Ok, I hope you don't mind a regurgitation Kathleen? I saw this in the archives and, well, we have a completely new set of writers here now, so I thought it might do well in a rerun.
I got Hal Clement, and I think I like that. It sort of rings true.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Well, I'm not sure about the term "regurgitation." I guess I prefer "resurrection" when it comes to bringing something back from the archives for more discussion.
Anyway, go ahead. Enjoy.
Posted by Kitti (Member # 7277) on :
I'm apparently E.E. "Doc" Smith. Um, I must confess to not knowing who he was before I looked it up.
Posted by BenM (Member # 8329) on :
Ursula K. LeGuin. Coincidentally, I'm at this very moment reading A Wizard of Earthsea. Go figure.
Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :
I got E.E. "Doc" Smith - I haven't read him. However, I teetered on some of the choices - I'm curious what my alternates would have produced.
Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :
Hey, Kitti - just saw your post - maybe we should start a club or something.
I took it a second time, with my alternate choices, and came up with Robert A. Heinlein - I must say I'm more familiar with him.
Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
Isaac Asimov! I'll take it.
Posted by Dropbear (Member # 8819) on :
William Gibson -- Hell yes!
Funnily enough, the novel I'm trying to get together is a post-cyberpunk type of thing.
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
Gregory Benford -
"A master literary stylist who is also a working scientist."
Oh my gosh, this is really funny. I've only ever read one of his books and I really hated it. Maybe I should give him another try.
Posted by Lyrajean (Member # 7664) on :
Got Octavia Butler. Never read any of her stuff.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Hmmmmm. Arthur C. Clarke. Hmmmmm.
Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :
David Brin. Apparently I don't read enough SF. I had to look him up.
Posted by Brendan (Member # 6044) on :
Actually, Meredith, given the style of your Mage Cinders story, I can quite believe that. You would probably find David Brin's The Practice Effect quite fascinating.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Apparently I'm Isaac Asimov...I was afraid of that.
Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :
I don't mind such tests but when I see it was created for Americans only, I get annoyed for the loss of my time. There are other people on the web, you know.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Since I thought a couple of questions could've come up different, I tried it again with a couple of changed answers, and now I'm E. E. "Doc" Smith. (I'm sure Asimov would have answered at least one question differently than I did---if you know anything about him, you can guess which one.)
Posted by Brad R Torgersen (Member # 8211) on :
Philip Jose Farmer, for me.
Posted by dee_boncci (Member # 2733) on :
I guess I'm no one. Most of the questions did not have option that applied to me.
Oh well.
Posted by Merlion-Emrys (Member # 7912) on :
I got Ursula K. LeGuin on my first try. Although as is often the case with these tests, a lot of the questions dont have any answer I'm totally behind.
Lets try again...
All the variations I tried came up with either LeGuin or Hal Clement who I've only vaguely heard of.
[This message has been edited by Merlion-Emrys (edited January 22, 2010).]
Posted by Crystal Stevens (Member # 8006) on :
I'm somewhat shocked. I got Robert Heinlein. I never cared much for his heavier SF but loved most of his stuff that was aimed at the younger crowd... what I would term light.
Posted by Brad R Torgersen (Member # 8211) on :
Hah! I went back and re-tested, using my "alternate seconds" which were about as close as my original answers, and I am...
... Dr. Jerry Pournelle.
Nice. He was one of the judges for Q3 at WOTF, which I won.
He and Niven have been very important to me, as an SF reader.
Glad to see I am testing accurately. (he he he he)
Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :
I'm Ursula K. LeGuin.
I think I'm too happy about that.
~Sheena
Posted by Crank (Member # 7354) on :
Gregory Benford.
KayTi and I have the same issue: I read one of his books, but really couldn't get into it. I'll look through my bookshelf to see which one it was; wonder if it's the same one KayTi didn't like?
Let's all strive to create the day when the next wave of Hatrack newbies takes a test just like this, and some of us come up as the answers.
S! S!
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I tried to hit some of the extremes, and got, of all people, Mickey Spillane.
