Science fiction - Quiz
Science fiction
  • 1. What does David Hartwell claim is the appeal of science fiction?
A) A strictly historical perspective on technology
B) A rejection of believable concepts
C) A combination of the rational and the miraculous
D) A focus on purely fantastical elements
  • 2. According to Carl Sagan, what is a benefit of science fiction?
A) It replaces the need for scientific education
B) It provides a blueprint for future inventions
C) It conveys knowledge that might otherwise be inaccessible
D) It allows readers to escape reality entirely
  • 3. In 1967, why did Isaac Asimov suggest old-time fans were restless?
A) Science fiction was becoming too expensive
B) Real life began to resemble past science fiction
C) New fans were excluding older generations
D) The quality of writing had significantly declined
  • 4. What did Asimov say happened to the 'sense of wonder' in 1967?
A) It vanished entirely from all literature
B) It became prosaic and mundane
C) It became more accessible to young children
D) It was replaced by purely political themes
  • 5. What activities are included in the field of science fiction studies?
A) Critical assessment, interpretation, and discussion
B) Funding commercial film productions
C) Writing new science fiction novels
D) Developing new technologies for space travel
  • 6. When did science fiction studies begin to solidify as a discipline?
A) During the early 19th century
B) With the publication of academic journals in the mid-to-late 20th century
C) Only after the invention of the internet
D) Immediately after the invention of the printing press
  • 7. Which academic journal was published in 1959?
A) Science Fiction Studies
B) Extrapolation
C) The Academic Review
D) Foundation
  • 8. What is the oldest organization devoted to the study of science fiction established in 1970?
A) Science Fiction Writers of America
B) The Global Sci-Fi Institute
C) Science Fiction Research Association
D) The Future Studies League
  • 9. Which university is mentioned as offering science fiction degree-granting programs?
A) University of Oxford
B) University of Cambridge
C) University of Liverpool
D) University of London
  • 10. What does science fiction study attempt to understand in relation to the genre?
A) The biological origins of science fiction writers
B) The profitability of science fiction film studios
C) How to predict the stock market using science fiction
D) Its relationship to science, technology, politics, and culture
  • 11. Which novel by Liu Cixin was published in English in 2014?
A) Ball Lightning
B) The Three-Body Problem
C) Supernova Era
D) The Wandering Earth
  • 12. Who translated The Three-Body Problem into English?
A) Ken Liu
B) Fritz Lang
C) George Lucas
D) Liu Cixin
  • 13. What award did Liu Cixin win in 2015 for his novel?
A) Nebula Award
B) Hugo Award
C) World Fantasy Award
D) Locus Award
  • 14. Who directed the 1902 film A Trip to the Moon?
A) Ishirō Honda
B) Stanley Kubrick
C) Georges Méliès
D) Fritz Lang
  • 15. What is considered the first feature-length science fiction film?
A) 2001: A Space Odyssey
B) A Trip to the Moon
C) Godzilla
D) Metropolis
  • 16. Which film started the kaiju subgenre in 1954?
A) Gamera
B) Mothra
C) Godzilla
D) King Kong
  • 17. Which film was based on the stories of Arthur C. Clarke?
A) Blade Runner
B) Star Wars
C) 2001: A Space Odyssey
D) Planet of the Apes
  • 18. The 1968 film Planet of the Apes was based on a novel by which author?
A) Pierre Boulle
B) George Lucas
C) Arthur C. Clarke
D) Karel Čapek
  • 19. Which science fiction film series is often called a space opera?
A) Babylon 5
B) Stargate
C) Star Wars
D) Star Trek
  • 20. The first known science fiction TV program was an adaptation of which play?
A) RUR
B) Doctor Who
C) Captain Video
D) The Jetsons
  • 21. Who produced and narrated the original Twilight Zone series?
A) Gene Roddenberry
B) Stanley Kubrick
C) Rod Serling
D) Chris Carter
  • 22. The Jetsons predicted which of these inventions?
