Chronosynclastic Infundibulum

BOOK FIVE

1. In Ruchir Joshi’s novel ‘The Last Jet Engine Laugh’, Calcutta of the future is served by two airports. One is the existing one named after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. After whom is the other airport named?

2. Roger Zelazny’s ‘Lord of Light’ was filled with characters drawn from Hindu and Buddhist mythologies. Which of the characters in the novel is described as having red fiery eyes, and hence always goes around wearing large black glasses?

3. Charles J Shields wanted to write a biography of this author, and he sent a letter to the author expressing his interest in doing so. The author replied by sending a self-portrait of him smoking with the message “This is a picture of me demurring about your letter”. So Shields sent one more letter, much more detailed and persuasive this time around. The author replied by sending another self-portrait of him smoking with the message “OK”.

Whose biography took birth thus? And what was the biography, released posthumously, titled?

4. ‘The Tallest Doll in New York City’ is a short story by Maria Dahvana Headley. Who/what does the title of the story refer to? Also, who/what is her love interest in this Runyonesque story?

5. ‘The Cookie Carnival’ is a 1935 Disney animated film where all characters are varieties of desserts. Modern reviewers point out the homophobia and racism in the movie. What is the food item involved in each of the above cases of criticism?

6. ‘The Midas Flesh’ is a graphic novel written by Ryan North. What creation of his is his primary claim to fame?

7. Charles Stross announced in December 2013 that he won’t be writing the third book of the Halting State trilogy set in a near-future Scotland. Why did he make this decision?

We were talking of dragons, ______ and IIn a Berkshire bar. The big workmanWho had sat silent and sucked his pipeAll the evening, from his empty mugWith gleaming eye glanced towards us:‘I seen ’em myself!’ he said fiercely.

8. Identify the poet. Also fill in the blank.

9. Caladan Brood are a band that look and sound a lot like the more popular The Summoning. However, unlike The Summoning, their lyrics aren’t about Tolkien’s world, but instead from what epic fantasy series?

10. From the lyrics of which 1975 song is this book title taken?

11. Louis XIV had this inscribed on his cannons: “Ultima Ratio Regum”

The final book in a trilogy takes its name from the English translation of this quote. Name the book.

12. Identify this classic.

13. Identify the “movie”

14. In ‘Y: The Last Man’, when the plague that kills all men (except Y) strikes, Margaret Valentine, the Secretary of Agriculture becomes the President of the US as she is the survivor with the highest rank in USA’s chain of succession. She stands for re-election when things have settled down, and wins. She attributes her victory to being the most famous woman as “no one knows where _____ is hiding”.

Fill in the blank.

15. Eric Corley is a prominent hacker, and founder of the hacker quarterly 2600. He writes under the pen-name Emmanuel Goldstein, a reference to the fictional author of ‘The Theory and Practice of Oligarchal Collectivism’.

Emmanuel Goldstein is a character from which 1949 novel?

16. Identify this band that takes its name from the underground hideout of the main character of a 1982-1989 work.

17. This is the sixth book in the Bunnicula series (about a vampire bunny!). What’s the name of the raven in this book?

18. Sayuri Ueda’s novel ‘The Cage of Zeus’ is full words such as E, Em, and Eir. What are they?

19. The world is divided into five factions: Abnegation (the Selfless), Dauntless (the Brave), Candor (the Honest), Amity (the Peaceful), and Erudite (the Intelligent).  Once citizens reach a certain age, they must undergo testing to determine which faction best suits them, after which they are forced to decide whether to choose a new faction or stay put.  This is the premise of which YA series, now being made into a much-hyped movie?

20. David Peterson’s first creation was called “Megdevi”, put together when he was a student at UCB, and meant as a present to his then-girlfriend. (The name Megdevi is a portmanteau of his name, and that of his girlfriend Megan)

What is his most famous creation, that currently has 3700 entities, and he plans to continue adding to it until it reaches at least 10000?

21. According Gardner Dozois, the role of a science fiction writer was to notice the car and the movie theater and not just anticipate X, but go on to predict Y as well. In other words, not just write about futuristic innovations, but also about the social consequences of those innovations.

