Smoke Rings Trivia Quiz

Answer: Saga of the Pliocene Exile

There are four novels to this saga published during the 1980s. In the twenty-first century a gateway appears on Earth that will transport people back millions of years to the Pliocene Epoch. There's only one small catch - it only works one way. The volunteers that do venture through this portal are in for more than they bargained for.

When the volunteers arrive, they're confronted by an alien race that had crash landed here previously. The aliens possess extraordinary mental powers that are amplified by rings that they wear around their necks and they use these to enslave the humans. The other books in the series are "The Golden Torc" (1982), "The Non Born King" (9183) and "The Adversary" (1984).

Answer: The Doctor (Who)

The Doctor, Romana and K9 arrive in Cornwall in present day England to find a druid cult inside a ring of ancient stones. These stones turn out to be an alien life form called the Ogri that the druids are looking to awaken with a blood ritual. Romana is captured and thrown onto a prison ship in hyperspace. The Doctor follows as he feels that it might help him track down a master criminal.
This is the third story, of six, that cover the "Key of Time" series.

Answer: Piers Anthony

Anthony is another prolific writer of novels and short stories. His "Xanth" series, alone, is made up of more than 40 novels. "Rings of Ice" is set on Earth and, despite being sci-fi, you won't find a ray gun or an energy beam anywhere in it. The antagonist in this yarn is not a creature or a being, it is a flood that is surrounding the globe, drowning the Earth and turning to ice. Gus and Thatch are racing to get to higher ground, like a lot of others.

The passengers that our intrepid lads have collected on the way don't appear to be what they seem, in particular, the voluptuous Gloria who is a woman, who becomes a man, who becomes a woman...

Answer: The Dancers at the End of Time

Jherek is one of the few humans that dwells at the end of time who was born by natural means. Just about all of the other humans there have been created. As the universe starts to collapse he falls for Mrs Amelia Underwood who is a time traveller. In these first three books of the series, Moorcock endeavors to create the last love story before time runs out, and he sends Jherek chasing Amelia all the way back to nineteenth century, Victorian, England. Beneath the surface of Moorcock's cleverly created illusion is a sterile wasteland.

The immortals here are decadent and lacking in morals. Incest and homosexuality are treated as being of light consequence (remember that these stories were written in the 1970s) and the immortals also possess power rings that have the ability to generate anything they desire.

Answer: Isaac Asimov

The concept was originally set to become a television series for young adults and teenagers. In light of this Asimov had concerns about his brand, so he wrote under the pseudonym of Paul French. By the time he got to the fourth book of the series, "Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury" (1956), he couldn't resist introducing the "Three Laws of Robotics" into it and it gave away his identity.

There was a seventh story, "Lucky Starr and the Snows of Pluto", mapped out for the set but, by this time, Asimov was focused on writing non-fiction and the tale never even eventuated.

Answer: The Light Fantastic

The title for "The Light Fantastic" (1986) was taken from a poem by John Milton. The book itself is the only one in the "Discworld" set to "directly" follow the storyline of its predecessor. After Rincewind, Twoflower and Luggage are saved from falling off Discworld they find themselves within a circle of large stones, similar to Stonehenge, that a team of druids are using to create a computer.

They interrupt the druids and prevent them from sacrificing a young woman and then the sect is attacked by Cohan (a parody on Conan) the Barbarian.

Their adventures take them to Death's Domain and they discover why Rincewind was entrusted with the eighth spell. Rincewind will gather all eight spells, read them out aloud and, in the process, trigger a chain of events that sees the birth of eight new World Turtles.

Answer: War of the Green Lanterns

The Green Lanterns represent a corps of superheroes that were initially given rise in the DC Comics' stable. Their mission is to protect the universe from evil and they are aided by power rings that provide them with extraordinary abilities. The abovenamed Lanterns are all Earth based.
"War of the Green Lanterns" is a graphic novel that was released in 2011. The writers are Geoff Johns, Tony Bedard and Peter Tomasi and the "Green Lanterns" are characters that were created in the DC Comics universe.
The renegade Guardian, Krona, is hell-bent on taking over the universe and he's managed to take control of the minds of all the Green Lanterns and is using them to do his bidding toward this end. All, except for Hal, Guy, Kyle and John, the Earth dwelling Green Lanterns. The only others to escape Krona's spell are the towering Kilowog, the legendary trainer of the Green Lantern corps and one other Guardian, the by-the-book Ganthet. They have their work cut out saving the universe.

Answer: The Expendables

Richard Avery is a pseudonym for Edmund Cooper, a prolific writer of stories that ranged from science fiction to romance novels and detective tales. He even put together a children's book. The other options (stories) provided above are stand-alone novels that he wrote under his own name.
There are four stories in "The Expendables" series, "Rings..." being the second, and they focus on the colonization of remote planets. Cooper creates a diverse range of characters and, in many respects, most of them are unconventional. The stories are littered with frank discussions about bigotry and sexual issues. After dealing with the Deathworms on Kratos in the first novel Avery sends his team of expendable scientists to Tantalus to see if the planet is suitable for colonization and to get an understanding of the planet's rings. They discover that the rings are not natural and do not appreciate intruders.
The novels in this series are "The Deathworms of Kratos" (1975), "The Rings of Tantalas" (1975), "The War Games of Zelos" (also 1975) and "The Venom of Argus" (1976).
(Note) The reference to "sly" was a nod toward Sylvester Stallone and his "Expendables" series of films.

Answer: White Gold

Thomas Covenant is an author who contracts leprosy and becomes bitter as a result. In the process he loses his wife and becomes shunned by the community in which he lives. He is struck by a car on his way home from the shops and, when he awakes, he finds himself in "The Land". From this point on we are left wondering; is "The Land" real or is Thomas just dreaming? The people here are in awe of him and the white gold wedding ring (that he's refused to give up despite losing his wife) and they try to convince him that it is an artifact of extraordinary power.

They look to him to save them from the evil Lord Foul. Written by Stephen Donaldson, "The First Chronicles..." are made up of three books; "Lord Foul's Bane" (1977), "The Illearth War" (1978) and "The Power That Preserves" (1979). Donaldson would go on to create "The Second Chronicles" (three books) and "The Last Chronicles", a further four books, to complete the saga.

Answer: Larry Niven

The new planet represents a golden opportunity for Earth to make a fresh start of things. Ringworld is a vast new planet that has been created with high walls and is close enough to the sun to ensure that it will support life. It was designed as a form of Dyson sphere that has a radius of 93 million miles and it creates its own gravity by spinning around.
This book is seen as a "classic" of its genre, winning the Nebula Award in 1970 and the Hugo and Locus Awards the following year. It would also spawn four sequels and four prequels.