A) Time travel
B) Video chat
C) Faster than light travel
D) Teleportation
  • 23. In what year did the series Doctor Who premiere?
A) 1989
B) 1966
C) 1959
D) 1963
  • 24. Who created the original Star Trek series?
A) Rod Serling
B) Gene Roddenberry
C) Chris Carter
D) Fritz Lang
  • 25. Which series features a crew on a Firefly-class spaceship?
A) The Expanse
B) Stargate SG-1
C) Firefly
D) Star Trek: Voyager
  • 26. Who wrote the 2nd-century novel A True Story?
A) Lucian
B) Voltaire
C) Francis Bacon
D) Johannes Kepler
  • 27. Which novel depicts a journey to the Moon and how Earth's motion is seen from there?
A) Frankenstein
B) Somnium
C) New Atlantis
D) A True Story
  • 28. Who is often called the 'father of science fiction'?
A) H. G. Wells
B) Jules Verne
C) Isaac Asimov
D) Johannes Kepler
  • 29. Which author is considered the 'Shakespeare of science fiction'?
A) Edgar Allan Poe
B) Jules Verne
C) H. G. Wells
D) Mary Shelley
  • 30. Which 1818 novel helped define the science fiction genre?
A) Micromégas
B) Frankenstein
C) The Last Man
D) The Time Machine
  • 31. Who wrote the novel El anacronópete, which introduced the first time machine?
A) Jules Verne
B) Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau
C) J.-H. Rosny aîné
D) H. G. Wells
  • 32. In which novel was the word 'astronaut' used for the first time?
A) Les Navigateurs de l'Infini
B) The Time Machine
C) A True Story
D) Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas
  • 33. Which author was noted for scientific accuracy in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas?
A) Jules Verne
B) H. G. Wells
C) Isaac Asimov
D) Carl Sagan
  • 34. Which 13th-century novel is argued to contain science fiction elements?
A) Theologus Autodidactus
B) The Blazing World
C) New Atlantis
D) Somnium
  • 35. Which of these novels was written by Margaret Cavendish?
A) New Atlantis
B) Micromégas
C) The Island of Doctor Moreau
D) The Blazing World
  • 36. What did H. G. Wells predict in his non-fiction futurologist works?
A) The end of the monarchy
B) The invention of the steam engine
C) Nuclear weapons
D) The discovery of gravity
  • 37. Who wrote 'The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall'?
A) Voltaire
B) H. G. Wells
C) Jules Verne
D) Edgar Allan Poe
  • 38. What is the common abbreviation for science fiction?
A) SFI
B) SCI
C) SCIF
D) SF
  • 39. Which subgenre explores the interface between technology and society?
A) Climate fiction
B) Hard science fiction
C) Cyberpunk
D) Space opera
  • 40. Who stated that science fiction is what we point to when we say it?
A) Damon Knight
B) Isaac Asimov
C) John Clute
D) Robert A. Heinlein
  • 41. What is Robert A. Heinlein's definition of science fiction based on?
A) Pure fantasy and magic
B) Sociological studies of current trends
C) Realistic speculation about possible future events
D) Historical accuracy of ancient civilizations
  • 42. Who is credited with first using the term 'sci-fi' around 1954?
A) Forrest J Ackerman
B) Robert Heinlein
C) Damon Knight
D) Peter Nicholls
  • 43. What trendy term is 'sci-fi' reminiscent of?
A) pop-fi
B) hi-fi
C) sci-tech
D) wi-fi
  • 44. Who provided the first known use of 'sci-fi' in print?
A) Terry Carr
B) Jesse Zunser
C) Forrest J Ackerman
D) Damon Knight
  • 45. Which work was described using the term 'sci-fi' in the first known printed instance?
A) Donovan's Brain
B) The Pulp Chronicles
C) B Movie Tales
D) Serious Science Fiction
  • 46. When did the first known use of 'sci-fi' in print occur?
A) January 1993
B) January 1950
C) January 1954
D) January 1970
  • 47. Which Russian author wrote the dystopian novel We in 1924?
