The 8th edition of the annual KQA quiz on speculative fiction. Researched and conducted by Thejaswi Udupa on 7th May, 2017

2. 1. The name of the titular cat
is a reference to a character
played by George Peppard in
which 1961 movie?

3. 2. Which novel was once released
under the title ‘The 1000 Year Plan’?

4. 3. Still from
which TV
series?
What is the
inspiration
for this
scene?

5. 4. Which Pulitzer Prize-winning
journalist took time away from working
at a major metropolitan newspaper and
wrote two novels—The Janus Contract,
and Under A Yellow Sun?

6. That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin’d choirs, _____ ____ ___ _____ _____ ____.
5. These are the first four lines of Shakespeare’s
Sonnet 73. Fill in the blanks to give the title of a 1976
novel whose first edition cover is shown here. Also,
identify the cover artist.

7. 6. Who wrote this 1903 novel
about an archeologist’s attempts
to bring to life Queen Tera, an
ancient Egyptian mummy?

8. 7. Discovered in 1989 by a Frenchman named Christian
Pollas, this asteroid is known primarily for how close it
comes to the Earth as part of its orbit. After which Celtic god
is it named? Which series that now runs into 36 books is
responsible for the name?

9. ?
8. What
does
Batman
say?

10. 9. An 1816
notebook that
can be found at
the British
Library. Whose
handwriting do
you see on the
pages? Whose
handwriting do
you see in the
margins with
suggestions and
annotations?

11. 10. While not the first book that
comes to mind when one thinks of
horror, this notable scene from
Chapter 3 of this classic, served as an
inspiration for Diane Johnson who
co-wrote the screenplay with
Stanley Kubrick, adapting Stephen
King’s The Shining. In which book
would you find this scene?

12. 11. This is an illustration from a
1841 Edgar Allan Poe short story.
Either name the story, or the
word that it introduced into the
English language. (The word is
part of the title of the story)

13. 12. Which 1949 book takes its title (and
theme) from a line in the Bible (Ecclesiastes
1:4)– “Men go and come, but _____ _____.”?

14. 13. Who wrote this
letter, probably the
only science fiction
that he wrote?

15. 14. Arthur Conan Doyle, despite the logical and
scientific bent of most of his stories and novels, had
some rather strange ideas about the natural world.
What was his theory for why the Earth was slightly
flattened at the poles?

16. 15. ‘Deadline’ by Cleve Cartmill was a 1944 short story
that was described by Robert Silverberg as "a klutzy
clunker" and by Cartmill himself as "that stinker". Yet
the story often makes it to various anthologies that
collects greatest stories from the Golden Age of Science
Fiction. Why is the story significant?

17. 16. This author had a rep for being an inveterate groper at
science fiction conventions. In 1961, the chair of Chicon III
wrote a letter to him inviting him to give a lecture on “The
Power of Posterior Pinching”, hoping possibly to shame him
into not indulging in that activity any more. Who?

18. 17. This author used to teach English in New York City's
public-school system. One of his students there had major
learning difficulties, and once when he returned to school
after a long absence, he had forgotten entirely how to
read. This incident was the key inspiration for the plot of
his most well known story. Author/story?

19. 18. Who
designed these
book covers?

20. 19. This is the design of a
sculpture being installed in
Waukegan, Illinois to
honour someone born there
in 1920. Whom?

21. 20. Fan art campaign poster.
Which book?

22. 21. The 1857 play ‘The Frozen Deep’, a science romance
set in the Far North, was written by two of the biggest
names in literature of that time. But as it often happens
with such collaborations, the work flopped pretty badly
and is hardly remembered today. Who were the two co-
authors of the play?

23. when people are afraid of heights
and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
and the grasshopper drags itself along
and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home
and mourners go about the streets.
22. The above is Ecclesiastes 12:5. A slightly altered
interpretation gave rise to the title of which book?

24. 23. This book is subtitled ‘A novel in monthly
installments with recipes, romances and
home remedies.’, and thus begins each of its
12 sections with a recipe for a Mexican food
item. Which classic of magic realism?

