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