SF Author Quiz - Answers

This is the answer key to the quiz I posted here.  If you haven't see that post, go back and read it first.














So how did you do?  I don't think we realize just how much information we get from a book cover, and how quickly we judge our interest based on it.  I considered doing a second quiz, showing the book covers with the author's names removed, to see if people could judge the books by gender based on those.  Or, for that matter, their own interest level.  As much as we hear, and may believe in the phrase, 'don't judge a book by its cover', so much of what happens in our brains is unconscious, and a cover, or badly written synopsis, can really bias us against an otherwise fantastic book.

(Edited to add: Basically I'm curious how many people 'don't read women' based on bias.  Yes, interest is a factor, I'm not a huge fan of books that focus on the romance over the plot and yes, a lot of women write (and read) romance focused books.  I guess I want to point out that not all women write that and if you're ignoring all books by women because there's one aspect of women's writing you don't like - whether perceived or true - then you're missing out.  I also don't want people to feel like they 'have' to read books by women.  Reading is a leisure activity.  Read what you enjoy.  Just don't unilaterally exclude an entire branch of writing based on bias.  Read the backs of books, maybe you'll find some - by people you otherwise wouldn't have picked up - that interest you.)

Again, if you liked this quiz and would like to see more (or just synopses without info so you can see if the book idea interests you without recourse to the cover art or author's name) then tell me in the comments and I'll make up some more of them.  Same goes for if you like the cover idea mentioned above.

I hope, if you're an SF fan or not, that you found something that interests you in the synopses I chose for this quiz.

Here are your answers:

1) Brain Plague - Joan Slonczewski (female)

2) Lost in Translation - Edward Willett (male)

3) Exogene - T. C. McCarthy (male)

4) Nothing Human - Nancy Kress (female)

5) Up Against It - M. J. Locke (female)

6) Warchild - Karin Lowachee (female)

7) The Last Mortal Man - Syne Mitchell (female)

8) Stars in my Pocket Like Grains of Sand - Samuel Delany (male)

9) Seeds of Earth - Michael Cobley (male)

10) Dark Space - Marianne de Pierres (female)