25. 24. Edge of the Orison is a 2005 book by Iain Sinclair, a
psychogeographical reconstruction of the poet John
Clare's walk from Dr Matthew Allen's private lunatic
asylum, at Fairmead House, High Beach, in the centre of
Epping Forest in Essex, to his home in Helpston, near
Peterborough. In this book, who makes a cameo as a
guide, with a “curtain of hair tossed back, snakehead
stick brandished”?

26. 25. Who wrote a Latin book called Somnium in
1608, and is a detailed description of what the Earth
would look like from the moon, as well as a
description of lunar geography? Carl Sagan
considers this to be the first work of science fiction.

27. For MGM did Kubrick, Stan
A stately astrodome decree
While Art, the science writer, ran
Through plots incredible to man
In search of solvency
26. Who wrote this little parody of a poem? Which well
known work of poetry is it parodying?

28. 27. From Neal Asher’s Shadow
of the Scorpion. Which book is
Room 101 a reference to?

29. 28. After he returned as a wounded
soldier from the Vietnam War, he
first wrote this mainstream book.
What did he write next?

30. Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
__ ____ ______ ___ ______, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
29. From which poem is this an extract from? Which 1987
novel takes its title from the blanked out words?

31. 30. What is the titular power in Naomi
Alderman’s novel that is fast being seen
as one of the most powerful works of
feminist fiction in recent times?

32. 31. This is a reinterpretation of
which famous work?

34. 33. What
are these
that could
be bought
in the 19th
and early
20th
Centuries?

35. 34. As per a New Yorker article by Tad Friend, people
researching immortality fall in two camps. He calls one
camp Meat Puppets, who believe that we can retool our
biology and remain in our bodies. What name does he give
to the other camp, led by Ray Kurzweil and referencing a
1987 movie, who believe that we’ll eventually merge with
mechanical bodies and/or with the cloud?

36. 35. In the JG Ballard short story Deep End,
what is the two-word name of a water body
that was “a narrow ribbon of stagnant brine
ten miles in length by a mile wide, to the
north of the former Bermuda Islands”?

37. 36. What was the title that Don DeLillo
preferred for his novel ‘White Noise’,
but could not use it because a Kadoma
headquartered company threatened to
sue him if he did?

38. 37. In Alan Moore’s Watchmen, what
appropriate three-word phrase is the title of
Hollis Mason aka Nite Owl’s autobiography?

39. 38. Sarah Gailey’s River of Teeth is an
alt-history set in a Louisiana which is
overrun with man-eating hippos. How
did the hippo menace start though,
something that happened in reality in
19th Century America, but thankfully
did not turn out the way it did in
Sarah Gailey’s book?

40. 39. According to Michael Moorcock who
edited the book, which novel was meant to
point up the number of science fiction
authors who were, in a sense, “unsuccessful
Hitlers”?

41. 40. Which organization used this song as an
anthem? Who wrote it?

42. 41. Folding Beijing by Hao Jingfang won the 2016 Hugo
Award for Best Novelette. Set in near-future Beijing, the
story is a scathing criticism of the inequalities found in
urban China, and a sympathetic look at those who have
been left behind by China’s breakneck urbanization. In
what circumstances, an experience that is now very much
part of many people’s urban lives, did Hao find inspiration
for this story of hers?

43. 42. For points, either
name the planet he is
from, or the star that his
home planet orbits.

44. 43. His cartoons feature in The Guardian and New Scientist
among other places. Identify this cartoonist with a rather
distinct style.

45. 44. For a series so famed for the ship names
it came up with, I find it ironic that the first
sentence of the first book is “The ship didn’t
even have a name.” Name the book.

46. 45. Flat cats depicted in this cover art were
a supposed inspiration for the creation of
what by David Gerrold? While Gerrold
denied copying the idea from Heinlein, he
admitted that he may have subconsciously
influenced. Heinlein waved Gerrold away,
and even officially gave Gerrold the rights
to use flat cats. Heinlein also pointed out
that he took the idea himself from a 1905
Ellis Parker Butler short story called Pigs
is Pigs, and thus would be disingenuous to
sue Gerrold.

