Chronosynclastic Infundibulum

1. Chronosynclastic Infundibulum A quiz on speculative fiction

2. 1 a) This is a panel from which comic? b) Which science-fiction novel’s name have I blanked out?

3. 2. Centrifugal Bumblepuppy, Obstacle Golf, Electromagnetic Golf, and Escalator Squash are all sports mentioned in which novel?

4. 3. This novel started off as a collaboration between Larry Niven and Terry Pratchett, but Pratchett dropped out early. As the title indicates, this novel is set on Mars that is inhabited by several different species and cultures (and hence ‘rainbow’) Put funda about these various Martian species that appear in this novel.

5. 4. Paul Janus Finnegan in the World of Tiers series, and Peter Jairus Frigate in the Riverworld series – both these characters are a reference to whom?

6. 5. A poet has a vision of a secret alien colony on Earth and begins to write down a description of the colony. One of the aliens notices this and deliberately distracts the poet before he can write down a full description of the colony – this is the gist of a 1947 Raymond Jones short story that attempts to explain something. Douglas Adams has a much simpler explanation – a time-traveling holistic detective named Dirk Gently. What?

7. 6. Arthur C Clarke’s novel ‘The Ghost from the Grand Banks’ is set in 2012, and deals with two rival geniuses trying to achieve something in time for the centennial of a particular event. Achieve what?

8. 7. Excerpt from an old interview of Philip K Dick. Who is PKD being compared to by the interviewer? Mike: I don't know why. But there's something about your style of writing, and your style as I discovered it from The Rolling Stone piece, the Paul Williams article, that puts me in mind of _____ ____. Phil: That's Philip Jose Farmer.

9. 8. Author Michael Swanwick between 2001 and 2003 published 118 very short stories on scifi.com (now syfy.com  ) which were later compiled and released in book-form too. What was the subject of these stories, also indicated in each story’s title?

10. 9. Her first editor suggested two changes to her real name. One was to use initials instead of the first and middle names, thus disguising the fact that she was a woman. The other was to add a ‘h’ at the end of her surname to make it sound less like that of a romance writer. Name the author.

11. 10. David Gerrold’s ‘When HARLIE was One’ was the first time the word ‘virus’ was used to refer to self-replicating malignant computer programs. "Do you remember the VIRUS program?" "Vaguely. Wasn't it some kind of computer disease or malfunction?" "Disease is closer." ... "You have a computer with an auto-dial phone link. You put the VIRUS program in it and it starts dialing phone numbers at random until it connects to another computer with an auto-dial. The VIRUS program then injects itself into the new computer." The guy who created the VIRUS program also wrote another program which he would then sell at a cost to anyone whose system has been infected by VIRUS. What was this program called?

12. 11. Given here is an excerpt from Arthur C Clarke’s ‘The City and the Stars’ from 1956. "Jeserac sat motionless within a whirlpool of numbers. The first thousand primes.... Jeserac was no mathematician, though sometimes he liked to believe he was. All he could do was to search among the infinite array of primes for special relationships and rules which more talented men might incorporate in general laws. He could find how numbers behaved, but he could not explain why. It was his pleasure to hack his way through the arithmetical jungle, and sometimes he discovered wonders that more skillful explorers had missed. He set up the matrix of all possible integers, and started his computer stringing the primes across its surface as beads might be arranged at the intersections of a mesh." Though AC Clarke described all this in his book, he never actually carried any of this out. Which mathematician later actually did, and today has this concept named after him?

13. 12. The preface to the first edition of which book begins thus? Also, who wrote it? "The Season was cold and rainy, and in the evening we crowded around a blazing wood fire, and occasionally amused ourselves with some German stories of ghosts, which happened to fall into our hands. Those tales excited in us a playful desire of imitation."

14. It was a Bantam custom to Xerox multiple copies of every new accepted manuscript as it was signed, and as those copies began to circulate, I began to have one particular conversation, over and over, every time I chose to come in to the office. One of my colleagues would stop me in a hallway, placatory smile on his or her face, and say something like, “You know, Fred, I certainly would never dream of questioning your editorial decisions, you know that. But I was just wondering — well, why, exactly, did you buy that book?” I finally figured out an answer that satisfied them. I said, “Because it’s the first book that told me anything I didn’t know about sex since Story of O.” 13 a) Identify this editor at Bantam, a sci-fi author himself b) What book is he talking about?

15. 14. A good 90-seconds summary of which science fiction novel?

16. 15 a) Which game is this based on? b) Who is writing it?

17. 16. Seen here is the cover of the upcoming book by which author, whose doctorate thesis was a Marxist interpretation of International Law?

18. 17. What genre was defined at WFC earlier this year as “a book that, if held at the level of one’s chest and dropped onto a Chihuahua, would kill it.” ?

19. 18. Who, about what? "I've been surprised by how little criticism I've got. Harry Potter's been taking all the flak… Meanwhile, I've been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God."

20. 19. A tourist attraction for fans of which two authors?

21. 20. Connect.

22. 21. This concept (and word) was first introduced to the world as a game in Monty Python’s Big Red Book where the first player to finish writing a novel wins. Today it represents a genre of extremely short fiction, usually 100 words or lesser. It has nothing to do with the crime-writer of the same surname. What?

23. 22. Brazil : Brasyl Turkey: The Dervish House India: ? Give me an answer that does not involve Chandrababu Naidu references. Also, name the author.

