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Can you name this book?

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  • Member since
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Can you name this book?
Posted by dirkpitt77 on Monday, August 29, 2011 6:59 PM

   Back in the early '80's, when I was eight or ten, I read this sci-fi book regarding an expedition to Mars.  I believe it met an undesirable end.  I believe they had three vehicles to explore with, two of which were identical land-based manned rover type thingies, and an airborne unit capable of hovering, which was called "the Dragonfly".  A crew member took the Dragonfly out one day and never returned, and if I remember correctly they found him some time later, when they discovered the crash.

    I can't remember for the life of me what this book was called, but it's been stuck in my memory lately.  Can anyone help resolve this mystery for me?

 

    Thanks!  

 

    Chris

    "Some say the alien didn't die in the crash.  It survived and drank whiskey and played poker with the locals 'til the Texas Rangers caught wind of it and shot it dead."

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Posted by TomZ2 on Monday, August 29, 2011 11:56 PM

Doesn’t ring a bell… Stick out tongue

Any additional details? (For starters: Paperback? Hardbound? Magazine?)

Occasional factual, grammatical, or spelling variations are inherent to this thesis and should not be considered as defects, as they enhance the individuality and character of this document.

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Posted by padakr on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 3:14 PM

Dang, I got the movie question, but I have no idea about this one.

Also, I spent about 10 seconds trying to figure out where the post was that TomZ2 "quoted".  Then slapped myself in the head as I finally got the joke.

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Posted by dirkpitt77 on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 3:27 PM

Yeah, I don't even remember whether it was a hardcover or paperback.  This being a little country school library back in 1982, I'm inclined to think paperback.   

    "Some say the alien didn't die in the crash.  It survived and drank whiskey and played poker with the locals 'til the Texas Rangers caught wind of it and shot it dead."

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Posted by Scorpiomikey on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 3:45 PM

Its sounds like possibly robert heinlen. (SP?) ill do some research.

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how i soar"

Recite the litanies, fire up the Gellar field, a poo storm is coming Hmm 

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Posted by TomZ2 on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 6:26 PM

Scorpiomikey

Its sounds like possibly Robert Heinlein. [corrected] ill do some research.

It's not Uncle Bob. (If it had been him, I'd have nailed it. No brag. I've collected all of the Great Man's SF and (three) non-fiction books. He's the only writer I deliberately collected in hardcover.)

What bothers me is the airborne vehicle, "the Dragonfly". I can't seem to place that name in a MARS novel.

 

Occasional factual, grammatical, or spelling variations are inherent to this thesis and should not be considered as defects, as they enhance the individuality and character of this document.

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Posted by Scorpiomikey on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 7:12 PM

Maybe it wasnt mars. age 9 or 10 makes me think teen sci-fi. But the description almost makes it sound like possibly a horror book.

Thanks for correcting my spelling btw, i always screw names up.

Are there ANY other details you could pass on? 

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how i soar"

Recite the litanies, fire up the Gellar field, a poo storm is coming Hmm 

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Posted by Scorpiomikey on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 7:27 PM

Is it possibly Rocheworld by Robert Forward?

Quote from the synopsis.

one group journeys via the space-plane Dragonfly to the other lobe, Eau (French for water), which is covered almost entirely by ocean. The crew are caught in a violent storm that causes their plane to experience a crash water-landing.

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how i soar"

Recite the litanies, fire up the Gellar field, a poo storm is coming Hmm 

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Posted by TomZ2 on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 12:28 AM

Alternate title: The Flight of the Dragonfly

I read it in Analog. But there's a [dinkywongo]-load of SF where the author uses Dragonfly as the name of some vehicle, e.g., the one-man aircraft from Rendezvous with Rama.

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Posted by Scorpiomikey on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 3:08 AM

TomZ2

I read it in Analog. But there's a [dinkywongo]-load of SF where the author uses Dragonfly as the name of some vehicle, e.g., the one-man aircraft from Rendezvous with Rama.

Rama, i think you may have hit the nail on the head, expedition that ends in disaster, one man flyer called a dragonfly which i remember crashing (not sure if im right, been a while) 

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how i soar"

Recite the litanies, fire up the Gellar field, a poo storm is coming Hmm 

My signature

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Posted by MrSquid2U on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 12:37 PM

Scorpiomikey

 

 TomZ2:

 

I read it in Analog. But there's a [dinkywongo]-load of SF where the author uses Dragonfly as the name of some vehicle, e.g., the one-man aircraft from Rendezvous with Rama.

 

 

Rama, i think you may have hit the nail on the head, expedition that ends in disaster, one man flyer called a dragonfly which i remember crashing (not sure if im right, been a while) 

"Rama" was a trilogy with a co-writer and the basic premise is that a HUGE "spacecraft" enters our Solar System, well, three of them, nearly identical,  over the course of the books. IIRC the very small, fragile one man aircraft, the DragonFly  took part in one of the later books. It flew a long distance within the spacecraft from one area to another over a "sea". I believe it did crumple up pretty well by the time things were done.The books dealt with the exploration and trying to determine the meaning behind these spacecraft.