47. 46. What were the names of the three robots in the 1970s TV
show Silent Running?

49. 1. The name of the titular cat
is a reference to a character
played by George Peppard in
which 1961 movie?

51. 2. Which novel was once released
under the title ‘The 1000 Year Plan’?

53. 3. Still from
which TV
series?
What is the
inspiration
for this
scene?

55. 4. Which Pulitzer Prize-winning
journalist took time away from working
at a major metropolitan newspaper and
wrote two novels—The Janus Contract,
and Under A Yellow Sun?

57. That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin’d choirs, _____ ____ ___ _____ _____ ____.
5. These are the first four lines of Shakespeare’s
Sonnet 73. Fill in the blanks to give the title of a 1976
novel whose first edition cover is shown here. Also,
identify the cover artist.

59. 6. Who wrote this 1903 novel
about an archeologist’s attempts
to bring to life Queen Tera, an
ancient Egyptian mummy?

61. 7. Discovered in 1989 by a Frenchman named Christian
Pollas, this asteroid is known primarily for how close it
comes to the Earth as part of its orbit. After which Celtic god
is it named? Which series that now runs into 36 books is
responsible for the name?

63. ?
8. What
does
Batman
say?

65. 9. An 1816
notebook that
can be found at
the British
Library. Whose
handwriting do
you see on the
pages? Whose
handwriting do
you see in the
margins with
suggestions and
annotations?

67. 10. While not the first book that
comes to mind when one thinks of
horror, this notable scene from
Chapter 3 of this classic, served as an
inspiration for Diane Johnson who
co-wrote the screenplay with
Stanley Kubrick, adapting Stephen
King’s The Shining. In which book
would you find this scene?

69. 11. This is an illustration from a
1841 Edgar Allan Poe short story.
Either name the story, or the
word that it introduced into the
English language. (The word is
part of the title of the story)

71. 12. Which 1949 book takes its title (and
theme) from a line in the Bible (Ecclesiastes
1:4)– “Men go and come, but _____ _____.”?

73. 13. Who wrote this
letter, probably the
only science fiction
that he wrote?

75. 14. Arthur Conan Doyle, despite the logical and
scientific bent of most of his stories and novels, had
some rather strange ideas about the natural world.
What was his theory for why the Earth was slightly
flattened at the poles?

77. 15. ‘Deadline’ by Cleve Cartmill was a 1944 short story
that was described by Robert Silverberg as "a klutzy
clunker" and by Cartmill himself as "that stinker". Yet
the story often makes it to various anthologies that
collects greatest stories from the Golden Age of Science
Fiction. Why is the story significant?

79. 16. This author had a rep for being an inveterate groper at
science fiction conventions. In 1961, the chair of Chicon III
wrote a letter to him inviting him to give a lecture on “The
Power of Posterior Pinching”, hoping possibly to shame him
into not indulging in that activity any more. Who?

81. 17. This author used to teach English in New York City's
public-school system. One of his students there had major
learning difficulties, and once when he returned to school
after a long absence, he had forgotten entirely how to
read. This incident was the key inspiration for the plot of
his most well known story. Author/story?

83. 18. Who
designed these
book covers?

85. 19. This is the design of a
sculpture being installed in
Waukegan, Illinois to
honour someone born there
in 1920. Whom?

87. 20. Fan art campaign poster.
Which book?

89. 21. The 1857 play ‘The Frozen Deep’, a science romance
set in the Far North, was written by two of the biggest
names in literature of that time. But as it often happens
with such collaborations, the work flopped pretty badly
and is hardly remembered today. Who were the two co-
authors of the play?

91. when people are afraid of heights
and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
and the grasshopper drags itself along
and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home
and mourners go about the streets.
22. The above is Ecclesiastes 12:5. A slightly altered
interpretation gave rise to the title of which book?

93. 23. This book is subtitled ‘A novel in monthly
installments with recipes, romances and
home remedies.’, and thus begins each of its
12 sections with a recipe for a Mexican food
item. Which classic of magic realism?

