What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

At least I think it was by C. J. Cherryh. I only remember 2 things about the book.
Set in the future, probably a hundred years or more. There are several human based lifeforms in the society. The heroine/hero is the result of 2 or more of them interbreeding. One of the lifeforms is somewhat feline. The heroine/hero is born a normal human which I think was rare for the time.
Some members of the society use old style human toilets as religious/meditative objects because they don't know what they are.
ETA: This is a minor plot point in the story and is only mentioned once or twice.
I read the book back in the 80s. I've looked at Cherryh's books list, but nothing rings a bell, so it may not be one of hers.
I don't recall anything else clearly about the plot.

ETA: it was set on either a space station or large spaceship.

Thanks to Justanotherbiblophile for compiling the list below.

NOT: Author: Jo Clayton
NOT: Anne McCaffrey
NOT: Cordwainer Smith
NOT: Hainish
NOT: Cyteen
NOT: Cuckoo's Egg
NOT: The Legacy of Lehr
NOT: Cat Karina
NOT: Norstrilia
NOT: The Spell Sword
NOT: Psion
NOT: The Wanderer
NOT: Hestia
NOT: Xenogenesis
NOT: The Cool War
NOT: The Pride of Chanur
NOT: Chanur's Venture
NOT: The Kif Strike Back
NOT: Chanur's Legacy
NOT: Chanur's Home-Coming
NOT: Turning Point
NOT: History Lesson
NOT: Breed to Come

toilet archaeology:
NOT: Report on "Grand Central Terminal"
NOT: Body Ritual Among the Nacirema
NOT: Motel of the Mysteries
NOT: No Connections

Doesnt sound like the stuff CJ Cherryh writes...

I know she answers PMs on Facebook, you could try asking her?

Thanks, but I don't get along with Facebook. I usually end up annoyed and frustrated when I try to do something on it. I'm always amazed it's so popular.

Kris wrote: "Doesnt sound like the stuff CJ Cherryh writes...

I know she answers PMs on Facebook, you could try asking her?"

That's awesome, even if not helpful in this case.

Could you have read it as late as early 1990s? Cat-like aliens seem kind of popular then. The Sholan Alliance series, Gayle Greeno, Anne MacCaffrey, James Schmitz...

Just FYI, James H. Schmitz died in 1981. His stuff was lightly edited and republished by Baen books in the early 00s; major reprints in 1983, 1991, 2000-2002, 2008. But I don't recall many (well, any) felinoid aliens; much less inter-breedable humanoids. Of course, I only got to read the reprints - which in theory were to have published his oeuvre.

I wasn't aware of any McCaffrey cat-aliens, but... I wouldn't put it past her. :) The only thing I see are Barque Cats, but they appear to be just psychic cats, not felinoid. I don't recall any in the FSP.

Read a fair number of her novels. Feline could be Chanur but rest doesn't sound right...

There were also Kzin Man-Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War and then a few that were real cats that were intelligent (from outer space etc.)

I've read some of the Niven Kzin stories and it's definitely not one of those.
I don't think it's a Chanur story. I don't think the feline humanoids were that overtly feline. However, I'm not certain.
I'll check out the stuff mentioned by Miriam, though I think read it back in the 80s almost certainly.
I wish I remembered something about the basic plot.

I don't think it's McCaffrey's Doona series, it doesn't sound like it anyway.

Yeah, Kzinti are not compatible, despite that story in the first Man-Kzin Wars (it was all a tease).

No idea about the toilets, but the rest calls to mind vaguely remembered stuff from the Hainish Cycle of Ursula K. Le Guin. I've just looked at the descriptions, and I'm thinking maybe Planet of Exile.

This is all from reading it decades ago.

That one doesn't sound familiar, but I'm going to look at the other books in the series. I know I've read several other books by her.

Being a fan of the feline-humanoid sf, I can tell you that it is definitely not the Sholan series or anything ever written by Anne McCaffrey (I own most of her works, and have read all of them.)
Also not the Chanur series, in which the planet Terra is alive and well, and chock full of humans.
Sorry, no ideas on where to actually find it, though.

I hope you find it. Can't wait to see who is literally praying to the porcelian god. :)

Well, it's not anything in the Hainish series.
I'm beginning to think I read it at around the same time as a Cherryh book, but it isn't by her.

A couple more eliminated.

Cyteen

Cuckoo's Egg

Andre Norton wrote a lot of cat books too, but the only one I can think of is Breed to Come, which doesn't really fit your plot points (it's cats on an abandoned earth evolved into an advanced species, and later meet returning humans).

Still, it might be worth digging through her list. Cats were one of her "things", kind of like McCaffrey. But maybe a bit older than what you're looking for.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've read some Andre Norton, so it's possible.

The Legacy of Lehr?

"When four large blue cats with psychic powers come aboard an interstellar luxury cruiser, a rash of murders breaks out."

No, not "The Legacy of Lehr". Thanks for trying.

