Cordwainer Smith Trivia Quiz

Answer: Psychological warfare

Linebarger was on the faculty of Duke University when World War II broke out. He joined the Army and helped organize its psychological warfare department.

Answer: A leather worker

Linebarger's father was closely associated with the Chinese Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party). Sun Yat-sen was Paul Linebarger's godfather.

Answer: Scanners Live in Vain

"Scanners Live in Vain" was first published in the magazine "Fantasy Book" in 1950. Martel is a scanner whose job is to keep the crews of space ships alive during their voyages. When his profession is threatened by an off-world scientist, Martel is faced with a crucial decision.

Answer: Persian Cats

Specially trained psychics team up with cats to defend ships from interstellar monsters which the humans refer to as Dragons, and the cats think of as giant rats. The cats have much faster reflexes than the humans, and so can kill the monsters much more quickly than humans working alone could. "The Game of Rat and Dragon" was published in "Galaxy Science Fiction" in 1955, and was nominated for a Hugo award in 1956.

Answer: Norstrilia

Norstrilia is the short name for the planet Old North Australia, home of the immortality drug, stroon. With the help of an ancient computer, Rod McBan managed to corner the market in stroon and so becomes the richest man in the known universe. "Norstrilia" was first published in book form (it had been previously published as a pair of novellas) in 1975, ten years after the author's death.

Answer: Underpeople

Underpeople provide the labor which allows humans to live in comfort and ease. Their names usually indicate their species of origin, so C'Mell was of cat origin, B'Dikkat was a bull, D'Joan was a dog, etc. Many of Cordwainer Smith's stories deal with how human society interacts with the Underpeople and their struggle for rights.

Answer: Joan of Arc

The story tells one part of the long struggle for Underpeople to acquire rights. D'Joan is an Underperson bred from a dog. She and two humans, Elaine and the Hunter, bring the Underpeople an awareness of themselves as beings who are able to love and who deserve to be loved.

Their peaceful rebellion is crushed by the government of the time, and D'Joan is burned at the stake. But the crushing of the rebellion has unexpected results, which lead to a gradual change in Underpeople's status.

Answer: The Instrumentality of Mankind

The Instrumentality, as it is usually referred to, has created a utopian society. The discovery of stroon and advances in medical technology have given humans a long life, and robots and Underpeople do all the hard or dangerous work. Humans have a guaranteed life span of 400 years, with no disease or hardship.

But life is meaningless and dull. Smith's stories "Under Old Earth" and "Alpha Ralpha Boulevard" deal with how the Instrumentality attempts to bring back meaning and excitement to human lives. "Golden the Ship was - Oh Oh Oh!" and "The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal" both tell how the Instrumentality dealt with threats to humanity.

Answer: True

Smith was nominated for best short story in 1956 for "The Game of Rat and Dragon", but lost to Arthur C. Clarke's "The Star". He was nominated again in 1965 for best novel for "The Planet Buyer", which became part of "Norstrilia". He lost this time to "The Wanderer" by Fritz Leiber.

In 2001, he was nominated for a "Retro-Hugo" award for "Scanners Live in Vain", and lost again. His novella, "On the Storm Planet" was nominated for a Nebula award in 1965.

Answer: mink

Mother Hitton, weapons mistress of Norstrilia, tends her charges, mink bred to be especially lustful, ill-tempered, and combative. They are kept comatose until they are awakened to drive anyone who attempts to land on Norstrilia insane.