Science Fiction Trivia

[ffutures]

The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues - Harry Harrison

That's four!

Sort of a song reference relevant to the above: The Lady Slings the Booze by Spider Robinson, part of the Callaghan's Bar series so SF

[Disembodied]

Sort of a song reference relevant to the above: The Lady Slings the Booze by Spider Robinson, part of the Callaghan's Bar series so SF

No, sorry - ruled out by VAR. It needs to be a direct reference to songs, singers, or singing to qualify.

[ffutures]

I wanted to go with The Armageddon Rag by George R. R. Martin, which I own but haven't read in a very long time, but when I checked it turns out to be fantasy, not SF. Also apparently his least successful book, which was such a bomb that he gave up writing for several years. You tell that to the kids of today.... but I digress.

Let's go instead with Martin's A Song for Lya (1975 Hugo-winning novella and title of story collection) which is definitely SF. A fun story about people sacrificing themselves to an alien god

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_for_Lya_(novella)

[Disembodied]

I wanted to go with The Armageddon Rag by George R. R. Martin, which I own but haven't read in a very long time, but when I checked it turns out to be fantasy, not SF. Also apparently his least successful book, which was such a bomb that he gave up writing for several years. You tell that to the kids of today.... but I digress.

Let's go instead with Martin's A Song for Lya (1975 Hugo-winning novella and title of story collection) which is definitely SF. A fun story about people sacrificing themselves to an alien god

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_for_Lya_(novella)

That’s five - the Kipper of Questioning is yours.

[RockDoctor]

The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues - Harry Harrison

Why am I tempted to escape into The Stainless Steel Rat For President?

[ffutures]

The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues - Harry Harrison

Why am I tempted to escape into The Stainless Steel Rat For President?

Which segues nicely into my next question - let's have five unlikely science-fictional candidates / incumbents for the US presidency or a successor state (such as combined USA and Canada). No real presidents or presidential candidates need apply - in fact the further we stay away from real politics, the happier I'll be - but the candidate must be unlikely for some reason; a fictional president who is otherwise unremarkable or unknown won't be accepted!

Usual rules - no two from the same source / author / canon, and only one answer per post. And please leave a little time for others to get a nomination in if you have more than one answer in mind.

A good example is President Roderick Kinnison, a serving member of E.E. Doc Smith's Galactic Patrol, who (to quote Wikipedia) "wins election as President of North America on the "Cosmocratic Party" ticket against the corrupt Witherspoon, who ran on the "Nationalist Party" ticket. North America still uses the electoral college system. The President of North America has a five-year term. North America is a republic composed of the former nations of Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Its constituent states are the former provinces of Canada, states of the United States, and states of Mexico. (This would make a total of 91 states, assuming the Canadian territories had not yet become states by that time.) The novel takes place several hundred years in the future after Earth has recovered from the late 20th century World War III." His electioneering method seems to involve sending square-jawed Galactic Patrol members to beat up gangsters and other undesirables, and hang around polling stations intimidating the votors ensuring electoral fairness.

Using him would rule out all other works by E.E. Smith or set in the Lensman universe. And to be honest I'd be dubious about accepting him, since he doesn't seem that unlikely...

[cbr]

Drax in Tux

[ffutures]

Drax in Tux

Unless being president is actually canon for this character I'm going to have to say no.

[cbr]

Dang,

Perhaps my initial first candidate fares better, Riddick?

[Disembodied]

Richard Nixon's head becomes President of Earth in Futurama … whether Earth counts as a "successor state" to the USA, I don't know, although he seems to live in the White House and even the fandom says

it is difficult to determine what, if any changes were made during the conversion from the President of the United States to the President of Earth

This is of course a common failing of (particularly US) science fiction - the assumption that the future will just be America, but in space. Futurama plays it for laughs, though, so it gets a free pass.

[ffutures]

Dang,

Perhaps my initial first candidate fares better, Riddick?

Again, he doesn't appear to be a canonical US president in any of the films etc. - I'm only looking for characters who have been US President (or President of a recognizable successor state) in canon. Riddick has been Lord Marshal of another planet, which really isn't the same thing.

Richard Nixon's head becomes President of Earth in Futurama … whether Earth counts as a "successor state" to the USA, I don't know, although he seems to live in the White House and even the fandom says

it is difficult to determine what, if any changes were made during the conversion from the President of the United States to the President of Earth

This is of course a common failing of (particularly US) science fiction - the assumption that the future will just be America, but in space. Futurama plays it for laughs, though, so it gets a free pass.

Tricky... I agree that the world presidency in Futurama is sufficiently an extension of the US to qualify in that respect. I did say No real presidents or presidential candidates need apply, but in this case you're not talking about his canon term of office, and it does seem ridiculously unlikely, so I shall pretend not to notice.

Of course this means that all other presidents etc. from Futurama canon are no longer eligible, and since there is a common creator this also rules out The Simpsons. So farewell then President Lisa Simpson, who is no longer eligible as an answer. Although the Simpsons isn't normally an SF show, there's time travel in the episode in which we saw her so it would have qualified!

One down, four to go.

[Disembodied]

Lex Luthor became President as far back as 2000, I believe …

[ffutures]

Lex Luthor became President as far back as 2000, I believe …

He did indeed. President Alexander Joseph Luthor - eventually impeached for the use of the illegal supersteroid Venom, the theft and use of an Apokyliptian Battle Suit, and the attempted murder of Superman and Batman. Funnily enough that was the main one I was thinking of when I set the question.

Two down, three to go. And no more from any version of the DC universe.

[Disembodied]

There's President John Henry Eden, from Fallout 3 …

[ffutures]

There's President John Henry Eden, from Fallout 3 …

I for one welcome the USA's new robotic overlord. That's number 3 - two to go!

And for the Luthor fans, here's one of his presidential debates:

https://youtu.be/1pAWLZOMZ_s