95. 24. Edge of the Orison is a 2005 book by Iain Sinclair, a
psychogeographical reconstruction of the poet John
Clare's walk from Dr Matthew Allen's private lunatic
asylum, at Fairmead House, High Beach, in the centre of
Epping Forest in Essex, to his home in Helpston, near
Peterborough. In this book, who makes a cameo as a
guide, with a “curtain of hair tossed back, snakehead
stick brandished”?

97. 25. Who wrote a Latin book called Somnium in
1608, and is a detailed description of what the Earth
would look like from the moon, as well as a
description of lunar geography? Carl Sagan
considers this to be the first work of science fiction.

99. For MGM did Kubrick, Stan
A stately astrodome decree
While Art, the science writer, ran
Through plots incredible to man
In search of solvency
26. Who wrote this little parody of a poem? Which well
known work of poetry is it parodying?

101. 27. From Neal Asher’s Shadow
of the Scorpion. Which book is
Room 101 a reference to?

103. 28. After he returned as a wounded
soldier from the Vietnam War, he
first wrote this mainstream book.
What did he write next?

105. Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
__ ____ ______ ___ ______, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
29. From which poem is this an extract from? Which 1987
novel takes its title from the blanked out words?

107. 30. What is the titular power in Naomi
Alderman’s novel that is fast being seen
as one of the most powerful works of
feminist fiction in recent times?

109. 31. This is a reinterpretation of
which famous work?

113. 33. What
are these
that could
be bought
in the 19th
and early
20th
Centuries?

115. 34. As per a New Yorker article by Tad Friend, people
researching immortality fall in two camps. He calls one
camp Meat Puppets, who believe that we can retool our
biology and remain in our bodies. What name does he give
to the other camp, led by Ray Kurzweil and referencing a
1987 movie, who believe that we’ll eventually merge with
mechanical bodies and/or with the cloud?

117. 35. In the JG Ballard short story Deep End,
what is the two-word name of a water body
that was “a narrow ribbon of stagnant brine
ten miles in length by a mile wide, to the
north of the former Bermuda Islands”?

119. 36. What was the title that Don DeLillo
preferred for his novel ‘White Noise’,
but could not use it because a Kadoma
headquartered company threatened to
sue him if he did?

121. 37. In Alan Moore’s Watchmen, what
appropriate three-word phrase is the title of
Hollis Mason aka Nite Owl’s autobiography?

123. 38. Sarah Gailey’s River of Teeth is an
alt-history set in a Louisiana which is
overrun with man-eating hippos. How
did the hippo menace start though,
something that happened in reality in
19th Century America, but thankfully
did not turn out the way it did in
Sarah Gailey’s book?

125. 39. According to Michael Moorcock who
edited the book, which novel was meant to
point up the number of science fiction
authors who were, in a sense, 'unsuccessful
Hitlers‘?

127. 40. Which organization used this song as an
anthem? Who wrote it?

129. 41. Folding Beijing by Hao Jingfang won the 2016 Hugo
Award for Best Novelette. Set in near-future Beijing, the
story is a scathing criticism of the inequalities found in
urban China, and a sympathetic look at those who have
been left behind by China’s breakneck urbanization. In
what circumstances, an experience that is now very much
part of most people’s urban lives, did Hao find inspiration
for this story of hers?

131. 42. For points, either
name the planet he is
from, or the star that his
home planet orbits.

133. 43. His cartoons feature in The Guardian and New Scientist
among other places. Identify this cartoonist with a rather
distinct style.

135. 44. For a series so famed for the ship names
it came up with, I find it ironic that the first
sentence of the first book is “The ship didn’t
even have a name.” Name the book.

137. 45. Flat cats depicted in this cover art were
a supposed inspiration for the creation of
what by David Gerrold? While Gerrold
denied copying the idea from Heinlein, he
admitted that he may have subconsciously
influenced. Heinlein waved Gerrold away,
and even officially gave Gerrold the rights
to use flat cats. Heinlein also pointed out
that he took the idea himself from a 1905
Ellis Parker Butler short story called Pigs
is Pigs, and thus would be disingenuous to
sue Gerrold.

139. 46. What were the names of the three robots in the 1970s TV
show Silent Running?