Science Fiction Trivia

[ffutures]

OK, this one seems to be foundering a bit, let's have some clues:

ECoM - novel, 1890s
TAM - novel, 1960s
TAT - film, 1970s
FM - short story, 1980s
TTS - novel, 1990s
W13 - TV series, 2000s

Some of these are well known, others a bit less obvious. MBPs will be awarded appropriately...

[spud42]

w13. has to be warehouse 13. doesnt HG Wells turn out to be a woman? memory not what it once was...

[ffutures]

w13. has to be warehouse 13. doesnt HG Wells turn out to be a woman? memory not what it once was...

Helena Wells, a scientist who also wrote fiction which her brother published for her. Lots of references to Wells' SF e.g. she was working on time travel, was frozen for 70 years or so, and so on. That's an answer, but a pretty easy one so no MBP.

[Wildeblood]

w13. has to be warehouse 13. doesnt HG Wells turn out to be a woman? memory not what it once was...

I really enjoyed Warehouse 13 when it started. I disliked the Wells character, I thought that was where it went wrong.

[spud42]

yes i think the writers were running out of puff by then. still was a great show. must see if its on stream in Aust....

[ffutures]

More on those clues

ECoM - novel, 1890s - The first word of the title is a real person's surname
TAM - novel, 1960s - Author's initials are ABC
TAT - film, 1970s - The first and last words of the title are the same
FM - short story, 1980s - Told in the first person by a movie personality
TTS - novel, 1990s - An authorized sequel
W13 - TV series, 2000s - Warehouse 13

[Wildeblood]

TAT - film, 1970s - The first and last words of the title are the same

Time After Time is a 1979 American science fiction film written and directed by Nicholas Meyer and starring Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, and Mary Steenburgen. Filmed in Panavision, it was the directing debut of Meyer, whose screenplay is based on the premise from Karl Alexander's novel Time After Time (which was unfinished at the time) and a story by Alexander and Steve Hayes. The film presents a story in which British author H. G. Wells uses his time machine to pursue Jack the Ripper into the 20th century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Afte ... 1979_film)

[Wildeblood]

TAM - novel, 1960s - Author's initials are ABC

I thought I would cheat phone a friend with this clue. I learnt that Gemini is still a very lame AI helper:-

W. Wildeblood, Esq.: "sci-fi author with initials ABC"

Gemini: "Arthur C. Clarke is a science fiction author with initials ABC."

[Wildeblood]

TAM - novel, 1960s - Author's initials are ABC

The Alternate Martians by A. Bertram Chandler

Captain Wilkinson is given the mission to pilot a scientific research ship to Mars to test a theory of a Professor who believes that the Mars of Burroughs and that of HG Wells might have existed in some other timeline.
Wilkinson has to deal with a skeleton crew, a truculent engineer and Navy space bureaucracy before his ship finally lands at the Martian Pole. There due to a conflict between the Professor's equipment and the ship’s drive, the ship and its crew are translocated to a Mars with life and an atmosphere.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/164 ... e-martians

[Wildeblood]

ECoM - novel, 1890s - The first word of the title is a real person's surname

I had never heard of that one before. According to its Wikipedia page, it was quite innovative. (Thanks, ChatGPT, for finding it for me. You're a much better AI helper than lame-o Gemini.)

[ffutures]

TAT - film, 1970s - The first and last words of the title are the same

Time After Time is a 1979 American science fiction film written and directed by Nicholas Meyer and starring Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, and Mary Steenburgen. Filmed in Panavision, it was the directing debut of Meyer, whose screenplay is based on the premise from Karl Alexander's novel Time After Time (which was unfinished at the time) and a story by Alexander and Steve Hayes. The film presents a story in which British author H. G. Wells uses his time machine to pursue Jack the Ripper into the 20th century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Afte ... 1979_film)

Exactly right, but this is a pretty easy one so no MBP.

That makes three, which is what I originally said, however there is another contender...