A) Isaac Asimov
B) Ivan Yefremov
C) Stanisław Lem
D) Yevgeny Zamyatin
  • 48. What was the name of the first American science fiction magazine published in 1926?
A) The Skylark of Space
B) Astounding Science Fiction
C) Amazing Stories
D) Science Fiction World
  • 49. Who is the author of the 1930 future history novel Last and First Men?
A) Neal Stephenson
B) William Gibson
C) Robert A. Heinlein
D) Olaf Stapledon
  • 50. Which editor's arrival at Astounding Science Fiction in 1937 is considered the start of the Golden Age?
A) Hugo Gernsback
B) John W. Campbell
C) Isaac Asimov
D) Frank Herbert
  • 51. What is the concept introduced in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series?
A) Powered armor
B) Psychohistory
C) Cyberspace
D) Necroevolution
  • 52. Which 1959 novel by Robert A. Heinlein is an influential example of military science fiction?
A) Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale
B) Solaris
C) Snow Crash
D) Starship Troopers
  • 53. What is the most popular book series in science fiction to date?
A) Dune
B) Perry Rhodan
C) Dragonriders of Pern
D) Foundation
  • 54. Which 1961 novel by Stanisław Lem deals with an intelligent ocean?
A) Andromeda
B) We
C) Neuromancer
D) Solaris
  • 55. Which novel by Frank Herbert imagined a more complex and detailed future society in 1965?
A) Solaris
B) The Left Hand of Darkness
C) Last and First Men
D) Dune
  • 56. Who won the first Hugo or Nebula award given to a female author?
A) Lois McMaster Bujold
B) Octavia Butler
C) Ursula K. Le Guin
D) Anne McCaffrey
  • 57. The Blade Runner movie franchise is based on a novel by which author?
A) Philip K. Dick
B) William Gibson
C) Neal Stephenson
D) Frank Herbert
  • 58. William Gibson's novel Neuromancer helped popularize which term?
A) Psychohistory
B) Smartdust
C) Nanotechnology
D) Cyberspace
  • 59. Who was the first science fiction author to receive a MacArthur Fellowship?
A) Octavia Butler
B) Ursula K. Le Guin
C) Lois McMaster Bujold
D) Anne McCaffrey
  • 60. Which 1992 novel predicted social upheaval due to the information revolution?
A) Neuromancer
B) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
C) Shards of Honor
D) Snow Crash
  • 61. Which novel by H.G. Wells is cited as a warning about negative consequences of progress?
A) The Time Machine
B) Star Trek
C) 2001: A Space Odyssey
D) Brave New World
  • 62. Which of these inventions is mentioned as having been predicted by science fiction?
A) The microscope
B) The printing press
C) The steam engine
D) The atomic bomb
  • 63. In the 2020 TV series 'Away', what is the Mars rover called?
A) Opportunity
B) Perseverance
C) Curiosity
D) InSight
  • 64. How did Brian Aldiss describe science fiction?
A) A failed prophecy
B) Historical documentation
C) A scientific textbook
D) Cultural wallpaper
  • 65. Which novel by George Orwell is cited as an important work of dystopian science fiction?
A) Fahrenheit 451
B) Animal Farm
C) Nineteen Eighty-Four
D) Brave New World
  • 66. What is the primary theme James Cameron's film Avatar is intended to protest?
A) Technological advancement
B) Environmental conservation
C) Capitalism
D) Imperialism
  • 67. What does science fiction in Latin America and Spain primarily explore?
A) Time travel
B) Artificial intelligence
C) Authoritarianism
D) Space exploration
  • 68. What social concern do critics often associate with themes of robots and intelligent computers?
A) Nuclear war
B) Overpopulation
C) Technological unemployment
D) Social alienation
  • 69. What does feminist science fiction often explore regarding gender?
A) How society constructs gender roles
B) The superiority of one gender
C) The mechanics of reproductive technology
D) The history of biological evolution
  • 70. Which author is identified as a popular writer of libertarian science fiction?
