The first quote must be from a story named "Sam Hall", given that that is the name of the song. I think Poul Anderson wrote a story with that name.

Both Johnny Cash and Richard Thompson do great versions of that song.

I have no idea what that second quote is from.

By the way, I'm not sure I understand what the rules are with this two quotation bit. Do I have to get both? Is providing two quotations a new convention for this thread?

No; it happens occasionally, but not often. Generally, it happens if the person thinks one quote is really difficult but wants to get it out there anyway--that person then provides something easier that he (because I don't do it!) thinks will be guessed by someone, anyone.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

Both rdaneeel and Gillianren are correct. The first story is "Sam Hall" by Poul Anderson. Your go, rdaneel.

The second story is "The Dirty Old Man, or, Nocka, Nocka, Who Goes There?" by Craig Strete, a hilarious short-short of the 1/Chad Oliver anthropology school.

Big Chomp!

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

From a novel...Despite the name Achilles, most definitely science fiction...

OK, more clues. The above quote is from a play within the novel.

And another quote:

Note : this second quote is from the same novel as the previous quote.

Aha. Sherri Tepper, The Gate to Women's Country?

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

You are correct. Your turn, Mike.

A bump to this thread. I assume Mr. Alexander is busy or has forgotten about this thread for the moment.

Okay, the parts arrived and my brain is working much better now.

In other words, I plumb forgot. I apologize.

Okay, here goes:

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

Oh, man, I remember that one, except for the title. The speaker is fat Lasten, IIRC.

Fred

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"For shame, gentlemen, pack your evidence a little better against another time."
-- John Dryden, "The Vindication of The Duke of Guise" 1684

That's correct. A short story. As far as I know, the author wrote no novels, but he edited a whole bunch of things.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

Hint: Think of Percy Shelly, and I don't mean Ode on a Grecian Urn.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

That one?

Fred

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"For shame, gentlemen, pack your evidence a little better against another time."
-- John Dryden, "The Vindication of The Duke of Guise" 1684

Uh, yeah.

Unless it was Ozzy Mandias, the King of Swing.

"Look upon my works, ye hepcats, and despair!"

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

I guess it's mine now, eh? If so, try this:
The MP3 player predicted in 1950!

Fred

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"For shame, gentlemen, pack your evidence a little better against another time."
-- John Dryden, "The Vindication of The Duke of Guise" 1684

OK, hint time. The author is one of the Big Three, and the story is one his longer and more turgid ones.

Fred

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"For shame, gentlemen, pack your evidence a little better against another time."
-- John Dryden, "The Vindication of The Duke of Guise" 1684

Out of the big 3 it has to be Arthur C. Clarke. Doesn't sound at all like Heinlein or Asimov.

But which Clarke story. I have no idea. Is it cheating to skim through my edition of Clarke's Collected Stories when I get home?

I must say I never read that one. In all honesty I'm not sure I want to.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

Clarke it is. Go ahead and skim away, rdaneel.

Mike, it's about 50 pages of mood piece. Like a lot of Clarke's stories, there's a lot going on, but not much happens if you know what I mean. Brant and Jon are in love with Yradne, who won't/can't choose between them. There are also spacefarers, art, abandoned cities, and the possible destruction of the planet.

Fred

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"For shame, gentlemen, pack your evidence a little better against another time."
-- John Dryden, "The Vindication of The Duke of Guise" 1684

I'll reserve judgement, then. But some of ACC's early stuff could get a bit over-Stapledonian.

For completeness. The previous one from this was 'Ozymandias', by Terry Carr.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

I found it in Clarke's Collected Stories.. "The Road to the Sea". Apparently first published in "Two Complete Science Adventure Books, Spring 1951 as "Seeker of the Sphinx". Collected in the book "Tales of Ten Worlds".