The Questions
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Fantasy and Science Fiction
Section I: Science Fiction on Television
- Jonathan Harris, Billy Mumy, Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, and Ed Bishop all starred in television shows set in outer space. What were the names of the characters that they portrayed?
Harris-- Dr. Smith (Lost in Space)
Mumy-- Will Robinson (Lost in Space)
Landau-- Commander Koenig (Space: 1999)
Bain-- Dr. Helena Russell (Space: 1999)
Bishop-- Commander Edward Straker (UFO)
- From the realm of "Star Trek," we want you to name 6 episodes of the regular television series in which Spock assumes command of the Enterprise because Kirk is lost, missing, or presumed dead.
"Mirror, Mirror"-- (Kirk is sent to alternative universe while Spock is left to cope with his barbarian double); "The Gamesters of Triskelion"-- (Kirk beamed off the Enterprise to Triskelion; Spock follows in the Enterprise); "The Paradise Syndrome"-- (Kirk becomes an Indian while Spock tries to divert an asteroid); "The Tholian Web"-- (Kirk fades into an interphase while exploring the Defiant; Spock searches for him); "Wink of an Eye"-- (Kirk disappears because he is accelerated; Spock finds an antidote); "The Mark of Gideon"-- (Kirk disappears in a duplicate Enterprise while Spock looks for him); "What Are Little Girls Made Of"-- (Korby makes an android of Kirk; Spock has to beam down and find him); "That Which Survives"-- (Kirk, on Kalandan outpost, leaves Spock to cope with a mysterious female trying to blow up the ship)
- Name six characters who often travelled with Tom Baker when he played the fourth Doctor Who.
Sarah Jane Smith; Harry Sullivan; Leela; K-9; Romana; Second Romana; Adric; Nyssa.
Section II: Hitch-Hiker's Guide
- What is a Rory?
A film award for "the most gratuitous use of the word Belgium in a serious screenplay."
- Name the five things that you can do in your attempt to leave the Earth, according to Douglas Adams.
Phone NASA; phone the White House; phone the Kremlin; phone the Pope; flag a passing flying saucer.
- We all know that Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged is a being with a purpose. What is that purpose?
To insult the entire Universe individually-- in alphabetical order.
- What did Zaphod Beeblebrox learn when he entered the Total Perspective Vortex, and why?
He learned that he was the most important thing in the univesre, because it was an artificial universe created especially for him.
- What are the parts of the Wikket Gate?
Marvin's leg (steel stake); the cricket tournament ashes (wooden stake); the Sceptre of Justice (plastic stake); the Heart of Gold (gold ball); the Rory (silver ball).
- If you have done six impossible things this morning, what should you do next?
Have breakfast at Milliway's, the restaurant at the end of the universe.
Section III: Connections
- What do these three worlds from Isaac Asimov's "Foundations" series have in common: Terminus, Kalgan, and Gaia?
They are all planets where the Second Foundation was thought to exist.
- What distinguishes these three actors from all others: Lon Chaney, Jr., Bela Lugosi, and Christopher Lee?
They have each portrayed both Frankenstein's monster AND Dracula.
- What do these three Princes have in common: Corwin, Valentine, and Rilian?
They all suffered from amnesia at one point in time.
- What do these four science fiction writers have in common: C.L. Moore, Jack Danvers, D.C. Fontana, and Andre Norton?
They are all women.
- What do these places have in common: Ringworld, Numenor, and Betelgeuse 5?
Their civilizations wre all destroyed by a catastrophe.
Section IV: Descriptions
The following questions are drawn from various works of science fiction and fantasy. Please give us the name of the place described in each question, and tell us which author created it.
- A kingdom where the Haldane and Festillic dynasties struggle for control of the monarchy and the church.
The Kingdom of Gwynedd, Katherine Kurtz
- This is a world filled with small islands where wizards wield power by knowing the true names of things.
Earthsea, Ursula Leguin
- This world was settled by a group of fiercely independent people whose professional fighting ability is unmatched by any of the other human worlds.
Dorsai, Gordon R. Dickson
- This land is surrounded on three sides by mountains. One half of it is a barren plateau, and the other half is dominated by a great, dark lake.
Mordor, J.R.R. Tolkien
- A world inhabited by sentient dragons and men that is periodically attacked by a plague from another planet.
Pern, Anne McCaffrey
- This hollow asteroid in a polar orbit around the sun houses spaceships constructed by a long-lost alien race.
Gateway, Frederick Pohl