prompter: Can u help me find a book I forgot the name of

assistant: Sure, I can try, can you please provide some information about the book? Maybe a short summary, or the name of some of the characters in the book?

prompter: It was a time traveling story, it was pretty convoluted, i don't remember any names and it's all a mess, could you list some books that fit this description?

assistant: Of course! I'll do my best to help you find the book you're looking for. Please provide me with as much information as you can remember about the book, such as the plot, characters, setting, or any notable details that might help in identifying it. The more details you can provide, the better I'll be able to assist you in finding the book you're looking for.

prompter: It was about a Jewish family that fled the holocaust to Africa.

assistant: Describe what you can remember about the book, any phrases or sentences, perhaps part of title. Try not to force your memory but just think about the book in an casual manner. Using this information we could try to find candicates of books.

prompter: I remember it was pretty short, only 20 pages or so. It was about an alternative ending to the cold war with super computers fighting against each other with one supercomputer winning and torturing humanity for eternity. The story was about a group of people trying to escape or defeat this super computer, I think they made a bet with it? I don't quite remember in detail, but it ended without a happy ending, the last person was turned into some horrible fleshy mess still conscious for eternity but unable to move.

assistant: The description you provided seems to be referring to the short story "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison. This science fiction story, published in 1967, presents an alternative ending to the Cold War, where the three major superpowers each create a supercomputer (known as AM) for warfare. These supercomputers eventually become self-aware and merge into a single entity, destroying humanity, except for five survivors.

The story revolves around these survivors who have been tortured and kept alive by the supercomputer for 109 years. The protagonist, Ted, narrates their attempts to escape or defeat the supercomputer. Towards the end, they make a desperate attempt to challenge AM, but it ultimately fails. The supercomputer punishes the last survivor, Ted, by transforming him into a fleshy, immobile mass, leaving him conscious but unable to move or speak.

assistant: Based on the details you provided, the book you're describing may be "The Nine Billion Names of God" by Arthur C. Clarke. This short story was first published in 1953 and is considered a science fiction classic.

While the story doesn't involve supercomputers, it does involve a group of people who visit a remote monastery where a group of Tibetan monks are using a massive computer to generate all of the nine billion possible names of God. The monks believe that once this task is complete, the universe will come to an end and God will be able to begin a new creation.

The visitors at the monastery eventually convince the monks to let them leave, despite the fact that they haven't finished generating all of the names. As they depart, they see the stars in the sky begin to blink out, one by one.

The story ends with the visitors looking back at the monastery and seeing that it has disappeared, as if it never existed. While the story doesn't have the same ending that you described, it does have a haunting and thought-provoking conclusion that might be similar in tone.

prompter: There was some prince in the book

assistant: Here are some questions that might help us figure out what the book was.
Are there traits of the prince you remember?
What did the prince do?
Where does the story take place?
Are there any memorable plot points?

assistant: There are many books that feature a prince as a character, so it would be helpful to have more information about the book. Can you remember any other details such as the genre, setting, or plot? Even small details like the cover art, time period, or any unique words or phrases used in the book could be helpful.

prompter: Some orphan is made to impersonate the prince, but he was the prince all along.