From: potter@csusac.ecs.csus.edu (Carl Kolchak)
Subject: Looking for 2 books: help on author & title needed.
Followup-To: alt.dev.null
Summary: Heinlein & Bing?
Keywords: Martian Life Wands, Travelling Libraries
Organization: INS, Inc.
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 92 04:37:08 GMT

A Dansker named Rene Boe Soerensen asked:

> From: rene@iesd.auc.dk (Rene Boe Soerensen)
> Subject: Looking for 2 books: help on author & title needed.
> Message-ID: <RENE.92Sep29114901@solsort.iesd.auc.dk>
> Date: 29 Sep 92 11:49:01 GMT
> Organization: Mathematics and Computer Science, Aalborg University
> 
> This weekend a friend of mine and I started to discuss some of the
> fantasy and science-fiction books we have read. I told him of two
> books I have read, of which I couldn't remember the author and the
> title, but only some of the plot. Now I'm hoping that some of you out
> there can help me to find these books again.
> 
> The first book was about a second rate actor who gets drafted into
> acting as President/Ambassador/Businessman when this P./A./B. gets
> kidnapped, since he has a striking similarity to this P./A./B. and
> this P./A./B. has to appear before the public. This is done to gain
> time to find the real P./A./B.

  This is almost certainly "DOUBLE STAR" by Robert A. Heinlein, one
  of the best half-dozen novels of its decade.
  Many other books have used this plot, but Heinlein showed how to
  do it *right*, and more importantly, did a topnotch job of 
  portraying the maturation of social consciousness and adult 
  personality in an egomaniacal loser growing to fill a better
  man's shoes.

> The second book was about a library ship traveling between a group of
> planets in different solar-systems carrying the collected knowledge of
> these systems. As they approach a planet they haven't visited for some
> time they realize that a dictator has taken over, and a young
> apprentice librarian gets caught into the struggle for freedom on this
> planet.

  A lovely young Norsker exchange student named Hilde used to tell 
  about her favorite Norwegian SF books, and I'm pretty sure one
  of the series she mentioned was about a library ship named the
  "Alexandria."    I'm also pretty sure the author's name was John 
  (Johan?  Jon?) Bing.   If these had been translated into English,
  I'd know for sure, but since I don't read any Germanic languages,
  all I can go on is a couple of outlines/precis conveyed to me 
  verbally, about ten years back.
  If you read Norwegian, is there a chance these could be the books 
  you're after?  (Assuming Bing is a Norwegian writer, as I seem to 
  remember?)

> I read these books at least 5 years ago, possibly up to 10 years ago
> and I think the books were written in the 70'es.

  Heinlein's "DOUBLE STAR" was first serialized in English in the 
  mid-fifties, and has been in nearly continuous print for the 
  last ~35 years.  It won his first Hugo Award for Best Novel, 
  and it's a danged fine piece of work.
  I don't know what might be the date of its first translation 
  into Norwegian or Danish, but I *believe* it would have been
  no later than the early sixties.

> I hope this rings a bell for some of you, so you can enlighten me on
> the author an title of these books.
> 
> I would prefer any replies by e-mail to: rene@iesd.auc.dk

  I'll give it another shot via E-mail, but it bounced last time.


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