Strangers in Strange Lands Trivia Quiz

Answer: Valentine Michael Smith

Heinlein used "The Heretic" as a working title while writing the book. He worked on it for over a decade.

Raised by Martians, Valentine Michael Smith uses his Martian "culture" in founding a new religion called the "Church of All Worlds."

Malachi Constant and Winston Niles Rumfoord are characters in Kurt Vonnegut's "Sirens of Titan". Hawthorne Abendsen is the so-called "man in the high castle" in the novel of the same name by Philip K. Dick.

Answer: Carson Napier

In Burroughs' "Venus" series, the natives of that planet refer to it as Amtor. Burroughs' Venus is a water world on which Napier was stranded after an unsuccessful attempt to reach Mars on a solo journey from Earth. Marvel is an associate of the title character in H. G. Wells' "The Invisible Man". Artemis Fowl is the title character in a series of novels by Eoin Colfer. Gregor Clegane is a character in J.R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series.

He is also called "The Mountain That Rides" and is an enforcer for House Lannister.

Answer: Death

Discworld's Death possesses a keen sense of irony and a puckish sense of humor. When he talks, people listen. All three incorrect answers are also products of Terry Pratchett's imagination and are denizens of Discworld.

Answer: Kilgore Trout

Sturgeon wrote over 200 stories. And even though he was a fictional character, Trout also wrote a novel called "Venus on the Half Shell", which was actually written by Philip Jose Farmer, although Vonnegut was not happy about it at all. Nonetheless, many critics view Trout as Vonnegut's alter ego.

Christopher Pike is a character from the "Star Trek" franchise, as the commander of the Starship "Enterprise" before Captain Kirk. Paul Blofis is from Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson" series and is in a relationship with Percy's mother. Eddard Stark is another character from "A Song of Ice and Fire".

Answer: Ben Holliday

Other interesting characters that inhabit Landover include the witch Nightshade, who is a deadly enemy for Holliday and his family; Questor Thews, the court magician; and Abernathy, the court scribe, who was turned into a Wheaten Terrier by Questor. Interesting magical minor characters include the Mud Puppy called Haltwhistle, and the Prism Cat named Edgewood Dirk.

Paul Atreides is a main character in Frank Herbert's "Dune". Edward Cullen is a character in the "Twilight" series. Ned Land, a Canadian whaler, is a character in Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".

Answer: Nevyn

Although Katherine Kerr tells us that "Nevyn" means "no one" in the language of Deverry, other "name meaning" Internet sites indicate that it means "Holy" in Irish, "Worships the saints" in Gaelic, and "Nephew" in Teutonic. Nevertheless, in Deverry, Nevyn made an oath to "set things right" because of a misdeed he committed in his youth, and the "Great Ones" have made him incapable of dying until he fulfills his oath.

In the Deverry series, Evandar is a god-like figure and the leader of the Bright Court. Offler is a minor god in Pratchett's "Discworld" series, and Strabo is a dragon in Brooks' "Landover" series.

Answer: Arthur Dent

In Adams' monumental work, Arthur Dent was saved from the destruction of Earth by the Vogons. Throughout the five-book series, Dent undergoes several incarnations in several dimensions, as well as more adventures in "And Another Thing..." by Eoin Colfer.

Billy Pilgrim is a Vonnegut character, Sam Vimes is a Pratchett creation, and Podkayne Fries is actually a 15-year-old female protagonist of Robert A. Heinlein's "Podkayne of Mars".

Answer: HAL 9000, the ship's on-board computer

Dr. Bowman is the only remaining crewman after the other three were killed by Hal. Commander Norton is a character in Arthur C. Clarke's "Rendezvous with Rama" and O'Brien is a character from the Star Trek "Next Generation" television series.

Answer: "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury

Montag's job as a fireman is to burn books.

Answer: He was an orang-utan.

The Librarian accepted the status as an orang-utan and resisted any attempts to reconvert him to his human form. It was rumored that his previous name as a wizard was Dr. Horace Worblehat, but if it were, it has become a moot point. Now he is a Librarian of few words, those being "ook" and "ook ook" and multiples thereof.