TAM - novel, 1960s - Author's initials are ABC

The Alternate Martians by A. Bertram Chandler

Captain Wilkinson is given the mission to pilot a scientific research ship to Mars to test a theory of a Professor who believes that the Mars of Burroughs and that of HG Wells might have existed in some other timeline.
Wilkinson has to deal with a skeleton crew, a truculent engineer and Navy space bureaucracy before his ship finally lands at the Martian Pole. There due to a conflict between the Professor's equipment and the ship’s drive, the ship and its crew are translocated to a Mars with life and an atmosphere.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/164 ... e-martians

The Mars they find is inhabited by red and green Martians (Burroughs) who have been enslaved by Wells' Martians. Some of them have Cockney accents, having been slaves of the occupation forces on Earth, and appropriate names. e.g. one Martian woman they meet is called Deja Doris...

Well spotted - have a meaningless bonus point!
And have another one for your friend Gemini!

W. Wildeblood, Esq.: "sci-fi author with initials ABC"

Gemini: "Arthur C. Clarke is a science fiction author with initials ABC."

Backs away slowly.

OK, that's now four answers, and while I did originally say three let's say that that last one is a tie. I think that we need another answer as a decider... Whoever gets it wins the poisoned chalice...

Two more of the clues I gave have been answered, and I'll add another clue for each of the ones left, but remember that there are lots of others possibilities...

ECoM - novel, 1890s - The first word of the title is a real person's surname - The last word is a location
TAM - novel, 1960s - Author's initials are ABC
TAT - film, 1970s - The first and last words of the title are the same
FM - short story, 1980s - Told in the first person by a movie personality - British author
TTS - novel, 1990s - An authorized sequel - British author
W13 - TV series, 2000s - Warehouse 13

[ffutures]

ECoM - novel, 1890s - The first word of the title is a real person's surname

I had never heard of that one before. According to its Wikipedia page, it was quite innovative. (Thanks, ChatGPT, for finding it for me. You're a much better AI helper than lame-o Gemini.)

Sorry, missed this one - it is actually out of copyright even in the USA and on Project Gutenberg if you want to read it.

[Wildeblood]

Okay, I'm going to reveal the answers to two more of your clues, and claim the poisoned chalice. (Mine! All mine!)

Two more of the clues I gave have been answered, and I'll add another clue for each of the ones left, but remember that there are lots of others possibilities...

ECoM - novel, 1890s - The first word of the title is a real person's surname - The last word is a location
TAM - novel, 1960s - Author's initials are ABC
TAT - film, 1970s - The first and last words of the title are the same
FM - short story, 1980s - Told in the first person by a movie personality - British author
TTS - novel, 1990s - An authorized sequel - British author
W13 - TV series, 2000s - Warehouse 13

ECoM - novel, 1890s - The first word of the title is a real person's surname - The last word is a location

Your new clue, the last word is a location, adds no real information since its similarity to JCoM biases anyone to assume the last words are of "of Mars". My thought process went, "Did John have a brother named Edward? Oh wait, not name, specifically surname." So I googled two lists of surnames starting with E, for inspiration of who where prominent names at that time, carelessly overlooked the correct answer - Edison - if it appeared in those lists, and gave up in disgust. ChatGPT directed me to Edison's Conquest of Mars.

Edison's Conquest of Mars is an 1898 science fiction novel by American astronomer and writer Garrett P. Serviss. It was written as a sequel to Fighters from Mars, an unauthorized and heavily altered version of H. G. Wells's 1897 story The War of the Worlds. It has a place in the history of science fiction for its early employment of themes and motifs that later became staples of the genre.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison%27 ... st_of_Mars

TTS - novel, 1990s - An authorized sequel - British author

The Time Ships is a 1995 hard science fiction novel by Stephen Baxter. A canonical sequel to the 1895 novella The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, it was officially authorized by the Wells estate to mark the centenary of the original's publication. The Time Ships won critical acclaim. It won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and the Philip K. Dick Award in 1996, as well as the British Science Fiction Association Award in 1995. It was also nominated for the Hugo, Clarke and Locus Awards in 1996.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Time_Ships

FM - short story, 1980s - Told in the first person by a movie personality - British author

I have no idea what that clue refers to.

[Wildeblood]

Unless there is a protest, here is the new puzzle, inspired by the mention of Edison: fictionalized adventures of Nikola Tesla.

I'm thinking of a particular work, written by an online acquaintance of mine, but I'm sure there are several others. So let's just see if anyone can guess that particular work, and instantly claim the chalice, or how many other similar works might exist, or if we get bored, or whatever. (I'm not a details person.)

[Cholmondely]

I'm not a details person.

How can you write dozens of OXPs and expect anybody to believe that?