that would be helpful

16peanuts1966 Dec 24, 2009, 1:03am This message has been deleted by its author.

17triftenL Dec 24, 2010, 10:53pm I remember reading something that may be the novel of which you are thinking.



The story I recall has a group of of spaceships land on Earth to ferry people to see god (or someone claiming to be god.) I think the book specified that the ships did some sort of hyperspace FTL travel.



Meanwhile, a parallel plot line has a man working as an executioner utilizing a device which unlocks all ancestral memory (causing death in a manner similar to HHGG's Total Perspective Vortex.) I think there was also something weird with the guy having his way with the victim's bodies... Anyway, I recall that at some point his curiosity gets the better of him and he is driven to enter the machine itself.



I think somehow the people going to meet "god" end up interacting with the mind of the executioner at some point.



I also remember that the people are taken to some dreary planet and interact with "god" in the form of a tired old man.



Hopefully, I'm not confusing multiple books.

18CoriSCapnSkip Sep 12, 2011, 1:25am Ray Bradbury wrote a short story called "The Man" which can be added to this theme but not the novel looked for.

19Jack9 Oct 9, 2013, 9:47pm The title a couple people are looking for (ForeignCircus) is "Calculating God"

22fuzzi Oct 11, 2013, 7:30pm



Read it here:



http://www.librarything.com/topic/129483



(And if anyone happens to figure out my book, that would be a bonus) ;) This thread reminds me of a "Name That Book" I posted almost two years ago. There were a lot of suggestions offered, but none matched. Some of the suggestions might be the book you are looking for.Read it here:(And if anyone happens to figure out my book, that would be a bonus) ;)

25isabelx Edited: Oct 29, 2013, 9:13am Possibly Hyperion by Dan Simmons? A group of pilgrims are on a journal to meet the Shrike (I'm not sure that it's actually a God, but it is worshipped by a cult). During their journey, they tell each other their stories, as in The Canterbury Tales

26justifiedsinner Oct 29, 2013, 11:22am It's definitely not The Sparrow . In that book a priest comes across an intelligent race that turns out to be merely a domesticated species owned by a more intelligent race.

27edwin_lor Edited: Nov 6, 2013, 9:54pm The race for God, by Brian Herbert. This one has been haunting me for a while too, lol.