Science Fiction Trivia

[spud42]

Yeah, zombies. That brings up another interesting point....
If a vampire bites a zombie or vice versa, how does that pan out?

A vampire would probably find the taste of a zombie revolting and its blood useless, if the idea behind vampires is that they're fuelled by the "Vitae" of their victims (a zombie, being dead, has none), and presumably can't vampirise it either. And I think zombification can't happen to someone who's already dead, so apart from a pissed-off vampire tearing the zombie to shreds I doubt that much happens.

Zombie Fallout series by Mark Tufo. in it there is a "zombie queen" somewhere in the third book they explain it as she is a vampire type being that drinks the blood of babies to stay young. she is from Europe and arrives in the US as the zombie plague starts. it started from an untested vacine for the H1N1 virus... anyway this queen is supposed to have drunk the blood of a vacinated baby and now she is both vampire and zombie .. quite a fun read, not intended to be serious and written in a very sarcastic style...

[ffutures]

Still nobody... ok, three clues

1: Black Wine is better known by another name on Earth.
2: But I'm looking for another answer than Earth.
3: It's possible that some of you know but don't want to admit it, given the source.

[cbr]

I want to say this thread is also an excellent source of unknown to me writers,novels and the sort!

[Malacandra]

Still nobody... ok, three clues

1: Black Wine is better known by another name on Earth.
2: But I'm looking for another answer than Earth.
3: It's possible that some of you know but don't want to admit it, given the source.

1. Yes, it's called "coffee".
2. It's called "Black Wine" on Gor. The city of Thentis is known for this and for tarn cavalry.
3. I've read the first 26 books in the series, some of them many times, and am completely unashamed about admitting it, although for many of them, John Norman could have used a good editor. In fact, I used to author a column about the series on a Gor fan site.

[ffutures]

Gor it is! Congrats, a scantily clad virtual slave girl will bring you the zipper...

[spud42]

Gor it is! Congrats, a scantily clad virtual slave girl will bring you the zipper...

Slave 1 or Slave 2?

[Malacandra]

Gor it is! Congrats, a scantily clad virtual slave girl will bring you the zipper...

Slave 1 or Slave 2?

If black wine is being served, I expect handing me the zipper would be one of the First Slave's many duties, since the Second Slave is the one who does the pouring rather than setting out the service. But this isn't the rule everywhere.

On Gor, the zipper is unknown; some means of fastening the clothing must, of course, be used; a simple sash or belt is often adequate; a slave's costume is typically secured with a loop at the shoulder such that the girl may be completely undressed with a single movement; this is not always the case; the zipper is, of course, well within the ability of members of the Caste of Builders to devise; the actual making of them would not be a fitting task for the Builders, who are a High Caste; such work would be undertaken by the Cloth Workers and the Metal Workers; both these Castes guard their Caste Rights jealously; a zipper consists of both cloth parts and metal parts; neither Caste would willingly undertake the work of the other, nor, too, would they permit the other Caste to undertake their own; cooperation between Castes is by no means unknown, but unlikely for such a trivial purpose as this; too, zippers are prone to mechanical failure; some climates are unsuited to zippers, such as those which are sandy, salty or moist; these environments may cause zippers to jam; this could not be tolerated for slave garments, which a master may wish to be removed instantly; too, zippers may trap hairs or skin; Goreans would see no virtue in a zipper; they prefer simple, organic closures such as laces, thongs, or arrangements which the men of Earth would recognise as buttons, though possibly different in construction; too, these other closures may be worked decoratively, to the great enhancement of the garments on which they are used; this also the zipper lacks; consequently, on Gor the zipper is unknown.

Now for a question. From black wine to Mulch Wine - if you were trading this, or Finest Dust, or Megalith Paperweights, what would you be playing?

[Malacandra]

First clue: This board game may sound like it was inspired by Elite, but the creator said the origins were much closer to home.

Second clue: The name of the game is almost Shakespearean.

[Disembodied]

Could it be Merchant of Venus?

[Malacandra]

Could it be Merchant of Venus?

Yup. And since they don't sell zippers in that game (you can get Yellow Drives, Red Drives, even Combined Drives, but not ZIP Drives), I'll have to hand this one on to you.

[Disembodied]

OK, name the novel: two young sisters run away from their family and join the crew of a down-at-heel spaceship. In this universe, ships fly between thousands of shattered worldlets - all that's left of the solar system - using lightsails for propulsion, and the skulls of dead alien creatures for communication.

[Disembodied]

Another clue: the spaceship crew make their living seeking out artefacts and treasures from earlier ages … and there are space pirates to worry about, too.

[ffutures]

Well, it wasn't easy to Google but I found it - Revenger by Alistair Reynolds. Annoyingly James Nicol reviewed it a few months ago and I either didn't read the review or blocked it from my memory completely.

[spud42]

Sigh, another book that sounds interesting......

i keep adding to my reading list faster than i can read them!! ( or afford them)

[Disembodied]

It is indeed Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. It's a bit of a departure from his other books: there's a hint of YA fiction about this one, although that may be simply because of the age of the protagonist. It's still an entertaining read, though, and an interesting universe.

ffutures gets the tripper!