No luck with Andre Norton books either.

It might have been set on a space station or large starship.

The cat person reminded me of something by Cordwainer Smith, but I don't remember anything about toilets...

In Cat Karina an imprisoned alien is manipulating events to ensure that Karina, a jaguar-descended felina girl, bears the child of a true human, since one of their descendants will play a part in his release. If this is the right book, you might remember the sailtracks, a transport system that is basically trains powered by sails and gravity.

This was the prequel to a series of four books, but I haven't read any of the others.

Not Cat Karina, though I've added it to my 'Want to read' list.

Not Cordwainer Smith's "Norstrilia". What I read was a novel and that's Smith's only one.

Just to clarify, the toilet thing was only a minor point in the story.

love your bumps - here's a free one - see you next month ;)

The Spell Sword? There are some Catmen in this Darkover novel and semi humans, though the main character seems to be all human. Haven't read it, so just throwing it in the pot.

No, I don't think so, Michelle. Thanks for trying.

And thanks for the bump, Cheryl.
OT question for you. I assume the CC NV means Carson City, Nevada. Do the Carson City auto dealers still do those group commercials? I briefly lived down the road a ways in Tonopah and we got the local stations from there by cable. The memory of those light hearted ads has stuck with me since 1970.

Heh, yes, Carson City, but I don't have a TV so I wouldn't know about the ads. Ah, Tonopah - 'briefly' would be enough residency, I would think, for most of us, even now.

Well, my favorite place to spend time was the town dump, which rhymes with bump, so here it goes.

good.

Well, I've changed the title. Maybe that will jog someone's memory.

it sounds like Psion by Joan Vinge, but I don't recall anything about toilets. It's been a long time since I read it tho. also she wrote a couple of sequels which I've never read, so it could maybe be one of those.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

I'll check 'em out. Thanks, Rafi.

ETA: Nope, wasn't Psion.

Drat, I was gonna look at a copy of this at my local used bookstore. Sad to hear Psion isn't it.

Ehh, been nearly a year. Why not a bump?

Cherryh thread.

Something that popped into my mind. I think the cover was primarily reddish in color.

Bargle wrote: "Something that popped into my mind. I think the cover was primarily reddish in color."

Here's a similar cover. If you cut the image down the middle, throw away the left side and stretch out the right side, it looked sorta like that.

The Witches of Karres

I was looking for something else and saw a cover of an edition of The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber that had a cat person on it.

No, not The Wanderer. Thanks for trying.

Have you looked at Jo Clayton's books? That sounds like the sort of detail some of her scifi books would have.

I'll take a look through them. The names are close enough that she would have been shelved close to Cherryh. That might account for my confusion about the author name.

No, not Jo Clayton. Thanks for trying.

Gah. This thread is making me crazy Bargle.

Because every time it comes up in my notifications, I think of an old Mad Magazine story, where future archaeologists uncover a cheap motel, and imagine the skeleton in the bathtub to be the object of complex funerary rites, and the toilet to be an altar, complete with the ritual words "San-i-ti-zed-for-yo-ur-pro-tec-ti-on" emblazoned across the lid as a priestly seal.

Actually there was quite a lot more to it, and that was just one panel (Another was the display of 'symbolic animal representations' in the 'statuary' outside the "mo-tel burial complex", those being mustangs and thunderbirds... so I'm thinking this was mid 70's)

And I know it's not your book, but I just had to get that out somewhere, it's been festering since I first saw this thread - and maybe now it's out of my head, I can come up with the actual book you're looking for (which I'm still sure I've read, at some point).

Krazykiwi wrote: "Gah. This thread is making me crazy Bargle.

And I know it's not your book, but I just had to get that out somewhere, it's been festering since I first saw this thread - and maybe now it's out of my head, I can come up with the actual book you're looking for (which I'm still sure I've read, at some point).

Glad to help get it out of your head. I know what it's like having some odd thing bouncing around in there.

^
If that's not correct, she is a GR Author, you could try messaging her on her GR page.

No, not Hestia. I think I need to re-emphasize, the main character isn't feline. One of her/his parents or grandparents is. The MC is a normal human.
I notice Cherryh hasn't been linked in the thread, so I'll add her.
C.J. Cherryh

This is not your story, but it's in the same theme:

"Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" by Horace Miner
http://www.jstor.org/stable/665280?

I tried a search on worldcat.org with search terms "science fiction", "interbreeding", "non-juvenile", 1930-1990, fiction. The result: Xenogenesis by Octavia E. Butler. It's a trilogy originally published 1987-1989.

No, not Xenogenesis. Thanks for trying, though. :-)

I see C.J. Cherryh has been added to the thread.... I was going to suggest that if you want to rule her books out for sure, maybe you could try emailing her. Many years ago a friend and I were reading the Chanur series and having disputes over name pronunciation. She answered our questions over email and we were able to settle the debate once and for all. :)