SciFi

In "Second Variety," what were the "claws" designed primarily to do?

Kill human beings

In "Burning Chrome," what does Rikki want to acquire?

Enhanced eyes

In "Computer Friendly," why wasn't Elizabeth's dog, Brownie, living with her at home?

His brain was controlling data traffic on the network

In "Computer Friendly," how many siblings does Elizabeth have?

2

In "All Systems Red," what is Dr. Mensah famous for on her home planet?

She's the top elected official

What elemental gas is the narrator of "Exhalation" reliant on?

Argon

In 1995, "Second Variety" was adapted into a movie with what title?

Screamers

In "Computer Friendly," what quality would probably get a child a good result on the tests depicted in the story?

Obedience

In "All Systems Red," what was the third survey team trying to hide from the other two?

The fact that the planet had been previously inhabited, and had alien artifacts on it

In "Burning Chrome," how is automatic Jack physically different from those around him?

He has a bionic arm

What does the narrator of "Exhalation" determine will be the case of their society's extinction?

An equilibrium in air pressure

What seems to be the relationship between the different varieties in Phillip K. Dick's story?

They were fabricated separately, and are in competition with each other

What's Murderbot's reaction to its contact being bought by preservation and coming under the guardianship of Dr. Mensah?

It decides to leave the station rather than go to Preservation

At the end of Chapter 4, how did Murderbot try to keep its human safe?

By killing itself

Who is the narrator of "Exhalation" addressing their story to?

Future explorers who find their world

What is Ames' Murderbot uncomfortable with?

Talking about its feelings to humans

What kind of establishment is the House of Blue Lights (primarily) in "Burning Chrome"

A brothel

What makes Murderbot different from other SecUnits?

It hacked his governor module, making it functionally independent

In "Burning Chrome," what does Jack seem to want the most?

Rikki

In "Second Variety," who ended up being the "Second Variety?"

Tasso

Why is the Chickenheart making time bombs from the students who failed the exams in "Computer Friendly"

To introduce new ideas/new ways of thinking into the system

What is Murderbot's favorite entertainment serial?

Raise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon

What was the name of the survey team Murderbot's human called Evil Survey?

GrayCris

Issac Asimov

The Foundation series of Robot stores. I, Robot

Ted Chiang

Story of Your Life & Exhalation

Philip K. Dick

Second Variety

William Gibson

Burning Chrome (cyberpunk, cyberspace)

Eileen Gunn

Computer Friendly

Martha Wells

All Systems Red

Artificial Intelligence

Intelligence demonstrated by machines, in contrast to human intelligence displayed by humans and other animals

What story uses artificial intelligence?

All Systems Red. The Murderbots are the self-aware SecUnits

Cyberpunk

A sub-genre of science fiction that refers to advanced science and technology in an urban, dystopian future

Cyborg

Augmented humans (an organism enhanced with artificial parts)

What story uses a cyborg?

Burning Chrome & Computer Friendly

Android

A machine that looks like a human

"Golden Age" of Science Fiction

1938-1946, the most influential, culturally significant, and socially conscious novels of the past century were written

Hard Science fiction

Deals with science such as math, physics, computer science, engineering, and chemistry

What story uses HARD science fiction?

The Martian, To get him back home they had to use a series of math and physics to get him back home long with the abandoned astronaut having to figure out how to survive

Soft Science Fiction

Sociology, history, politics, psychology, and economics

What story uses SOFT Science Fiction?

Space traders, trade gold for all the black Americans

Science Fiction

Takes place in a dystopian society sometime in the future and contains elements of advanced technology

Fantasy

Usually set in the fantasy realm and includes mythical creatures and supernatural powers

Robots

From a Czech word, robota, meaning "forced labor" (machines that perform labor functions traditionally performed by humans)

What story has robots?

Second Variety

Pulp Magazines

Inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the 1950s. Pulp is cheap paper

Megatext

A term used by scholars of speculative fiction that describes the elaborate fictional background tropes, images, and conventions

Inner Space

The idea that there's just as much to explore in our psychology as there is to explore in outer space

What story uses inner space?

Report on an unidentified space station, the psychological way of confusing people, wishing ht mind that this spaceship is never-ending

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Linguistic anthropologists have explicitly taken up the task of defending a famous claim associated with Sapir that connects linguistic variation to differences in thinking and cognition more generally.

Who is the cyberpunk author?

William Gibson

What author is credited with inventing the term "cyberspace" in his short story "Burning Chrome?"

William Gibson

Where does the word "Robot" come from?

The term comes from a Czech word, robota, meaning "forced labor." The word 'robot' was first used to denote a fictional humanoid in the 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by the Czech writer Karel Čapek.

What story uses an Android?

Second Variety

Ken Liu

The Dandelion Dynasty