Help with an old sci fi book title

[Urgat]

Folks, I need help with the title / author of a scifi book I read years ago.

The “protagonist” is a member of a spherical alien race. They use needle thin “jets” of liquid for locomotion and defence. The beginning of the story shows how the protagonist grew up on his home world, amongst his fellow aliens. They spent a great deal of time trying to avoid their natural predators, a race of scorpion like aliens, that distended their stomachs outside their bodies to digest prey. There was a third race of armoured plant-like aliens also living on the world.

The second half of the story see the “protagonist” leave his home world and team up with a human… and highlights the clash between the two very different physiologies. (for example… the alien uses the word “food” as a swear word as it is a disgusting concept to him… given he derives energy from sunlight and built in chemical process)

 

[old.Tohtori]

Any names(or close there of) of characters, planets, places would go a long way. Couldn't find anything even remotely close to this

Enders game writer,orson scott card, was quoted in profanity wiki as saying; "The first example of this that he gives are alien cultures that have no trouble with words about sexual intercourse, but that find words to do with eating to be profane"

Maybe something there.

 

[Zarjazz]

I'm stumped on this one too and I thought I'd read my fair share of sci-fi, old and recent As Tohtori said, any more clues? Even what decade it was written?

 

[Urgat]

Honestly, I don't have anthing else.

I wish I did.

I read it in my teens, which was 20 years ago. And I get the impression that it was not a new book at that time.

The only other thing I remember is that the alien and the human team up to try to win a interplanetary race. And that the humans mind is implanted into the aliens... Rather than it being a physical relationship.

 

[old.Tohtori]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_uploading_in_fiction

Find one there perhaps.

 

[Zarjazz]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Man_and_Manta

?

 

[Urgat]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Man_and_Manta

?

nop

 

[Zarjazz]

I had the right author, hopefully just the wrong series

Thousandstar, the fourth book of Pier's Anthony's Cluster series - http://www.amazon.com/Thousandstar-...8&qid=1427883987&sr=8-1&keywords=thousandstar

• The protagonist is Heem of Highfalls, a HydrO. The HydrO are spherical and use jets of water for propulsion and for defense; they spray flavored water to communicate.
  
  
• HydrO do not eat; they draw energy from the air, which contains both hydrogen and oxygen in sufficient quantities to metabolize.
  
  
• The narrative goes back and forth between Heem's youth in Highfalls and his participation as an adult in an interstellar competition.

Seems to match your description.

 

[Calaen]

I had the right author, hopefully just the wrong series

Thousandstar, the fourth book of Pier's Anthony's Cluster series - http://www.amazon.com/Thousandstar-...8&qid=1427883987&sr=8-1&keywords=thousandstar

• The protagonist is Heem of Highfalls, a HydrO. The HydrO are spherical and use jets of water for propulsion and for defense; they spray flavored water to communicate.
  
  
• HydrO do not eat; they draw energy from the air, which contains both hydrogen and oxygen in sufficient quantities to metabolize.
  
  
• The narrative goes back and forth between Heem's youth in Highfalls and his participation as an adult in an interstellar competition.

Seems to match your description.

Find my book now Zarjazz

I've scraped this post from a request I made on here about 11 years ago And I'm still randomly searching Google book in the hope I find it!

Fantasy book.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Start of the book- A King and two sons are making arrangements for a treaty with a family from across the seas. Brother 1 falls in love with the daughter of family from across seas. Brother 2 however betrays his family in order to take over the kingdom, on the day the party leave to go home the party is killed along with his own father, and the Girl is taken captive and sold into slavery.

The rest of the story is about Brother 1 searching the world, for the girl... I'm certain they cross an ocean, however they can't leave due to the City at which they have docked being under siege, so they take up arms against the invaders (vague memories of cavalry fights outside of the City amongst sand dunes). Eventually they move on and find the girl he's been looking for.

No sooner has he found her, she goes out for a walk with one of his friends, and wears one of his cloaks. Assassins are waiting to kill the Main Character and inadvertently shoot her (I'm sure as they are crossing a bridge). Eventually he heads back home to confront his brother.
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I know it's a long shot, but hey ho

 

[Gumbo]

Bah, spoiler alert Calaen!

 

[Zarjazz]

Find my book now Zarjazz

That description reads more like a Greek Tragedy than a fantasy book

 

[Calaen]

I know I've been trying to find it since 2000!

 

[Trem]

Harry ZapHat and the Massive Meat Planet.

You may thank me with monies.

 

[Tom]

spoilers

Brilliant, until you ruined it, I was going to read that.

 

[Zarjazz]

I know I've been trying to find it since 2000!

So what were the fantasy elements?

 

[Scouse]

Brilliant, until you ruined it, I was going to read that.

Only if you could figure out what it is

 

[Urgat]

I had the right author, hopefully just the wrong series

Thousandstar, the fourth book of Pier's Anthony's Cluster series - http://www.amazon.com/Thousandstar-...8&qid=1427883987&sr=8-1&keywords=thousandstar

• The protagonist is Heem of Highfalls, a HydrO. The HydrO are spherical and use jets of water for propulsion and for defense; they spray flavored water to communicate.
  
  
• HydrO do not eat; they draw energy from the air, which contains both hydrogen and oxygen in sufficient quantities to metabolize.
  
  
• The narrative goes back and forth between Heem's youth in Highfalls and his participation as an adult in an interstellar competition.

Seems to match your description.

Holy fuckballs, that's it.

God job man!

 

[leggy]

@Zarjazz did someone find this for you in another forum?

Every time I searched based on the original post I kept coming across posts in another bloody forum!

 

[Raven]

Find my book now Zarjazz

I've scraped this post from a request I made on here about 11 years ago And I'm still randomly searching Google book in the hope I find it!

Fantasy book.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Start of the book- A King and two sons are making arrangements for a treaty with a family from across the seas. Brother 1 falls in love with the daughter of family from across seas. Brother 2 however betrays his family in order to take over the kingdom, on the day the party leave to go home the party is killed along with his own father, and the Girl is taken captive and sold into slavery.

The rest of the story is about Brother 1 searching the world, for the girl... I'm certain they cross an ocean, however they can't leave due to the City at which they have docked being under siege, so they take up arms against the invaders (vague memories of cavalry fights outside of the City amongst sand dunes). Eventually they move on and find the girl he's been looking for.

No sooner has he found her, she goes out for a walk with one of his friends, and wears one of his cloaks. Assassins are waiting to kill the Main Character and inadvertently shoot her (I'm sure as they are crossing a bridge). Eventually he heads back home to confront his brother.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know it's a long shot, but hey ho

Sounds like a rip off of druss the legend, David gemmell - or possibly the other way around ofc.

 

[Calaen]

That's half the problem, I've read so many books and they all seem to blend into one

 

[old.Tohtori]

That's half the problem, I've read so many books and they all seem to blend into one

That's when you tell your own story