How Widely Read Are You? Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Adventures of Pluto Nash

Brave swordsmen fighting monsters and rescuing damsels in distress. All good adventure stuff! Pluto Nash was played by Eddie Murphy as a lunar nightclub owner. Personally I enjoyed it, but it bombed at the box office!

Answer: Sword and Sorcery

Howard (1906-1936) was a prolific writer in his short life, but his Conan books only started publication in 1932. He suffered greatly from bouts of depression and on hearing that his dying mother was not expected to regain consciousness he went outside and shot himself. He died eight hours later and she died the next day. One wonders what he might have written.

Answer: Dosadi

Herbert's greatest work was undoubtedly "Dune", although those who only saw the film may not be impressed. "The Dosadi Experiment" is very readable in its own right and concerns an unlawful experimental (and hugely crowded) community set up by the Gowachin on the planet Dosadi. Fearing the monster they had created they send an unsuspecting investigator, but the solution he finds may not be to their liking.

Answer: Susan Calvin

Susan Calvin is not a lover of humankind, and the only affection she shows is for a damaged robot named Lennie, who appears to take the place of the child she never had. An interesting character. 'The Foundation' series is also by Asimov, along with many other perceptive and absorbing books.

Answer: He's a self-aware computer

Mike (alias Simon Jester) is a self-aware computer. With a sense of humour.
I'm reluctant to go into the story because I want you to read it for yourself, but it is a mix of social and political commentary amongst the hard science fiction. First use of the acronym TANSTAAFL (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch).

Answer: Fahrenheit 451

'Fahrenheit 451', says Bradbury, is not about censorship but more about television creating interest only in "factoids", partial information devoid of context. Beware, funtrivia composers! All the others are by Arthur C. Clarke.
Ray Bradbury's books have also been the subject of a huge number of audio releases.

Answer: Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

All these were by Dick, but "Flow my Tears" won this acclaim. It is set in a futuristic dystopia and concerns a genetically enhanced pop star who loses his identity overnight. The title comes from a piece by 16th century composer John Dowland.
"Flow, my tears, fall from your springs,
Exiled for ever, let me mourn
Where night's black bird her sad infamy sings,
There let me live forlorn."

Answer: Westworld

'Westworld' is about a western theme park with automata as the population. Everything goes horribly wrong, and I'll always remember the remorseless Yul Brynner pursuing his desperate prey. Rather like an early 'Terminator', now I come to think of it.

Answer: Rendezvous with Rama

All are by Clarke, but "Rama" is the first of a four book series, the last three with Gentry Lee. It's about the discovery of a ten trillion ton self-contained world which has appeared in our Solar System. Where is it from? Where is it going - and why? Written in 1972 and set in 2130.

Answer: Dream Park

The other three were collaborations with Jerry Pournelle. Dream Park is a theme park where people enter role-playing games for real, or at least as real as computers and technology can make them. But like its two successors, it's a whodunnit as well.