       

 

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 12:49 PM

Starship Trooper---I know this even though I am not a big space groupie...

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Posted by TomZ2 on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 12:58 PM

Scorpiomikey

Rama, i think you may have hit the nail on the head, expedition that ends in disaster, one man flyer called a dragonfly which i remember crashing (not sure if im right, been a while) 

And so we conclude our experiment on the reliability of 30 year memory, but there's also this little identification issue:

dirkpitt77

   Back in the early '80's, when I was eight or ten, I read this sci-fi book regarding an expedition to Mars. […]

The thread was initiated by "dirkpitt77", remember. Chris, does this work or were you remembering a DIFFERENT book?

Occasional factual, grammatical, or spelling variations are inherent to this thesis and should not be considered as defects, as they enhance the individuality and character of this document.

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Posted by TomZ2 on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 1:33 PM

MrSquid2U

"Rama" was a trilogy with a co-writer and the basic premise is that a HUGE "spacecraft" enters our Solar System, well, three of them, nearly identical,  over the course of the books. IIRC the very small, fragile one man aircraft, the DragonFly  took part in one of the later books. It flew a long distance within the spacecraft from one area to another over a "sea". I believe it did crumple up pretty well by the time things were done.The books dealt with the exploration and trying to determine the meaning behind these spacecraft.

Back to our experiment on the reliability of memory, the Dragonfly was introduced in Chapter 24 of Rendezvous with Rama (the primogenitor, not one of the later books).

It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so. — Mark Twain

Occasional factual, grammatical, or spelling variations are inherent to this thesis and should not be considered as defects, as they enhance the individuality and character of this document.

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Posted by MrSquid2U on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 1:48 PM

Stick out tongue

TomZ2

 

 MrSquid2U:

 

"Rama" was a trilogy with a co-writer and the basic premise is that a HUGE "spacecraft" enters our Solar System, well, three of them, nearly identical,  over the course of the books. IIRC the very small, fragile one man aircraft, the DragonFly  took part in one of the later books. It flew a long distance within the spacecraft from one area to another over a "sea". I believe it did crumple up pretty well by the time things were done.The books dealt with the exploration and trying to determine the meaning behind these spacecraft.

 

 

Back to our experiment on the reliability of memory, the Dragonfly was introduced in Chapter 24 of Rendezvous with Rama (the primogenitor, not one of the later books).

It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so. — Mark Twain

Did I say I read them in order?Stick out tongue

       

 

  • Member since
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Posted by dirkpitt77 on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 7:41 PM

    Sorry guys, none of the books mentioned so far fits the bill.  I know it's not Rama, as I just read that for the 1st time about a month ago.   The other book doesn't fit either, as the Dragonfly I remember was not a large ship, but a small airborne craft.

    "Some say the alien didn't die in the crash.  It survived and drank whiskey and played poker with the locals 'til the Texas Rangers caught wind of it and shot it dead."

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: New Zealand
Posted by Scorpiomikey on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 9:36 PM

poop.

are you sure there are no other details you can remember?

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how i soar"

Recite the litanies, fire up the Gellar field, a poo storm is coming Hmm 

My signature

Check out my blog here.

  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Washington, DC
Posted by TomZ2 on Thursday, September 1, 2011 1:35 AM

dirkpitt77

    Sorry guys, none of the books mentioned so far fits the bill.  I know it's not Rama, as I just read that for the 1st time about a month ago.   The other book doesn't fit either, as the Dragonfly I remember was not a large ship, but a small airborne craft.

So what else can you remember: Early (first?) trip or was Mars terraformed? Mixed crew? How large? Try to describe the Dragonfly: Color? Capacity? Pressurized or did the pilot have wear their pressure-suit?

Occasional factual, grammatical, or spelling variations are inherent to this thesis and should not be considered as defects, as they enhance the individuality and character of this document.

  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: NW Washington
Posted by dirkpitt77 on Saturday, September 3, 2011 8:20 AM

    I don't remember much else about it.   Don't tear your hair out trying to think of it, gents.  It's no biggy.  Maybe it'll come to me some day.

 

      Thanks for the effort though-much appreciated!

 

     --Chris

    "Some say the alien didn't die in the crash.  It survived and drank whiskey and played poker with the locals 'til the Texas Rangers caught wind of it and shot it dead."

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: New Zealand
Posted by Scorpiomikey on Sunday, September 4, 2011 3:42 PM

Spoke to my dad about it on saturday, He seems to think youve got 3 MOVIES stuck in your head and relating them to books. All 3 movies came out around the early 80's.

Rendezvous' with mars.

 Rocheworld (I think it may have been released under flight of the dragonfly)

And he couldnt name the 3rd. But was sure there was a 3rd.

Thats his opinion anyway, hes been a scifi junkie since he could read and hes just turned 61 this year.

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how i soar"

Recite the litanies, fire up the Gellar field, a poo storm is coming Hmm 

My signature

Check out my blog here.

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