C Authors Trivia Quiz

Answer: Michael Crichton

Though Crichton is best known for being the creator of "Jurassic Park" and "Congo", the truth is that this writer, often seen as one with a knack for unique scientific concepts, wrote numerous other books which may have seemed high-concept in the late twentieth century. "State of Fear" (about global warming) and "Timeline" (about a time travel fax machine-like device) were quite a bit more scientific though "Timeline", like "The Great Train Robbery", leaned more into historical fiction, Crichton's other clear passion. Amongst his other works are "Sphere", "The Andromeda Strain", and "Prey".

He passed away in 2008.

Answer: Agatha Christie

One of the most famous names in mystery literature, Agatha Christie set a high bar for the genre when she wrote more than five dozen novels in several series between 1920 and 1970. Although most non-readers would probably know the plots and tropes of her most famous novels (like "Murder on the Orient Express" and "And Then There Were None"), ardent mystery fans would recognize some of her more niche works as well (or at least the details as borrowed in other authors' works). "Towards Zero" featured her Superintendent Battle character, "Hallowe'en Party" was a late Poirot novel, and "N or M?" was a Tommy and Tuppence book.

Answer: Orson Scott Card

Known for his influence in the science fiction genre, Orson Scott Card is best remembered for "Ender's Game", but that would be too easy for a quiz like this. The winner of several Nebula Awards and Hugo Awards, he commenced his career in the 1970s and continued to write well into the 21st century.

Interestingly, Card has been outspoken about the influence of his religious beliefs (as a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints) on his writings. Other books to note in his bibliography include "Speaker for the Dead", "Lost Boys", and the novelization of the James Cameron movie "The Abyss".

Answer: Douglas Coupland

Best known in his native Canada, Coupland has established himself as a theorist, an artist, and a savvy fiction writer with a mind for conveying both life in the Great White North and life at the turn of the twenty-first century. Alongside the novels listed, Coupland was also the author of "Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture", which brought the term Generation X into the mainstream in 1991.

He also wrote "Generation A", which didn't quite take off. Other books in his bibliography include "jPod", "Hey Nostradamus!", and "All Families Are Psychotic".

He was named to the Order of Canada in 2013.

Answer: Joseph Conrad

Writing at the start of the Modernist era, Joseph Conrad is likely best-known for "Heart of Darkness", the book upon which "Apocalypse Now" was based. Born in what would now be Ukraine and raised in Poland, Conrad developed his mastery of the English language when he started writing in England, eventually becoming one of the literary masters of his time.

His works influenced writers for most of the 20th century, especially those who grew as Modernists in the 1910s and 1920s.

Answer: Clive Cussler

The man loved an exclamatory title almost as much as he loved exploring shipwrecks. In addition to writing adventure novel upon adventure novel (many starring authorial surrogate Dirk Pitt), Cussler founded the National Underwater and Marine Agency, a non-profit he developed to preserve underwater sites in the U.S. and funded by the success of his books (from which the name was taken).

His son, Dirk Cussler, named after the leading man of his books, would go on to be the President of NUMA and co-write numerous entries in the book series with his dad before he died in early 2020.

Answer: Raymond Chandler

One of the most famous names in hardboiled detective noir, Chandler started writing pulp novels in the 1930s, setting a standard for American literary crime fiction that would affect film and literature for generations. Though the novels in question might not be his most famous works, any mystery bookstore worth its weight should have copies of "The Big Sleep", "Farewell, My Lovely", and "The Long Good-bye", all of which featured his lead detective, Philip Marlowe.

The first adaptation of "The Big Sleep" was screen-written by literary contemporary William Faulkner, released in 1946, and starred Humphrey Bogart in the lead role.

Answer: Arthur C. Clarke

English author Arthur C. Clarke was amongst the best in the science fiction genre in the 20th century, being the man to write "2001: A Space Odyssey" and writing prolifically from the '50s to the '90s. His work was so influential and celebrated that his name was given to the Arthur C. Clarke Award, given to the best sci-fi novels published in the UK. Clarke was knighted in 1998 partly due to his indelible stamp on British literature and partly due to his indisputable effect on the world of space exploration.

Answer: Wilkie Collins

An author from England's Victorian Era, Wilkie Collins is credited, by many, to be the writer of the earliest detective novel, "The Moonstone", which was serialized in a Charles Dickens publication and finished in 1868. It's not Collins' only claim to fame, however; Collins also wrote the melodramatic Sensation Novel "The Woman in White", becoming one of the era's better-regarded literary minds. Collins' works would fall into obscurity after the death of Dickens who, according to many who knew him, was his mentor.

This grief, coupled with an opium addiction, would follow him to his death in 1889.

Answer: Tom Clancy

Long-established as an author (or at least collaborator) on series after series of spy and military novels starting as far back as the early 1980s, Tom Clancy became a bestseller juggernaut, generating several books per year until his death in 2013. A large number of his works hold up as classics, however, having been adapted into popular films such as "The Hunt For Red October", "Patriot Games", "The Sum of All Fears", and the Amazon Prime TV show "Jack Ryan".

In the question both "The Bear and the Dragon" and "Debt of Honor" were Jack Ryan novels; "Without Remorse" featured John Kelly, who featured in other Clancy stories.