FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Quiz about Science Fiction For The Heirs of Eisenhower
Quiz about Science Fiction For The Heirs of Eisenhower

Science Fiction For The Heirs of Eisenhower Quiz


Sci-fi isn't just Star Wars and Captain Kirk. Sci-fi goes back years, to Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. A lot of things have been written by authors and screenwriters you might not have heard of...or maybe you have!

A multiple-choice quiz by photoscribe. Estimated time: 5 mins.
  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Quizzes
  4. »
  5. Literature Trivia
  6. »
  7. Science Fiction

Author
photoscribe
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
221,819
Updated
Jun 17 23
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
10 / 15
Plays
670
- -
Question 1 of 15
1. What were the names of Paul and Chani's children in "Children of Dune"? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. What was the name of the totally paved over planet in Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" trilogy? Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. In "Demon With A Glass Hand", a Harlan Ellison story, what was so special about the android's glass appendage? Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. What film are the words "Klaatu Barada Nikto" from? Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. What was the main premise of the Arthur C. Clarke novel "Fountains of Paradise"? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. What was so odd about the two separate novels, "Childhood's End" by Arthur C. Clarke and "The Midwich Cuckoos" by John Wyndham? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. What is the name of the fellow who Paul angers after socking him in the jaw midway through "Dune", as Paul and Jessica encounter the Fremen? Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. What anthropomorphic device was shaped like a mouse in "The Martian Chronicles"? Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. What did firemen actually do in the Bradbury story "Fahrenheit 451"? Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. In the "Star Trek: TNG" novel "Gulliver's Fugitives", which has a similar theme to "Fahrenheit 451", what is the name of the blind, female fellow engineer who works with La Forge to jury-rig an enemy probe to actually spy for them? Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. In "Rendezvous With Rama", what did the "inhabitants" of Rama resemble? Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. What are the names of the two races living thousands of years in the future that the time traveler encounters in H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine"? Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. Isaac Asimov got his start writing pulp fiction.


Question 14 of 15
14. Who or what could be considered the main character of Isaac Asimov's "The Last Question"? Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. What is the answer to the ultimate question...("The meaning of all life and existence") in the comedy science fiction novel/radio-TV series/movie, "A Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy"? Hint



(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

arrow Select a User ID:
arrow Choose a Password:
arrow Your Email:




Most Recent Scores
Oct 17 2024 : Guest 69: 5/15
Oct 14 2024 : Guest 62: 12/15

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. What were the names of Paul and Chani's children in "Children of Dune"?

Answer: Ghanima and Leto III

"Children of Dune" was the second sequel in the "Dune" raft of novels, which became kind of a cottage industry while its author, Frank Herbert, was still alive. "Children" dealt with the remnants of the empire Paul Atreides, (known as "Usul" or "Muau'Dib" to his Fremen allies,) had left to his sister Alia to run after he abandoned the throne of Arrakis. He does this after being blinded in the previous novel, "Dune Messiah". He, in fact, actually preaches against his own empire, against the cult of him_self_, as Muau'Dib, who has become a myth _and_ a curse after his jihad spread throughout the known Universe.

The first three books of the "Dune" series are fascinating reads, if a little verbose. They pretty much define the word "epic" as they tell the story of the ill-fated, but highly respected and admired House of Atreides, as their fortunes rise and fall over the course of history 8000 years into the future.

The first three books are great, but avoid the fourth one, "God Emperor of Dune", or just skim over it. It was apparent Herbert was running out of juice by this time, since the action is completely static and the dialogue circuitous and pretentious.
2. What was the name of the totally paved over planet in Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" trilogy?

Answer: Trantor

Trantor was the name of the planet with no apparent greenery visible on its surface in the "Foundation" series...the very first one the hero, Hari Seldon, sees as the story opens and he arrives at a star vessel terminal there. The terminal that he has to walk through to get where he's going is so tall, that clouds actually form in its upper reaches!
3. In "Demon With A Glass Hand", a Harlan Ellison story, what was so special about the android's glass appendage?