What are X and Y?

22. On what date was the 2006 remake of ‘The Omen’ released?

23. In 2013, shortly before the author’s death, his first novel was made into an opera by the composer Ben Frost and it debuted at Royal Opera House, London. Name the author, and the novel.

24. Original manuscript of?

25. In his youth, this author was an avid amateur boxer, and went by the nickname ‘Two-gun Bob’.

Name him, and his most famous creation.

26. This 1979 alternative history (and as the title makes it clear, alternative geography even!) novel is in news again thanks to parallels to current events in that part of the world. Name the novel.

27. This poem was published in an 1893 issue of Punch magazine in response to an article titled ‘The Man of the Year Million: A Scientific Forecast’ that was published in the Pall Mall Gazette. Who wrote this article, which tried to envision what man would evolve into a million years hence?

28. While the eventual movie adaptation was by David Lynch, there was a project getting another equally offbeat director to do it. This photo shows the artist who was commissioned with producing artwork for the movie, and some of the sketches he came up with for it. Name the movie, who was supposed to direct it, and who was the artist involved?

29. What is the book cover inspired by?

30. ‘Sheltered’ is set amid an isolated society of doomsday preppers who have spent their lives preparing for the end times, only to face danger from within when their own children decide to massacre all of the adults.

Given this premise, the subtitle categorises the comic into what ‘genre’?

31. There was a spurt of 1 star ratings for this book this past week. Same for the author’s other books too. Why?

32. Henry Beard and Douglas Kenney wrote the popular 1969 parody book ‘Bored of the Rings’. What did the two go on to found the same year?

33. For those only familiar with the famous movie adaptation, the book cover may seem very wrong, but the cover art shown here matches what is described in the book. Name the book/movie.

34. An annual award given to a work or works of science fiction or fantasy that explores and expands gender roles is named after an author whose gender was the source of much debate. Name the award.

35. Before he became an author, he served in the British army, and was stationed in India. When in India, he visited the Calcutta Botanical Gardens and saw a tree labeled as the biggest in the world. He thought about what would happen if the tree continued growing and ended up covering the whole world. Thus was born the idea behind which famous novel?

36. ‘Pillar to the Sky’ is the first of the novels marrying science fiction and science fact published by Tor in collaboration with whom?

37. ‘A Modest Proposal’ is a 1729 satire which advices the Irish poor to sell their children as food for the rich as a way out of their economic troubles. Who was the author?

38. A recent BMW i8 ad used this speech, thus probably making him the first sci-fi author to endorse a car, albeit posthumously. Identify the speaker.

39. This short story was the inspiration for which movie? And who wrote this story under the pen-name Don A Stuart, possibly to avoid insinuations of an editor favouring his own work for publication?

40. Alan Moore’s new book ‘____: Heart of Ice’ is the story of Janni Dakkar, daughter of ____, and her struggle to come to terms with her father’s legacy. Fill in the blank.

41. Who co-produced this Ralph Bakshi film?

42. What products made by Sirius Cybernetics work on a principle called “defocused temporal perception” which enables them to dimly perceive the immediate future and hence eliminate inefficiencies that involve waiting in a lobby, making tedious conversations, pressing buttons, etc.?

Answers follow……after this slide

1. In Ruchir Joshi’s novel ‘The Last Jet Engine Laugh’, Calcutta of the future is served by two airports. One is the existing one named after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. After whom is the other airport named?

Answer Rabindranath Tagore

2. Roger Zelazny’s ‘Lord of Light’ was filled with characters drawn from Hindu and Buddhist mythologies. Which of the characters in the novel is described as having red fiery eyes, and hence always goes around wearing large black glasses?

Answer Agni

3. Charles J Shields wanted to write a biography of this author, and he sent a letter to the author expressing his interest in doing so. The author replied by sending a self-portrait of him smoking with the message “This is a picture of me demurring about your letter”. So Shields sent one more letter, much more detailed and persuasive this time around. The author replied by sending another self-portrait of him smoking with the message “OK”.

Whose biography took birth thus? And what was the biography, released posthumously, titled?

Answer Kurt Vonnegut And So It Goes.

