Hmm, it sounds post-apocalyptic, but not very (cities still exist, people relating the story seem to have returned to the planet from a ways off).

Lucifer's Hammer?

Nightfall

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Yes, I have a life. It's quite different from yours.

darkhunter got it. :-)

Be back in about twelve hours (the pesky thing called work interferes....)

edit: Hint (C) Early 1950's

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"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." — Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

441!!!! :)

The Currents of Space?

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

Correct!

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"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." — Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

441!!!! :)

Thanks! Pick an older one and my odds go way up.

Here's a personal favorite:

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

Hmmm, no action. How about a hint:

Novella, 1950's. Very well-known author. Quote is the last line.

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

Sounds like Ray Bradbury or Kurt Voggunought (SPelling?)...can't place the source, though... ops:

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"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." — Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

441!!!! :)

No to Ray or Kurt. But the scent is correct; more literary than nuts n' bolts type of author.

This is a toughie. It was originally published in a paperback collection (I think one of the Star Science Fiction paperbacks in the mid 50's) It was republished in an author's collection many years later.

Let me add the first line of the story as well as the last line:

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

It's Wednesday afternoon and I think I picked something too obscure.

Let's try another one that should be much easier. Anyone who gets the earlier one will get a genuine Marvel No-Prize.

New quote. A classic final line in a classic story by a classic author:

That's from memory, guaranteed to be at least 95% correct.

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

Theodore Sturgeon, "To Here and the Easel."

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

Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood's End, final line. Great choice!

AWW (*&^%(*&! I thought this might be the case but wasn't sure enough to guess. Anyway, its been years since I read it but its a seriously depressing book.

Whoa! A double winner! NowhereMan got the Sturgeon (how happy I am that someone else knows it!) and Informant got the Clarke quote!

Apologies for the substitution, but it was going on five days, and I didn't want the thread to sag too much. Maybe we should have a time limit. What does anyone think?

NowhereMan gets the No-Prize, however.

Now... who goes next? I feel bad about the dilemma. Nowhere, Info, what do you think?

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

Informant can go ahead. I don't peruse this thread much, which explains the "when" of my post -- I hadn't seen it before.

BTW Nowhere Man is 2 words...

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

What a guy. He's a REAL Nowhere Man... :wink:

Informant... it's all yours.

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

Thank you, NowhereMan. My quote is:

Even the Devil can quote scriptures.

These may not be the exact words.

Larry Niven Convergent Series

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"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." — Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

441!!!! :)

I've never read that one, but it isn't the one I thought about.

Sadly, it's a rather widespread quote...