Science Fiction Trivia

[ffutures]

Clue time for the last question!

5: An aristocratic supervillain

5: His title is usually before the name when he's referred to.

Two villains by this name have appeared, a father and son, it isn't clear if earlier ancestors were also in the supervillain business.

And another clue - Marvel universe.

[spud42]

still had no idea. never read the comic books, not really a thing in my time. well mentioned in 1964 i was barely 3...lol


Baron Zemo: Heinrich Zemo was one of the elite Nazi scientists during World War II. After his death, his son Helmut Zemo took on the role and continued a heated rivalry with Captain America; he has teetered between heroism and villainy due to his association with the Thunderbolts, an ultimately reformed version of the Masters of Evil that took on false hero guises in the 1990s absence of the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and other high-profile heroes.

i will forgo any MBP's as i had to google for 1/2 an hour to find this answer ( if right) ...

[ffutures]

still had no idea. never read the comic books, not really a thing in my time. well mentioned in 1964 i was barely 3...lol


Baron Zemo: Heinrich Zemo was one of the elite Nazi scientists during World War II. After his death, his son Helmut Zemo took on the role and continued a heated rivalry with Captain America; he has teetered between heroism and villainy due to his association with the Thunderbolts, an ultimately reformed version of the Masters of Evil that took on false hero guises in the 1990s absence of the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and other high-profile heroes.

i will forgo any MBP's as i had to google for 1/2 an hour to find this answer ( if right) ...

That is indeed the right answer. OK, now for the hard part - the scores on the doors!

Nite Owl answered questions 1 and 3, and a MBP for starting the ball rolling
Disembodied answered question 2
cbr got question 4
and spud42 got question 5

When I wrote this I knew that it was likely that the questions would be answered in the orders 1-5, it's much easier than any sort of random order. So I'm NOT awarding victory to the last answer (sorry spud!) - instead I've gone with total number of answers. And with two answers and an MBP that makes Nite Owl the clear winner!

I pass the poisoned chalice in your general direction, and duck hastily...

[Nite Owl]

Real Life has been imposing upon me of late so please forgive any response delays and the simplicity. We are going to Jeopardy this one so the answer will be in the form of a question. The single correct answer will contain both the Title and Author of the described work.

Best described as being under pressure this novel is by an author who was nominated for some very prestigious awards but never won one.

[ffutures]

Real Life has been imposing upon me of late so please forgive any response delays and the simplicity. We are going to Jeopardy this one so the answer will be in the form of a question. The single correct answer will contain both the Title and Author of the described work.

Best described as being under pressure this novel is by an author who was nominated for some very prestigious awards but never won one.

OK, no idea what this is but I'm guessing it ISN'T The Dragon Under The Sea (1956) by Frank Herbert, original title Under Pressure, since I think he did win a few awards...

[Nite Owl]

You are correct that it is NOT The Dragon Under The Sea although you are heading in the right direction, down and into the wet.

[ffutures]

You are correct that it is NOT The Dragon Under The Sea although you are heading in the right direction, down and into the wet.

Is it Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne? A writer who conspicuously was NOT honoured by his peers during his lifetime because they considered his work too commercial, although he did receive a Legion of Honour award from the French government.

[Nite Owl]

NOT Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Vern. Much more obscure and relatively modern.

The war theme from the above is valid and the author's first name is academic.

[ffutures]

Is it Three Miles Down by Harry Turtledove (2022)? Underwater first contact novel set at the height of the Cold War. Not sure about the awards part, he's won awards for other things, but I don't think Three Miles Down was nominated for this year's Hugos.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-Miles-Do ... 1250829720

[Nite Owl]

NOT Three Miles Down. Relatively modern may have been misleading - try early 1960's.

[ffutures]

OK... slightly earlier than the 1960s, but is it City Under The Sea by Ken Bulmer (1957)? A space pilot is assigned to investigate the vast underwater farming industry, and is eventually kidnapped and modified with gills to keep him from escaping. Further details now escape me since I last read it in the mid-1960s. I should have thought of this one earlier since it's either the first or second full-length SF novel aimed at adults that I read. To the best of my knowledge Bulmer never won any SF awards, which is odd since he was a good writer and insanely prolific.



A much later edition than the one I read

[Nite Owl]

NOT City Under The Sea although you are getting closer in terms of content.

The author's last name has a Highland lilt to it but the author may not be from the Highlands.

[ffutures]

NOT City Under The Sea although you are getting closer in terms of content.

The author's last name has a Highland lilt to it but the author may not be from the Highlands.

Well, I'm not sure the author's name has a Highland lilt, given he's from Northern Ireland, but is it The Watch Below (1966) by James White? Survivors of a ship sunk in WW2 are trapped inside the hull and somehow survive for generations, eventually making first contact with aquatic aliens who are hiding out from Earth's military. White was nominated for awards a few times but never won.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Watch_Below
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_White_(author)

I should have thought of it sooner because the Corgi edition is on the bookshelves immediately behind me - I've literally been sitting within a foot or so of it when I've made every previous attempt to answer the question.

[Nite Owl]

NOT The Watch Below. Perhaps this is too obscure. Just randomly pulled something out of the Sci-Fi section of one of my bookcases and used it having not anticipated winning.

The first word of the two word title of the novel is the same as the structure that sits atop the U.S. Capital Building.

[ffutures]

Well, if you mean the US Capitol Building it's the Statue of Freedom. Can't find any 1960s SF novel that has a title beginning with Freedom and only two words, but at the moment I can't seem to log into the SF database and can't narrow the search down, and can only see the first 300 books that begin with the word freedom.

Anyone else have an idea?