Science Fiction Trivia

[Disembodied]

That's Vurt, by Jeff Noon!

[NigelJK]

it is indeed,
Over to you ...

[Disembodied]

OK ... Here's the cover of the album of the musical version of H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds:



Leave aside for the moment my personal feeling that musicals are, generally speaking, one of the lowest forms of human activity, and that no story has ever been improved by adding in a few song-and-dance numbers; never mind all that, it's my problem and I'll deal with it. Also ignore the fact that the Martian war machine pictured above bears no resemblance to their descriptions. However, it is an illustration of an important event from the book, so the question is: what is the name of the ship being zapped with the heat ray?

[Cody]

That album contains one of the most beautiful songs ever written… Forever Autumn.
The ironclad being zapped, having heroically just taken down one of the Martians, is HMS Thunder Child.

[Disembodied]

It is indeed! Score one for the Royal Navy, and another for El Viejo. Over to you ...

[Cody]

Staying with the musical connection… name me the Hugo Award nominated concept album, whose narrative is loosely based on one of the great sci-fi novels, written by one of the great sci-fi authors?

[DaddyHoggy]

My dad had an album in his collection called something like "Blows Against an Empire" - Jefferson Airplane? (he had a lot of Jefferson Airplane albums - he also read a lot of Asimov but that would be a guess simply because of "Empire" being in the title). I'm pretty sure I remember reading later it was a Hugo award nominee.

I am resisting the urge to Google further for confirmation or denial...

[Cody]

Well remembered DH... yes, it's Blows Against The Empire by Paul Kantner and the Jefferson Starship.
It's based on Methuselah's Children by Heinlein.

An anecdote... Kantner wrote to Heinlein to obtain permission to use his ideas. Heinlein wrote back that over the years, many people had used his ideas but Paul was the first one to ask for permission, which he granted.

Your turn, sir.

[DaddyHoggy]

Cool! Almost the right name of the album, almost the right name of the group and a million miles out on the author (Heinlein is indeed one of the greats).

OK, obscure but not too obscure...

The name of and author of this novel please (which was originally printed as a serialisation in 1969 to 1970 in a famous Sci-Fi mag) - the victim of the tale turns out to be the manifestation of a sun and the weapon of choice would not be out of place in the hands of Indiana Jones.

[Cody]

It's got to be Whipping Star by Frank Herbert.

[DaddyHoggy]

Darn it - not obscure enough! I knew I should have spent some time and gone through some of my 1950s Sci-Fi!

Back to you EJ

[Cody]

Sci-fi and rock music again:

This short story (the author's first, and originally published in a famous sci-fi mag in the eighties), written by a Hugo Award winning American sci-fi author, mentions in its title a building, the name of which is the title of an album by an American rock band.

Title and author, please.

[Cody]

A clue:

The author of the short story in question is probably most well known for his ‘hard sci-fi’ trilogy (well, it started out as a trilogy) about hijacking a coldsleep starship and colonising a habitable moon, which orbits a gas giant in another star system.
The moon’s name is the main title of the trilogy.

[DaddyHoggy]

Hmmmm, I've read this - must go rummage (annoyingly half my books still live with my parents)

[Cody]

I was just thinking of posting another clue... but maybe I'd better wait, while you go rummage.