Here’s a “quiz” I composed way back in 1996 or so, inspired by an earlier list by Connie Willis of quotes and names from classic (1950s and 1960s) works of SF, that she read off at some convention in 1995, and which was subsequently published in Locus Magazine. I composed a follow-up list from more recent works, the 1970s through the 1990s, and when I created Locus Online in 1997, I posted it there. It’s not a “quiz” exactly; it’s not a test you can take and be scored. It’s intended as an evocation of classic works. Here’s a link to the original post post in 1997:
Locus Online: My Locus Quiz
I am now reproducing it here. Below the ‘quiz’ I’m now providing answers. Except for one I don’t remember. I think if you are well-read in science fiction, you will recognize most of these. I suspect that many of the newer 21st century writers and fans will not. (But then, I wouldn’t recognize an analogous list from 21st century works.) Science fiction has a history of building upon the past, developing and recreating ideas from earlier works. But I suspect that’s fading.
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Waiting here, away from the terrifying weaponry, out of the halls of vapor and light, beyond holland and into the hills, I have come to
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Katy drives like a maniac…
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Leonora Christine
Enterprise
Proteus
Discovery
Streaker
Rama§
Sarah Boyle
Alyx
Cirocco Jones
Molly
Marianne O’Hara§
Winter comes to water as well as land, though there are no leaves to fall.
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God, how I wish I could go with them.
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It is possible I already had some presentiment of my future.
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Changing, the bureaucrat fell into the sea.
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I loved the Captain in my own way, although I knew that he was insane, the poor bastard.
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“I knew you’d come” she said, and the net opened.
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“In five years, the penis will be obsolete.”
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the Shrike
Griaule
the Hefn
Mechanists & Shapers
the Chtorr
Dua, Odeen, and Tritt
the Xeelee§
We live in the lovely and quiet dark.
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The anomaly showed up most starkly in Base 11 arithmetic, where it could be written out entirely as zeros and ones.
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The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.
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All these moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
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the Budayeen
the Unthinking Depths
Helliconia
Mars
cyberspace
Todos Santos§
Andrew Wiggin
Vergil Ulam
Miles Vorkosigan
Koriba
Ford Prefect
Shevek
Rat Korga
William Mandella§
…from that day forward she lived happily ever after. Except for the dying at the end. And the heartbreak in-between.
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Marvin the Paranoid Android
Roderick
R2D2
Data
Harlie§
“I’m HOME!” he yelled. Then he passed out.
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Eternally, it melts yes he turns and yes it melts and he falls through it melting and turning yes and yes eternally, it melts
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After all this time, I don’t remember offhand the sources for some of the names (of spaceships, of people), without Googling them. I do still recognize most of the quotes: in order, the first quote is the end of Samuel R. Delany’s Dhalgren; the second is the opening line of Joanna Russ’s story “When It Changed”; following lines are from Wolfe (“The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories”), Varley (“Air Raid”), Wolfe (The Shadow of the Torturer), Swanwick (Stations of the Tide), Malzberg (Beyond Apollo, Willis (Doomsday Book), Varley (not sure which story, “Options” maybe), Varley again (“The Persistence of Vision”), Sagan (Contact), Gibson (Neuromancer), Blade Runner, Lucius Shepard (“The Scalehunter’s Beautiful Daughter”), Tiptree (“Beam Us Home”), and Benford (In the Ocean of Night — I think; Google can’t confirm this, and the book is buried downstairs).
Some of the names are taken from movie and TV sf, and so should be familiar to anyone reading this blog, or most people in the population. Enterprise, R2D2. Data.
Others? I remember most of them, and can verify others by Googling. At least one is still missing.
First set, beginning with “Leonora Christine”: the starship in Poul Anderson’s Tau Zero, of course. Then: Star Trek of course, Fantastic Voyage, 2001, David Brin (Startide Rising), Arthur C. Clarke (Rendezvous with Rama). Sarah Boyle: not the singer of course, but the protagonist of Pamela Zoline’s “The Heat Death of the Universe”. Alyx is from Joanna Russ’s stories. Cirocco Jones is from John Varley’s Titan. Molly, from Gibson’s novels. Don’t remember Marianne O’Hara; Google redirects me to Maureen O’Hara. This is my one missing.
The Shrike, from Dan Simmons. Griaule, Lucius Shepard. Hefn, from Ursula K. Le Guin. Mechanists & Shapers: Bruce Sterling’s early stories and novel Schismatrix. The Chtorr: David Gerrold. Dua, Odeen, and Tritt: Asimov’s The Gods Themselves. The Xeelee: Stephen Baxter’s early works.
The Budayeen: George Alec Effinger, When Gravity Fails and later works. The Unthinking Depths: Vernor Vinge’s A Fire Upon the Deep. Helliconia: the trilogy by Brian Aldiss. Mars: among many others, Kim Stanley Robinson’s trilogy. Cyberspace: of course, William Gibson again. Todos Santos: Niven & Pournelle’s novel Oath of Fealty.
Andrew Wiggin: Card’s Ender’s Game of course. Vergil Ulam: Greg Bear’s Blood Music. Miles Vorkosigan: many novels and stories by Lois McMaster Bujold. Koriba: Mike Resnick’s Kirinyaga. Ford Prefrect: Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, of course. Shevek: Le Guin’s The Dispossessed. Rat Korga: Delany’s Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand. William Mandella: Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War.
Marvin the Paranoid Android: Adams’ Hitchhiker again. Roderick: novels by John Sladek. R2D2: Star Wars. Data: Star Trek the Next Generation. Harlie: David Gerrold.
In a way I don’t think most genre-outsiders suspect, the science fiction genre has built up a canon of essential works.
I am not as deeply familiar with SF works of the 21st century to attempt a follow-up.
