The Amtrak Wars Trivia Quiz

Answer: Brickman

Steve is a pilot, trained to scout over enemy territory for Mute incursions into Federation land. He is one of the best pilots ever to graduate from the Academy, but "they" fix his marks to make him lose out on the various top honours, for reasons of their own which do not become clear until much later in the series.
"Cloud Warrior" was first published in 1983.

Answer: Wordsmith, Summoner, and Seer

Mutes who are any of a Wordsmith, a Summoner, or a Seer are very important to each tribe of Mutes, and serve much the same function as the Medicine Man or Witch Doctor has done in tribal societies for thousands of years. The ancient prophecy says that when a child is born who is "Wordsmith, Summoner, and Seer" the enemies of the Bears will be overthrown and the plains will belong to the Mutes again.

Answer: Baz

Steve has never even seen a live animal (apart from the odd roach or rat!) until he gets outside the Federation habitat. He makes friends with an orphaned wolf cub, and names it Baz.

Answer: Mr. Snow

Mr. Snow is an old, old man - nobody knows his true age, but he is one of the oldest Mutes anyone has ever heard of, and certainly lives much longer than the average lifespan of a plainsdweller. He has raised Cadillac from a young age, and is training him to take his place as the tribe's Wordsmith.

He is also training Clearwater, who is a very powerful summoner. He harbours the secret hope that a child of Cadillac and Clearwater will be "Talisman", fulfill the prophesy, and free the Mutes from the depredations of the Federation.

Answer: John Wayne films

The trains are named for old John Wayne films. The First Family ruling class of the Federation live a life of luxury with many things that the ordinary citizens never get to so much as imagine, including a stately antebellum home, where they watch old movies from the time before the apocalypse which destroyed civilisation.

Answer: Blue

At first, Steve doesn't grasp the significance of the various coloured ribbons given to the prisoners he is penned with, but later on his knowledge comes in handy as he makes his plans to rescue Cadillac and Clearwater.
"Iron Master" is book three of the "Amtrak Wars" series by Patrick Tilley, and was first published in 1987.

Answer: Volcanic eruption

The Talisman prophecy has always said that "Talisman" would arrive with fire and earth thunder, and this turns out to be a massive eruption of Mount St. Helens in what used to be Washington State.
"Earth Thunder" is the sixth and last book of "The Amtrak Wars" series, and was first published in 1990.

Answer: War of a Thousand Suns

The world as we know it ended with the "War of a Thousand Suns" several hundred years before the "Amtrak Wars" series begins. The Federation have extensive records and information about the time before it happened, and are the descendants of the US military and key personnel who made it into shelters in time.

The Mutes are the remnants of those who were left outside the shelters to fend for themselves in the aftermath of the massive nuclear war.

Answer: Japan

The "Sons of Ne-Issan", with tribes including Se-Iko, Ne-Ikkon and Toh-Yota, are of Japanese extraction, but now base themselves in the area around the Great Lakes and the old US-Canadian border.

Answer: Snow Raven

Cadillac and Clearwater save Roz's unborn child by performing an emergency Cesarean section. Roz dies because the telepathic and telekinetic links between her and Steve mean that when he is killed, she feels his pain and suffers his wounds, killing her too.
Her daughter has white skin except for her arms, which are "black as raven's wings", so Clearwater names her Snow Raven.