Answer: All of these

"Demon With A Glass Hand" was a teleplay of a classic episode of "The Outer Limits", shown in 1964 on ABC. In it, Robert Culp played an android who finds himself transported back in time to this era from the future. He has a cybernetic hand made of glass, with one of the "fingers", or "lobes", missing. I won't spoil the entire premise for you, but suffice it to say that it's definitely one of Ellison's best stories and deserves to be the classic it is.

There is talk about making this episode of "The Outer Limits" into a full length feature film, and it's been going on for the last three years at least. If it gets made right, it ought to be great!
4. What film are the words "Klaatu Barada Nikto" from?

Answer: The Day The Earth Stood Still

Okay....let's get one thing straight! Klaatu was not the robot in the film, _his_ name was "Gort". Klaatu was the imperious humanoid alien, played by Michael Rennie, that came to Earth to warn the major powers not to continue producing atomic weapons, giving them an ultimatum to get rid of them or else! The words above were words that Patricia Neal's character spoke to Gort to keep him from destroying the Earth.

"The Day of the Triffids" was an archetypical late 50s/early 60s horror/sci-fi movie, with gawd-awful special effects, even worse art direction and hammy acting. It was about a meteor that blinded most of the populace of a town that was then ripe for an invasion of animated, predatory vegetation. See? I told you it was gawd-awful! The original story, (which was probably much better conceived,) was written by John Wyndham. "The Day of the Locust" isn't even sci-fi and is a "Hollywood Babylon" exposé in the form of a novel/movie. "The Night of the Lepus" involved a plotline about giant rabbits! This, like "Triffids", was a movie _made_ for MST3K!
5. What was the main premise of the Arthur C. Clarke novel "Fountains of Paradise"?

Answer: The logistics and construction of an elevator to the moon

This concept, as far-fetched as it is, is actually being considered seriously by somebody in the aerospace community. I hope to high heaven that this is a hoax, and it never reaches fruition, because just the danger of the cables snapping would make it too dangerous to even think of! (Not to mention the fact that rockets kinda make it unnecessary!)

I'm sure Clarke was in a very whimsical frame of mind when he wrote this tale, for even he has to know that the concept is ridiculous! The ending of the novel involves an android angel descending upon Earth and administering to children. This part seems to have nothing to do with the earlier 90% of the book, but Clarke was getting into his dotage at the time, so....
6. What was so odd about the two separate novels, "Childhood's End" by Arthur C. Clarke and "The Midwich Cuckoos" by John Wyndham?

Answer: They had essentially the same plot.

Both "Childhood's End" and "The Midwich Cuckoos" deal with children bred as a "super generation" of perfect kids meant to rule mankind when they reach maturity, under the auspices of supposedly benevolent aliens.
7. What is the name of the fellow who Paul angers after socking him in the jaw midway through "Dune", as Paul and Jessica encounter the Fremen?

Answer: Jamis

This guy always seems like a desperate, insecure type in my mind whenever I read the first novel. After simply being socked in the jaw because Paul and his mother were taken by surprise by Fremen that they thought were threatening them, (and, in fact, the Fremen that had been stalking them _did_ want to kill them to "take their water",) Jamis decides he wants to fight Paul to the death. Bad idea, Jamis! Seitch Tabr will be drinking your water for years to come!
8. What anthropomorphic device was shaped like a mouse in "The Martian Chronicles"?

Answer: Floor cleaners

In the classic story by Ray Bradbury, these things would scurry about living quarters on colonized Mars, cleaning the floors of dust and crumbs. Why did they have to look like mice? You'd think, away from Earth, this is the last thing anybody would want to be reminded of!
9. What did firemen actually do in the Bradbury story "Fahrenheit 451"?

Answer: They started fires, rather than put them out, to destroy books

In this story, the firemen actually burn books as an arm of a dystopic government that has banned the use of books. Very "1984"! The hero, Montag, a young neophyte fireman, decides this line of work isn't for him after meeting a girl that is a near double for his feckless wife.