24. 23. In Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series of books, there are creatures called Huxleys which are something of a cross between jellyfish and hot-air balloons. As per the books, which scientist’s researches were what allowed the creations of these Huxleys?

25. 24. In 2009, there was an attempt by an SF fan to declare Nov. 18th as ‘International Science Fiction Reshelving Day’ which received some media attention. Many books from our fine genre are regularly placed in the wrong section of bookstores. This not only hides the books from us, but it prevents readers of those books from discovering the rich tradition to which they belong. On November 18th that changes. We will go to bookstores around the world and move science fiction and fantasy books from wherever they might be to their proper place in the "Science Fiction" section. We hope that this quiet act of protest will raise awareness of this problem and inspire new readers to explore our thought-provoking genre. Which “SF” author’s birthday is on Nov. 18th?

26. 25. Subject, and author?

27. 26. The two books set in this universe were released as an omnibus in 2004. The title for this omnibus was ‘Timelike Diplomacy’, which is a reasonably accurate description of the subject matter of the two novels – time-travel and interplanetary politics. The most important rule in this universe is “thou shalt not violate causality within my historic light cone.” Name either book in the series (or even the collective name by which it is often known by), and the author.

28. 27. In 1928 Philip Nowlan wrote Armageddon 2419 A.D., the tale of Anthony Rogers, which piqued the interest of president of the National Newspaper Service syndicate John F. Dille. What resulted?

29. “I felt that it reflected the deep desire of young women to have the mystery and protection and wisdom of older men, I think many girls mature much earlier than boys, and they are frustrated when they approach young boys for love or protection. Hence the fantasy of a wise and protective vampire coming into the life of a young girl who, of course, appreciates him in a special way.” 28. Identify the author seen here doing a very profound analysis of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series

30. 29. Whose blog?

31. 30. Which mountain range in the world of SFF was named after a memory address available as a system variable available on the ZX Spectrum home computer on which the author was penning his works?

32. Kull, an Atlantean barbarian and King of Valusia in the ancient Thurian age • Solomon Kane, a Tudor-period adventurer, wandering across Europe and Asia • Bran Mak Morn, the King of the Picts during the Roman invasion of Britain • Turlogh Dubh O’Brien, an 11th Century Irish outcast. • James Allison, who recalls his past lives as ancient heroes. • 31. Who’s missing from this list?

33. 32. In Fritz Leiber’s Hugo Award-winning novel ‘The Wanderer’, who or what is the wanderer?

34. 33. Seen here is the distinctive yellow cover of which SF publisher?

35. 34. Which famous SF illustrator also designed album art for Sepultura?

36. 35. One of the most famous works by the SF illustrator referred to in the previous question. Which novel’s cover did it grace?

37. 36. Which multiple-award winning bildungsroman is subtitled as “Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer”?

38. 37. This is the 5th album released by the indie rock band Murder By Death. What is its significance?

39. 38. Here is an extract from a longer poem. Who wrote it? About which book? "Bravo Paolo! that was SF! Worthy of hullaballoo!"Here's the Nebula, the Campbell, Locus,—half a Hugo too"

40. 39. Which author, a big fan of Twitter (it even plays a big role in his latest book) who had once dismissed Facebook as a gaudy mall, tweets at the handle @greatdismal?

41. 40. In the world of SFF, what is the Rhysling Award given for?

42. 41. Who has two hearts, slightly colder blood and a respiratory bypass system so he can’t be strangled?

43. 42. Identify actor, and role.

44. 43. Work of art made from the entire text of which novel?

45. 44. First paragraph of a recent essay titled ‘Frankenstein’s Cadillac’ – Most nations when required to stave up national identity, perhaps in times of difficulty, will call on reserves of national history or mythology. In Britian, for example, leaders will routinely summon up the spirit of the Blitz, of Winston Churchill or King Arthur when attempting to persuade the country to accept something that it isn’t going to like, like public spending cutbacks or a costly foreign conflict. In effect, what most nations are trying to communicate is ‘Look at what we were.’ America, conversely, is only a little over two hundred years old and its brief history is largely one of genocide and slavery, things that most usually a require a veil drawn over them rather than celebration. Lacking myth or folklore and without a reservation of history to plunder, is America instead employing its projected science fiction futures to say ‘Look at what we will be?’ Who wrote the essay? (As someone who moved from Britain to America, this Britain vs. America has been a common refrain in his works)

46. 45. Sometime last year, Charlie Stross wrote a blogpost titled ‘A Zeppelin. Wearing a top hat. Smoking a cigar.’ What was the subject of the post?

47. 46. In 1979, Eric Rabkin proposed a scale using which one could measure how ‘fantastic’ a given work of literature was. At the realism end, tipping the scale at 1, was ‘The Ambassadors’ by Henry James. What work was at 10 on the Rabkin Scale?

48. 47. In the year 2000, the ruling class of America's hardcore capitalistic society lives in unnecessary excess, causing an accident that kills all but 11 people in the world. Those survivors were raised in privilege and thus struggle to build a new capitalistic society, eventually constructing a successful utopian communist society instead. Given above is the summary of which 1924 book? Also name the muckraking author.

49. 48. Identify the book by it’s cover.

50. 49. How is this book different from all the other books in the series? What was the reason for this difference?