A) Mary Shelley
B) George Orwell
C) James Cameron
D) Robert A. Heinlein
  • 71. What political philosophy is central to libertarian science fiction?
A) Anarcho-syndicalism
B) Totalitarianism
C) Right libertarianism
D) Socialism
  • 72. Who dismissed the traditional definition of hard science fiction, describing it instead by the characters' stoic determination?
A) Tade Thompson
B) Ursula K. Le Guin
C) Michael Swanwick
D) Jeff VanderMeer
  • 73. What did Ursula K. Le Guin claim hard science fiction writers are not interested in?
A) The use of mathematics
B) Technical accuracy
C) What human beings do
D) The laws of physics
  • 74. Which author was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature and wrote the Canopus in Argos series?
A) Margaret Atwood
B) Mary Shelley
C) Ursula K. Le Guin
D) Doris Lessing
  • 75. According to David Barnett, which book is an example of a novel that uses science fiction tropes but is not classified as science fiction by its author?
A) The Road
B) Ender's Game
C) Rendezvous with Rama
D) Cat's Cradle
  • 76. Which critic included Brave New World and Solaris in The Western Canon?
A) Harold Bloom
B) Jonathan Lethem
C) David Barnett
D) Gregory Benford
  • 77. What is Orson Scott Card best known for?
A) Childhood's End
B) The Left Hand of Darkness
C) Ender's Game
D) Fahrenheit 451
  • 78. What author was nominated for a Nebula Award in 1973 for Gravity's Rainbow?
A) Arthur C. Clarke
B) Stanisław Lem
C) Thomas Pynchon
D) Orson Scott Card
  • 79. According to 2013 statistics from Tor Books, what percentage of submissions were from men?
A) 90%
B) 50%
C) 22%
D) 78%
  • 80. The 2015 Hugo Awards controversy highlighted a tension regarding what type of works?
A) Diverse works
B) Romantic poetry
C) Historical biographies
D) Scientific textbooks
  • 81. Where is the Endeavour Award presented?
A) The Science Correspondence Club
B) Comic-con
C) Worldcon
D) Orycon
  • 82. What is the common abbreviation for science fiction conventions?
A) Fanzines
B) Cons
C) Archives
D) Polls
  • 83. What was the name of the first science fiction fanzine?
A) Ansible
B) Amazing Stories
C) The Comet
D) File 770
  • 84. In what city was the first fanzine published?
A) London
B) New York
C) San Francisco
D) Chicago
  • 85. Who edits the fanzine Ansible?
A) Brad W. Foster
B) Teddy Harvia
C) David Langford
D) Joe Mayhew
  • 86. Which Hugo-winning fanzine is mentioned alongside File 770 and Mimosa?
A) Amazing Stories
B) The Comet
C) Ansible
D) Plokta
  • 87. Which of these is mentioned as a fictional biological concept?
A) Domesticated pets
B) Mutants
C) Traditional wildlife
D) Agricultural crops
  • 88. Which of these is an example of an undiscovered scientific possibility?
A) Teleportation
B) Radio broadcasting
C) Combustion engines
D) Microscopy
  • 89. What kind of social systems are often found in science fiction?
A) Feudal
B) Colonial
C) Monarchical
D) Dystopian
  • 90. What is the typical role of a science fiction protagonist when facing a fanatic?
A) They often combat the fanatic
B) They ignore the fanatic entirely
C) They join the fanatic in their cause
D) They become a student of the fanatic
  • 91. How many subdivisions of science fiction does Gary K. Wolfe identify?
A) Exactly 10
B) Exactly 20
C) Fewer than 5
D) Over 30
  • 92. Which of these is considered a paranormal ability in science fiction?
A) Physical strength
B) Advanced mathematics
C) Telekinesis
D) Cooking
  • 93. Which setting is considered a typical science fiction location?
A) A standard suburban neighborhood
B) A local grocery store
C) A typical office building
D) Parallel universes
  • 94. What is science fantasy considered in relation to science fiction?
A) A strictly historical category
B) A direct synonym
C) A completely unrelated field
D) A mixed genre
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