4. ‘The Tallest Doll in New York City’ is a short story by Maria Dahvana Headley. Who/what does the title of the story refer to? Also, who/what is her love interest in this Runyonesque story?

Answer Chrysler Building Empire State Building

5. ‘The Cookie Carnival’ is a 1935 Disney animated film where all characters are varieties of desserts. Modern reviewers point out the homophobia and racism in the movie. What is the food item involved in each of the above cases of criticism?

Answer Angel’s food cake Devil’s food cake

6. ‘The Midas Flesh’ is a graphic novel written by Ryan North. What creation of his is his primary claim to fame?

Answer Dinosaur Comics

7. Charles Stross announced in December 2013 that he won’t be writing the third book of the Halting State trilogy set in a near-future Scotland. Why did he make this decision?

Answer Because the present caught up with

his predicted future—NSA’s spying, Scotland on the brink of independence.

We were talking of dragons, ______ and IIn a Berkshire bar. The big workmanWho had sat silent and sucked his pipeAll the evening, from his empty mugWith gleaming eye glanced towards us:‘I seen ’em myself!’ he said fiercely.

8. Identify the poet. Also fill in the blank.

Answer CS Lewis Tolkien

9. Caladan Brood are a band that look and sound a lot like the more popular The Summoning. However, unlike The Summoning, their lyrics aren’t about Tolkien’s world, but instead from what epic fantasy series?

Answer Malazan: Book of the Fallen, by

Steven Erikson

10. From the lyrics of which 1975 song is this book title taken?

Answer Shine On You Crazy Diamond, by Pink

Floyd

11. Louis XIV had this inscribed on his cannons: “Ultima Ratio Regum”

The final book in a trilogy takes its name from the English translation of this quote. Name the book.

Answer Last Argument of Kings, by Joe

Abercrombie

12. Identify this classic.

Answer The Hearing Trumpet

13. Identify the “movie”

Answer The Worf of Starfleet

14. In ‘Y: The Last Man’, when the plague that kills all men (except Y) strikes, Margaret Valentine, the Secretary of Agriculture becomes the President of the US as she is the survivor with the highest rank in USA’s chain of succession. She stands for re-election when things have settled down, and wins. She attributes her victory to being the most famous woman as “no one knows where _____ is hiding”.

Fill in the blank.

Answer Oprah

15. Eric Corley is a prominent hacker, and founder of the hacker quarterly 2600. He writes under the pen-name Emmanuel Goldstein, a reference to the fictional author of ‘The Theory and Practice of Oligarchal Collectivism’.

Emmanuel Goldstein is a character from which 1949 novel?

Answer Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George

Orwell

16. Identify this band that takes its name from the underground hideout of the main character of a 1982-1989 work.

Answer Shadow Gallery, hideout of V in ‘V for

Vendetta’

17. This is the sixth book in the Bunnicula series (about a vampire bunny!). What’s the name of the raven in this book?

Answer Edgar Allan Crow

18. Sayuri Ueda’s novel ‘The Cage of Zeus’ is full words such as E, Em, and Eir. What are they?

Answer Spivak pronouns—gender neutral

pronouns. Ueda’s book deals with ‘Rounds’, people who have both male and female genitalia

19. The world is divided into five factions: Abnegation (the Selfless), Dauntless (the Brave), Candor (the Honest), Amity (the Peaceful), and Erudite (the Intelligent).  Once citizens reach a certain age, they must undergo testing to determine which faction best suits them, after which they are forced to decide whether to choose a new faction or stay put.  This is the premise of which YA series, now being made into a much-hyped movie?

Answer Divergent, by Veronica Roth

20. David Peterson’s first creation was called “Megdevi”, put together when he was a student at UCB, and meant as a present to his then-girlfriend. (The name Megdevi is a portmanteau of his name, and that of his girlfriend Megan)

What is his most famous creation, that currently has 3700 entities, and he plans to continue adding to it until it reaches at least 10000?

Answer The Dothraki conlang

21. According Gardner Dozois, the role of a science fiction writer was to notice the car and the movie theater and not just anticipate X, but go on to predict Y as well. In other words, not just write about futuristic innovations, but also about the social consequences of those innovations.

