Science Fiction Trivia

[ffutures]

I can think of one where the FTL mechanism is derived from cheese, but not herrings.

Think of preserved herrings... English style.

I did, but it isn't helping. Unless you have a nice cup of tea with it and put an atomic vector plotter in the cup...

[spud42]

preserved as in "smoke me a Kipper" ??????

[Malacandra]

preserved as in "smoke me a Kipper" ??????

There's another type of smoked herring, particularly associated with Lowestoft and stereotypically made into fish-paste.

[ffutures]

preserved as in "smoke me a Kipper" ??????

There's another type of smoked herring, particularly associated with Lowestoft and stereotypically made into fish-paste.

Gotcha - the Bloater drive, used in Harry Harrison's Bill the Galactic Hero and sequels. The ship changes size (if I recall correctly by increasing the space between atoms) until it's umpteen light years long, then shrinks again at a different location inside the inflated volume of the ship. Or something like that anyway.

[Malacandra]

preserved as in "smoke me a Kipper" ??????

There's another type of smoked herring, particularly associated with Lowestoft and stereotypically made into fish-paste.

Gotcha - the Bloater drive, used in Harry Harrison's Bill the Galactic Hero and sequels. The ship changes size (if I recall correctly by increasing the space between atoms) until it's umpteen light years long, then shrinks again at a different location inside the inflated volume of the ship. Or something like that anyway.

That's the one. All yours.

[ffutures]

OK, inspired by the previous question - in which book by which author is there a spaceship drive based on cheese?

[Malacandra]

OK, inspired by the previous question - in which book by which author is there a spaceship drive based on cheese?

lol. Same author, but it's Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers.

("Cheddite" is a real thing and is an explosive, btw.)

[ffutures]

Absolutely right - your turn.

[Malacandra]

Okay, this dystopian science fiction novel ends with someone kicking a bomb out of a nun's hands - why would anyone do a thing like that? (Or at any rate, what's the title and author? And technically it ends a tiny fraction of a second later, of course...)

[Malacandra]

*crickets*

The book is one of a series, and an earlier volume shares a title with one of the few US Civil War songs that almost everyone can whistle even if they don't know the words.

[Disembodied]

Not one I've read, but is it perhaps Under the Yoke, by S. M. Stirling? The US Civil War song referred to (and googled by me) would be Marching Through Georgia, which is the first book in the series.

[Malacandra]

It is! At the conclusion of Under the Yoke, three characters are locked into a bomb-proof bunker with a suicide bomb (which the nun is carrying, with her hand on the dead-man's switch). She is now faced with an ethical problem: her religion forbids suicide, nor can she pass the decision on to someone else. So the Draka that's in there, admiring the strength of her commitment even though he doesn't share it, kindly tells the other two he's going to take the choice out of her hands since it seems cruel to leave her hanging on knowing that her strength must give out sooner or later. And he does it.

[Disembodied]

Okay, another list question. Shapeshifting aliens! List five different kinds, from any number of sources (for interest's sake, include some source detail too, e.g. name of the book/film/TV show etc.). Amorphous ones don't count - so no shoggoths, for example (leaving aside the question as to whether they're aliens, indigenous lifeforms, or something else); these should be aliens which have the ability to mimic the shape and form of at least one other species. This can be via any method, from creating some sort of illusion to actually warping their own bodies.

Edited to add: for clarity, something like a Goa'uld or other parasite, which merely inhabits the bodies of others, doesn't count …

[spud42]

start with maya from space 1999 ,
odo from deep space 9,
the polymorph from red dwarf,




was going to add Mona Wilder from Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency but i suppose she isnt an alien..lol

[Disembodied]

Yes, Mona Wilder would be an anomalous entity rather than an alien. Three down, two to go …