Posted by babooher (Member # 8617) on :
Philip José Farmer
Posted by aspirit (Member # 7974) on :
The survey assumes we're all male Americans who were old enough to legally vote in 2000. Under that assumption, I am Hal Clement. I've read none of my work.
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
Ursula K. LeGuin
Posted by Architectus (Member # 8809) on :
Ursula K. Le Guin
Posted by wrenbird (Member # 3245) on :
LOL
Ayn Rand.
Posted by MAP (Member # 8631) on :
I am Samuel R. "Chip" Delany. I am not much of a scifi reader, so I have no idea who he is.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
He's very literary, MAP. I like some of his stuff and some of it I just could not get into.
quote:KayTi and I have the same issue: I read one of his books, but really couldn't get into it. I'll look through my bookshelf to see which one it was; wonder if it's the same one KayTi didn't like?
TIMESCAPE?
Posted by Edward Douglas (Member # 8872) on :
Hmmm...never heard of Gregory Benford. Guess I've got some reading to do.
Posted by Bent Tree (Member # 7777) on :
S.R.Dantzler
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
LOL @ benttree.
Actually, kdw, it was Beyond Infinity. I think. I had a really hard time following the story, kept feeling like there was more (I have a feeling it's in a series set in a similar world.) It helped solidify for me what I find problematic with alien-oriented fiction, though. Some writers go all out with their alien stuff, to the point where it's really hard to get one's head around. And Benford's scientific background was really apparent to me in reading the story, so it was denser, took longer to read. I do have to say, though, that there are certain indelible images and impressions I still have from that book, even though it's been several years since I read it. I suppose I have these kinds of impressions of most of the books I've read, but it's funny that I have distinct memories of the content of this book I say I hated. Can't be all that bad, eh?
Posted by andersonmcdonald (Member # 8641) on :
Let's see...I'm...
William Shatner?!! What the....?!
Posted by Dropbear (Member # 8819) on :
Looking through the source on the code, I came across this interesting embedded comment:
<!-- So far, to my knowledge, two authors who are among the possible answers have taken the quiz, and neither came up as themslves. It told Jerry Pournelle he was Heinlein, and it told Gregory Benford he was Clarke. So the thing's measured accuracy rate so far is 0%.
Some other authors whom I have heard of but who are not possible answers: - Joe Haldeman got Cordwainer Smith (and he also took Which Housepaint Are You?) - Pat Cadigan got Clarke, and Bester on a second try - Michael Moorcock got LeGuin - Mary Gentle has reported getting both Stapledon and Delany - Joel Rosenberg got Farmer - Neil Gaiman got Delany - Larry Niven got Farmer - Emma Bull got Delany - Samuel R. Delany got LeGuin Apparently there are many others who have tried it without me finding out the results. Some further writers whose work I personally am unfamiliar with: - L. Neil Smith got Herbert - Michael Burstein got Heinlein - Laurent Genefort got Asimov - David Dvorkin got Tiptree - Charles Stross got Heinlein -->
And the possible authors you could score asre as follows:
a: Isaac Asimov b: Alfred Bester c: Arthur C. Clarke d: David Brin e: Octavia E. Butler f: Philip José Farmer g: Gregory Benford h: Frank Herbert i: Samuel R. Delany j: Jerry Pournelle k: Mickey Spillane l: Ursula LeGuin m: Stanislav Lem n: William Gibson o: Olaf Stapledon p: Philip K. Dick q: Hal Clement r: Robert A. Heinlein s: E.E. "Doc" Smith t: James Tiptree, Jr. u: Jules Verne v: Kurt Vonnegut w: H.G. Wells x: Cordwainer Smith y: Ayn Rand z: John Brunner
[This message has been edited by Dropbear (edited January 23, 2010).]
Posted by rstegman (Member # 3233) on :
I got Robert A. Heinlein. The big problem with all of these quizzes, is that many times, you would answer some questions differently than the choices available, which would throw the quiz off.
It also helps to understand how the choices effect the results, and answer according to how you want it to come out.
