I’ve been given the task of preparing 30 HARD trivia questions from the fandom world.
Television
Film
Comics
Literature
So can you all help?
Just testing the waters - are these too hard, too easy or just right?
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(Lit) In the 1980’s two SF authors independently wrote novels about space elevators in the same year. Who were they and what were the novels?
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(TV) Which Babylon 5 character name references a Star Trek injoke
- Here’s the pseudonym - give me the real name
a) Paul French
b) Lyle Monroe
c) Don A. Stuart
d) William Tenn
- This major flop was the reason that Hollywood avoided big-budget science fiction films for twenty years. Name the film.
- What science fiction television show had the greatest number of individual episodes? (And, no, it’s not Doctor Who)
Probably way too easy, but:
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Comics. What manga dealt with the adventures of orbital debris collectors? Planetes
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Books) What novel gave the phrase, “Think of it as evolution in action.” to the science fiction community? Oath of Fealty.
Here are a few off the top of my head
1.) The submarine Nautilus featured in two of Jules Verne’s novels – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island. What is the third Verne novel that had a submarine in it?
2.) Verne made Captain Nemo an Indian prince (as portrayed in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but that was at the urging of his publisher. What was Nemo’s original nationality to have been?
3.) Which two iconic science fiction series got their start in the August 1928 issue of Amazing Stories?
4.) Aliens arrive on earth in Flying Saucers in the movies The Thing (from Another World), * The Day the Earth Stood Still*, and This Island Earth, but what else do the spaceships in these three films have in common?
5.) Before they appeared in Star Trek, James Doohan and William Shatner both appeared as regular cast member in what other TV show?
6.) This film featured a giant creature invading a city and being attacking in turn by biplanes, years BEFORE King Kong. What was the film?
7.) Robert Heinlein was given a plot by John W. Campbell for a story, which he wrote into a full novel and Campbell published, After his death, Campbell’s own story using that plot was published. Name both stories.
8.) Jules Verne wrote a sequel to this story by Edgar Allan Poe
9.) Who was Austin Carter?
10.) Who was Geoffrey Avalon?
The delicate balance here will be coming up with questions that are significant trivia, so to speak. Asking what’s the first word on page 30 of the first edition of Return of the King is difficult but not especially interesting.
Here are a couple that may be too easy, but definitely deal with interesting bits of SF lore:
Who is the only person to win the Hugo award for best novel three years in a row? (NK Jemisin; ask for the author’s first name, Nora, to make it harder)
In whose likeness was the World Fantasy Award trophy made until 2015? (HP Lovecraft; to make it harder, ask in what year the trophy was changed).
Who wrote “A True Story,” a second century Greek novel whose protagonist traveled to the moon?
So you’re saying “what have I got in my pocket?” is unfair to ask?
What was the name of the short story that became a cult SciFi movie, starring a Canadian wrestler?
How do you get a stubborn bomb to return to the bomb bay?
In the book A Clockwork Orange, how old was Alex deLarge in the beginning?
Eight O’Clock in the Morning by Ray Faraday Nelson. The movie was They Live.
Teach it Phenomenology.
15
Sure that one is SF?
Something stirring in the dusty cobwebs of my teenage memory tells me it was Lucian of Samos. Correct?
Which 16th/17th-century astronomer *also *wrote a novel about a trip to the Moon?
In the novel A Clockwork Orange, what is the derivation of the word Nadsat?
Slattery’s People? :dubious: 
Which two TV series had leading characters with the first names Harriman and Heywood?
The star of the syndicated Canadian show Police Surgeon also had a featured role on a network SF series. Name the actor, the character, and the series.
What TV series had a robot called Rhoda, and how was she (it) controlled?
BONUS POINTS: Name the series original stars.
How many novels did Martin Caidin write starring his bionic Steve Austin character?
Four - Cyborg, Operation Nuke, High Crystal and Cyborg IV
In what Warner Bros. cartoon was ***Buck Rogers in the 25th Century ***parodied?:
What SF parody featured a character named Dr Flexi Jerkoff?
Asking the meaning of acronyms could be useful–the meaning of KITT, KARR, ALF, VICI, CHOMPS, etc. (Knight Industries Two Thousand, Knight Automated Roving Robot, Alien Live Form, Voice Input Child Identicant, Canine HOMe Protection System.)
In Dark Star, what did the astronauts’ portable life support units consist of?
Nitpick: Life, not live.