He joins a group of rebels who endeavor to memorize as much literature as they can to preserve it for posterity. Some people actually _become_ their favorite novels!
10. In the "Star Trek: TNG" novel "Gulliver's Fugitives", which has a similar theme to "Fahrenheit 451", what is the name of the blind, female fellow engineer who works with La Forge to jury-rig an enemy probe to actually spy for them?

Answer: Ens. Dorothy "Chops" Taylor

"Chops" was the deft, blind fellow engineer who worked with La Forge to jury-rig a damaged enemy probe bot in this eerie Next Generation novel about the Enterprise-D crew encountering a world that has banned fiction in all its permutations. They encounter this world after searching for the USS Huxley, a Federation vessel that had been missing for 10 years.

"Chops"' light sensors, unlike La Forge's, were on her fingertips, rather than over her eyes. Watching her work was a thing to behold, according to the story. After Dorothy had done an exceptional job deftly handling the circuit re-routing, La Forge commented that the job was "state of the Chops!"

Counselor Troi somehow finds herself in the company of a diverse group of anti-government rebels, and Picard becomes a hostage in this novel, one that would have made an excellent film had anybody had the sense to use it for the basis for a screenplay!
11. In "Rendezvous With Rama", what did the "inhabitants" of Rama resemble?

Answer: Computer animation

The creatures "generated" by "Rama", an alien probe that scientists discovered tracking a course right into the sun in our solar system, were essentially corporeal "cartoons", and actually _were_ "computer animation" of a sort! The probe could draw these things out of its inner surfaces like corporeal ghosts to defend itself against internal "invaders".

The mental imagery brings to mind the "grid bugs" from "Tron".
12. What are the names of the two races living thousands of years in the future that the time traveler encounters in H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine"?

Answer: The Eloi and the Morlocks

The Morlocks and the Eloi lived in a very sick symbiotic relationship where the beautiful, leisurely Eloi were essentially being fattened up and contented so they would make tender meat for the mutated and horrific-looking Morlocks. The awful truth of the thing is: both these races were essentially human!
13. Isaac Asimov got his start writing pulp fiction.

Answer: True

Yes, the person a lot of people consider to be the great-granddaddy of all post-war science fiction writers got his start writing for pennies a word for pulp magazines in the era surrounding WWII. He was not just a sci-fi writer, but wrote about just about everything: history, humor, Shakespeare and the Bible as well.

He wrote over 400 books, including the "Foundation" trilogy and "The Gods Themselves", and one short story, "The Last Question", which poses an incredible conjecture about the nature of creation.
14. Who or what could be considered the main character of Isaac Asimov's "The Last Question"?

Answer: Multivac, a computer network that evolves with creation from a certain point in the second millennium.

This has to be, absolutely, the most incredible science fiction short story ever told, and probably cemented Asimov's reputation as a conceptualist and idea man. I remember the Fels Planetarium in Philly actually staging an entire program around the story, which ends with a bang, (literally)!

Asimov was born in 1920. His family emigrated from Russia and moved to NYC in 1923. "The Last Question" was written in 1958.
15. What is the answer to the ultimate question...("The meaning of all life and existence") in the comedy science fiction novel/radio-TV series/movie, "A Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy"?

Answer: 42

Yes, after millennia upon millennia, the final answer to the question to end all questions is "42" as expressed by "Deep Thought", a computer that obviously should have had its transistors checked on a more regular basis. Douglas Adams' zany novel was very reminiscent of Monty Python, as it twisted logic, posed silly questions and situations, and made sly comments about society, all in one fell swoop.

Its main characters were Arthur Dent, an earthling, and Ford Prefect, an alien that posed as an earthling so he could compile facts about the planet for "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". "Don't Panic!"
Source: Author photoscribe

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
10/31/2024, Copyright 2024 FunTrivia, Inc. - Report an Error / Contact Us