Scorch and Dry Trivia Quiz

Answer: A collection of short stories

'The Land of Little Rain' was first published in 1903. It is a collection of short stories and essays about the inhabitants and the landscape of the American Southwest. Throughout the interconnected stories, Austin describes the inhospitable desert landscape, man's struggles to eke out a living there, the search for water by the wildlife, and also the beauty that can be found in such a harsh environment. Themes of conservation and the supremacy of nature recur in each story.

This question was eked out by Phoenix Rising team member purelyqing.

Answer: Sahara

The four main characters are a badly burned man - the eponymous patient, thought to be English but actually an Hungarian count; his Canadian Army nurse, a Sikh British Army sapper, and a Canadian thief when they cross paths by circumstances in a bombed Villa San Girolamo in Italy. The count, drugged up on morphine, tells his story based in the Sahara Desert with Hugh and Katharine Clifton, the former his map-making colleague and the second Clifton's wife, with whom the count has an affair which results in the death of the Cliftons and the burning of the count.

Question patiently submitted by 1nn1.

Answer: Clive Cussler

In this story Pitt is in Egypt searching for the fabled 'Treasure of the Nile'. In the process, Pitt crosses the blazing, shifting sands of the mighty Sahara desert, and thwarts an assassination attempt on a renowned scientist searching for the cause of a giant algae bloom that is a massive threat to the globe and takes on a billionaire French industrialist as well as a bloodthirsty West African tyrant. As if this isn't enough, as the temperature rises, so does Pitt's heroism. He uncovers a gold mine being manned by slaves, discovers a long lost US Civil War ironclad that was linked to the assassination of President Lincoln and solves the mystery of an Australian female pilot who'd disappeared some sixty years before during an attempt to fly across the globe.

This scorching question was delivered by Phoenix Rising's sandman pollucci19.

Answer: Shane Schofield

Sitting in the vast expanses of Antarctica (yes, the Antarctic is a desert) is the Wilkes Station. When an S.O.S is sent out from the station, a crack team of marines, led by Schofield, is deployed in response. They are about to discover that beneath this station lies a secret and the rest of the world wants in on it. Schofield soon finds himself and his team fighting off wave after wave of international assassins and a pod of killer whales as they descend into Hell.

Matthew Reilly is an Australian author of fast paced thrillers. Schofield (alias 'Scarecrow') and Jack West appear in a number of stories as the lead characters. Cassandra Cameron appears in 'The Great Zoo of China' (2014) and Professor Race is in 'Temple' (1999).

This blinding whiteout of a question was created by Phoenix Rising's snowman pollucci19.

Answer: Fright

Both Cook's book (published 1961) and the subsequent film, starring Donald Pleasance (1971), have become cult classics. John Grant has just completed the first year of his two year sentence as the schoolmaster of Tiboonda. It is the Christmas break and he heads off to Sydney and civilisation. Things don't go as planned and he finds himself stranded, drunk and broke in a rough mining town. He continues to descend into a frenzy of hangovers, self loathing, and an ill advised attempt to cross the desert to reach Sydney, and, finally, attempts suicide.

This pot boiler of a question was introduced by Phoenix Rising's bogeyman pollucci19.

Answer: True

'Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence' (1996) is an Australian book by Doris Pilkington, whose mother and two other relatives were forcibly taken in 1931 from their home in the desert of Western Australia to Moore river for schooling. However, they escaped and followed the rabbit proof fence for 1600 km until they reached their home again. The rabbit proof fence is a fence that runs the north south length of the Western Australia boundary to keep rabbits, an introduced pest, out of the state.

This question was drummed up by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1 who has followed the rabbit proof fence on the Queensland/NSW border for hundreds of kilometers. This fence keeps rabbits out of Queensland and dingoes out of NSW.

Answer: Desert God

A typical Smith saga, it tells the tale of Taita, and his efforts to defeat the northern enemy, the Hyksos. He must infiltrate the opposition territory, travelling up the Nile, and into Crete and Babylon. A terrific yarn!

The three incorrect answers are all part of the 'Courtney' series, which were mainly set in the 19th and 20th centuries.

This question submitted by ozzz2002, a huge fan of Wilbur Smith.

Answer: The Cat in the Hat

The book is one of a series by Dr Seuss, and the Cat in the Hat explores deserts on all of the world's continents. It explains to young kids (5-9 years old) how sand dunes are made, and what animals live in deserts, in a way that only Dr Seuss can do.

Presented by Thing One and Thing Two, and Thing ozzz2002.

Answer: The Gunslinger

Roland is, perhaps, Stephen King's most enigmatic hero, Roland Deschain of Gilead, the Last of the Gunslingers. The man in black is a source of pure evil who has the power to bring life to the dead. After the town of Tull has turned against him, Roland is forced to kill every resident; however, in the process, his mule is killed and he is forced to travel across the desert on foot in pursuit of Walter. At a way station he meets Jake Chambers who had died in another realm and now has no idea how he got to this place. Jake joins Roland in his quest.

This question was shot to bits by Phoenix Rising's own gunman pollucci19.

Answer: Sahara Desert

The story takes place in Northern Africa during the British retreat from Tobruk in 1942. Alex in the title refers to Alexandria, Egypt and was the destination of the crew. The 'ice cold' refers to the lager or beer waiting for them when they reached their destination. The novel was written by Christopher Landon who served with the 51st Field Ambulance in North Africa during the war. A subsequent film of the novel is credited for its realism in portraying the conditions faced by the troops in desert warfare.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.