Science Fiction Trivia

[ffutures]

First clue - The author's career mostly involved military fiction; SF was a very small proportion of his work.

[ffutures]

First clue - The author's career mostly involved military fiction; SF was a very small proportion of his work.

Second clue - His most famous character was a pilot.

[Disembodied]

I think it might be W. E. Johns, of "Biggles" fame … I'm not sure what the series is called but the first one is Kings of Space.

[Malacandra]

I think it might be W. E. Johns, of "Biggles" fame … I'm not sure what the series is called but the first one is Kings of Space.

Missed it by this -><- much!

[ffutures]

I think it might be W. E. Johns, of "Biggles" fame … I'm not sure what the series is called but the first one is Kings of Space.

Absolutely right - the series is usually called the "Tiger Clinton" series, but you've answered the question anyway. The (insert zipper-like word) is in your court.

[Disembodied]

OK, another list: name three starship pilots, from three different SF universes, who are physically connected to the ships they fly. I don't mean connected via something like a control helmet, or who sit in a special chair - these pilots should be hard-wired and plumbed in, such that separating them from their ship would require a significant engineering/surgical operation.

[Malacandra]

Eric, from "The Coldest Place" and "Becalmed In Hell", by Larry Niven
Helva, from The Ship Who Sang, by Anne McCaffrey
Murray Bennett, from "Solar Plexus", by James Blish

First two without cheating.

[Disembodied]

Score! The gripper is yours.

Other cyborg pilots could have included Seria Mau Genlicher, from M. John Harrison's Light; Pilot, the "Lobster" who helps Abelard Lindsay get to Earth in Bruce Sterling's Schismatrix; and Pilot, from Farscape. I'd also have accepted John Brannigan, from Alastair Reynold's Revelation Space, although there it's more an accidental merging of pilot and ship …

[Malacandra]

Okay, I'm looking for the title of a short story here. The narrator is standing in a certain place on Pluto looking in one fixed direction, which does not change all through the story, except for the parts that he is telling in flashback. He is now only aware of events during Pluto's nights, which pass with unnatural swiftness. He believes, though he does not know for sure, that his one companion is experiencing exactly the same phenomenon. What has happened to him/them and what is the name of the story?

[ffutures]

Easy - Larry Niven's Wait It Out, in his collection Inconsistent Moon. No googles needed (though I did open another story collection first before remembering which one it was).

[Malacandra]

Inconstant Moon, but yes. As you're clearly familiar with it I'll skip the part about a summary.

You're next!

[ffutures]

Sorry, I forgot the summary bit - they're stranded on Pluto and the protagonist froze himself in hope of being rescued sooner or later, the other guy died accidentally but may also be in frozen suspended not-quite-death. Unfortunately at night he's so cold his nerves superconduct and he can think and feel pain, by day he warms up just enough that he is unconscious. Good enough?

A nice easy one - what's the connection between The Clangers and Niven and Pournelle?

Later - to clarify, this isn't something stated by the authors or makers of the show, it's something eagle-eyed viewers spotted in one episode of the original series.

[Malacandra]

Ha! Easy. The Clangers had this episode where a strange ship appeared at the Crazy Eddy point and...

No, tell a lie, the similarity is that the Moties had a dragon living in a volcano that made green soup, and...

Oh, you sly dog, I'm on completely the wrong track. It was the ep where Tiny Clanger goes to hell and it's kind of like Dante brought up to date...?


...Nahh, I got nothin'.

ETA
Lol! Googled it.

[ffutures]

It's weird, but it makes sense.

OK, another clue - the connection is to an SF series by Niven and Pournelle.

[Malacandra]

Oh, OK. I was giving someone else the chance to chip in with the answer, but it goes like this: the Clangers' flag includes stars, stripes, a hammer and a sickle, thereby "proving" that ClangerWorld is part of the CoDominium.