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
Come on am I the only John Brunner? XD
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Tried it again and got Arthur C. Clarke---but I'm sure he, not being a citizen of the USA, wouldn't have voted for whom I voted in 2000.
I wish it would let you make multiple answers---some of my interests could be summed up by two or three answers rather than just one.
Posted by Corky (Member # 2714) on :
I notice that there are only four women on that list of possibles. If the survey takers are all supposed to be male Americans, why are there any women on the list at all?
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
But there's question 5, answer 6. Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Tried clicking on the first answer in each question and got David Brin...then tried clicking on the last answer and got Mickey Spillane again.
Posted by genevive42 (Member # 8714) on :
I got Isaac Asimov. Since he's one of my favorites, I'll take that as a good thing.
Posted by Ophiuchus (Member # 8987) on :
John Brunner was my answer, though I've heard of him I've never read him, maybe I will give him a try.
Posted by Corky (Member # 2714) on :
I particularly enjoyed Brunner's early novel, POLYMATH.
Posted by LlessurNire (Member # 8781) on :
I got Ursula K. LeGuin as well
"Perhaps the most admired writing talent in the science fiction field."
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
Robert Heinlein
Posted by Ben Trovato (Member # 7804) on :
1. Olaf Stapledon. 2. Ayn Rand.
Um...
Posted by ScardeyDog (Member # 8707) on :
Arthur C. Clarke.
I was relieved to avoid E.E. "Doc" Smith. My husband really enjoyed his books as a kid and talked me into reading one - they did not age well.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
This time around I got Alfred Bester.
Seems a couple or ten names could be on the list, who aren't. Jack Williamson? James Blish? Harlan Ellison? (No, Ellison probably would've sued.)
Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :
I remember reading the lensmen books quite a long time ago. All I remember now is that all of the men seemed to have mighty thews. Someday, I'm going to have to look up 'thews'.
[This message has been edited by Meredith (edited January 27, 2010).]
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Ah, the "Lensman" saga...I remember 'em fairly well...but when I picked 'em up, I started, I think, with a book somewhere in the middle---"Galactic Patrol," I think, which started with the adventures of the main series character.
This wasn't as tightly organized a series as maybe some modern-day series would be. They were a bunch of SF magazine serials from the 1930s and 1940s pasted together as a series when they were published by one of the semi-pro SF book publishers that sprung up in the late 1940s. The book entitled "First Lensman" was written for this book-set publication. (If you ask me, the first volume, "Triplanetary," and the last, "Masters of the Vortex," were originally things that had little or nothing to do with the series, and were written into it with grafted-on material.) All in all, "Galactic Patrol" was probably a pretty good place to start reading it.
As I recall, too, there were a lot of complaints about how the magazine publications were better, because E. E. "Doc" Smith grafted material onto them all that "explained" what was going on, taking much of the mystery of it away. I can't vouch for that; I found them exciting as is---though I came to feel that destroying worlds inhabited by millions might produce feelings other than those on display in the books.
Frederik Pohl had an interesting commentary about "Doc" Smith on his blog; here it is, if the link works:
John Brunner
Posted by hteadx (Member # 6563) on :
I got Kurt Vonnegut...so it goes. It's an interesting quiz and if don't like who you got unfortunately the moment was structured so that you wouldn't be happy. Try to focus on happier moments. Poo-te-tweet?
Posted by billawaboy (Member # 8182) on :
Olaf Stapledon, standing outside the science fiction "field", he wrote fictional explorations of the futures of whole species and galaxies.
-----
Olaf...Stapledon? Oh yeah...good ol' OS...
Seriouly, that's a made up name, right? Right?
Great.
I haven't even started my writing career and I'm already obscure.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Olaf Stapledon? Not that obscure. I remember his Last and First Men and Last Men in London fondly...he wrote stuff in the 1920s and 1930s that was classified as science fiction, and was beloved and revered by writers like Arthur C. Clarke...but, apparently, did not learn of the existence of the science fiction field until the late 1940s.
