The Colour of Magic Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sonea

The series starts in the slums of Imardin, where every year the slum dwellers are purged from the city streets. When Sonea's second stone penetrates the magicians' defence shield, both she and the magicians realize that she is capable of magic. The first book deals with her trying to escape the clutches of the magicians until she is persuaded to join them so that she can be trained in how to control her magic powers. The second and third follow her life as a magician.

Question from ArthurR.

Answer: Nikolai Gogol

When Khoma Brut the philosopher first encountered the witch, she jumped on his back and made him leap like a saddle horse all over the countryside. Sweating profusely, he began to chant exorcisms under his breath until the witch couldn't take any more.

Afterwards he went back to his usual routine, only to be summoned by her Cossack father following the witch's dying words, "Don't let anybody read over me, Daddy, but send to the Kiev seminary at once, and bring the student Khoma Brut. Let him pray three nights for my sinful soul. He knows..."

So the philosopher went into the church on each of the three nights. As things got gradually more frightening, he tried to ward off the evil spirits until he finally encountered the demonic figure of Viy. Gogol's note on Viy says "Viy is a colossal creation of folk imagination. This name is applied by people in Little Russia to the chief of the gnomes, whose eyelids reach to the ground. The whole story is a popular legend. I did not wish to change it in any way and tell it almost as simply as I heard it." As it happens, no such creature as Viy actually exists in Russian folklore, although elements have been taken from various folk tales.

The short story "Viy" was first published in 1835 in the collection of tales entitled "Mirgorod" and was also made into a 1967 horror film.

Question from ajwtimperley.

Answer: Pug

Pug, who appears in Feist's first book "Magician" (English version 1982) is a 13 year old boy who becomes apprentice to the Magician Kulgan, the court wizard of Castle Crydee, on Midkemia. The world is invaded by a race called the Tsurani from Kelewan through a rift. The rift was created by The Great Ones, as the magicians are known there, and after Pug is captured and becomes a slave, his magical powers are soon recognised by The Great Ones, and he is trained in their magic. He returns to Midkemia and plays a big part in ending the war. In later books he battles demons, and creatures from other dimensions, until he meets Sidi/Leso Varen ("Tear of the Gods" 2000), a dark necromancer, with powers far in excess of his. Although Sidi/Leso Varen dies a number of times, he is not killed. The evil necromancer's powers prevent his soul from dying when his body is destroyed, allowing him to constantly return in other bodies to harass the Conclave. Pug's struggle to permanently destroy Leso Varen becomes a primary story element in the "Conclave of Shadows" trilogy (2002-2004) and the "Darkwar Saga" trilogy (2005-2008).

Question from ArthurR.

Answer: The blood and the Wit

Fitz needed to awaken the dragons to save the Six Duchies from the Red Ship Raiders. The 1996 novel "Assassin's Quest" is book three of Robin Hobb's "The Farseer Trilogy."

Robin Hobb was born in California in 1952. She has also written novels as Megan Lindholm.

Question by rhosyn.

Answer: Two dice, a pencil and an eraser

Zagor is the villain of "The Warlock of Firetop Mountain", the very first "Fighting Fantasy" gamebook to be released. First published in 1982, Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's popular series have YOU as the hero. The choices of which routes to go and what actions to take is the choice of the reader and either result in glory or death! The dice are used to determine your adventurer's abilities and determine random outcomes during the quest. The pencil and eraser are used to keep track of your status.

Zagor proved to be one of the hardier foes in the series. Not only did the hero have to negotiate the Warlock's fiendish mazes, but they also had to collect specific items if they hoped to defeat the "almost" invincible bad guy. Being the cunning warlock that he was, he cast a resurrection spell prior to his death in "The Warlock of Firetop Mountain". Move on ten years, and the 50th book to be released in the "Fighting Fantasy" series saw Zagor as the enemy once again in "Return to Firetop Mountain". Such were his powers that he even managed a third outing in book 54, "The Legend of Zagor", this time in another dimension.

Question from ajwtimperley.

Answer: 12

A Malazan Army squad was pursuing twelve wizards across Raraku desert. As their water and supplies were diminishing, the wizards decided to transfer their souls into one body to survive. Quick Ben was the youngest and fittest so he was selected to be the host.

"The Malazan Book of the Fallen" is a series of ten books by Canadian author Steven Erikson. His debut novel, "Gardens of the Moon", the first book of the series, was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award. The last book of the series, "The Crippled God", was published in 2011.

Question from rhosyn.

Answer: Red

Krynn has three moons too, a red, a white, and a black. The black moon, Nuitari, can only be seen by those magic users who have dedicated themselves to Takhisis the Goddess of Evil.

Krynn is the world where the "Dragonlance" novels are set, and perhaps the most famous magic user there is Raistlin Majere. The "Dragonlance Chronicles" quartet and "Twins" trilogy were written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and first published between 1984 and 1995.

Question from Rowena8482.

Answer: Radagast

Radagast the Brown appears in both the "Lord of the Rings" and the "Unfinished Tales" as well as being mentioned in "The Silmarillion" and "The Hobbit." He was a member of the Istari who came to Middle Earth from Valinor. He was also named Aiwendil which means bird-friend and specialised in knowledge of flora and fauna. Gandalf referred to him as a cousin and a "worthy wizard". Saruman, on the other hand, appears to have nothing but contempt for him and describes him as "simple" and "a fool". Saruman used Radagast to trick Gandalf into coming to his stronghold of Orthanc, where he imprisoned him. However, Radagast also unwittingly helped Gandalf escape when he sent the giant eagle, Gwaihir, to Orthanc with news of the movements of Sauron's armies.

Question from colpeakbagger.

Answer: That he shall generate a line of kings

The three witches are normally referred to as the "weird sisters"; however in the original first folio the actual wording is that they are the "weyward sisters". The inspiration for Shakespeare's three witches is thought to be from Raphael Holinshed's "The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland" (1587) in which the story of Macbeth and Banquo meeting "three women in strange and wild apparel, resembling creatures of elder world" first appeared.

Question from colpeakbagger.

Answer: Jadis

In "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" (1950), Jadis was eventually overcome and killed by Aslan after his willing sacrifice on the stone altar broke her evil power over Narnia.

There are seven books in the "Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis, and Jadis also appears in "The Magician's Nephew" (1955).

Question from Rowena8482.