What are X and Y?

Answer Drive-in theaters The sexual revolution

22. On what date was the 2006 remake of ‘The Omen’ released?

Answer 6th June (thus 6/6/6)

23. In 2013, shortly before the author’s death, his first novel was made into an opera by the composer Ben Frost and it debuted at Royal Opera House, London. Name the author, and the novel.

Answer Iain Banks The Wasp Factory

24. Original manuscript of?

Answer Dracula, by Bram Stoker

25. In his youth, this author was an avid amateur boxer, and went by the nickname ‘Two-gun Bob’.

Name him, and his most famous creation.

Answer Robert E Howard Conan, the Barbarian

26. This 1979 alternative history (and as the title makes it clear, alternative geography even!) novel is in news again thanks to parallels to current events in that part of the world. Name the novel.

Answer The Island of Crimea

27. This poem was published in an 1893 issue of Punch magazine in response to an article titled ‘The Man of the Year Million: A Scientific Forecast’ that was published in the Pall Mall Gazette. Who wrote this article, which tried to envision what man would evolve into a million years hence?

Answer HG Wells

28. While the eventual movie adaptation was by David Lynch, there was a project getting another equally offbeat director to do it. This photo shows the artist who was commissioned with producing artwork for the movie, and some of the sketches he came up with for it. Name the movie, who was supposed to direct it, and who was the artist involved?

Answer Dune Alexander Jodorowsky HR Giger

29. What is the book cover inspired by?

Answer The painting ‘Napoleon Crossing the

Alps’

30. ‘Sheltered’ is set amid an isolated society of doomsday preppers who have spent their lives preparing for the end times, only to face danger from within when their own children decide to massacre all of the adults.

Given this premise, the subtitle categorises the comic into what ‘genre’?

Answer Pre-apocalyptic

31. There was a spurt of 1 star ratings for this book this past week. Same for the author’s other books too. Why?

Answer Lynn Shepherd asked JK Rowling to

stop writing

32. Henry Beard and Douglas Kenney wrote the popular 1969 parody book ‘Bored of the Rings’. What did the two go on to found the same year?

Answer National Lampoon

33. For those only familiar with the famous movie adaptation, the book cover may seem very wrong, but the cover art shown here matches what is described in the book. Name the book/movie.

Answer Wizard of Oz (book had silver shoes,

movie had ruby slippers)

34. An annual award given to a work or works of science fiction or fantasy that explores and expands gender roles is named after an author whose gender was the source of much debate. Name the award.

Answer James Tiptree Jr. Award

35. Before he became an author, he served in the British army, and was stationed in India. When in India, he visited the Calcutta Botanical Gardens and saw a tree labeled as the biggest in the world. He thought about what would happen if the tree continued growing and ended up covering the whole world. Thus was born the idea behind which famous novel?

Answer Hothouse, by Brian Aldiss

36. ‘Pillar to the Sky’ is the first of the novels marrying science fiction and science fact published by Tor in collaboration with whom?

Answer NASA

37. ‘A Modest Proposal’ is a 1729 satire which advices the Irish poor to sell their children as food for the rich as a way out of their economic troubles. Who was the author?

Answer Jonathan Swift

38. A recent BMW i8 ad used this speech, thus probably making him the first sci-fi author to endorse a car, albeit posthumously. Identify the speaker.

Answer Arthur C Clarke

39. This short story was the inspiration for which movie? And who wrote this story under the pen-name Don A Stuart, possibly to avoid insinuations of an editor favouring his own work for publication?

Answer The Thing John W Campbell Jr.

40. Alan Moore’s new book ‘____: Heart of Ice’ is the story of Janni Dakkar, daughter of ____, and her struggle to come to terms with her father’s legacy. Fill in the blank.

Answer Nemo

41. Who co-produced this Ralph Bakshi film?

Answer Frank Frazetta

42. What products made by Sirius Cybernetics work on a principle called “defocused temporal perception” which enables them to dimly perceive the immediate future and hence eliminate inefficiencies that involve waiting in a lobby, making tedious conversations, pressing buttons, etc.?

Answer Elevators