clouds catching sunlight;
a breeze sweet with young grass;
trees making a rustling roof above the trail;
shafts of light in the shade;
a red squirrel among the green and gold;
birds trilling;
a spring glittering and gurgling;
the day growing warm;
smells of life.
Every time Anderson describes such a scene, it remains fresh. If Hadding had picked and eaten a strawberry, then we would have had five senses. And there is one more sensuous experience. The comely young giantess uses magic to make herself small enough for sex with Hadding. He will go into the world a conquering hero fully initiated into manhood.
8 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I fear this is the pedant in me speaking, but the idea of a person somehow WILLING himself to have less mass in his body, to be smaller, is a scientific absurdity! But, this is a fantasy, not hard SF.
Sean
Sean,
In his novelization of FANTASTIC VOYAGE, Asimov explains it by saying that the atoms shrink when a submarine and its crew are miniaturized small enough to go into a blood stream. Thus, there are still enough atoms and relationships between them to support life and intelligence.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I read Asimov's novelization of FANTASTIC VOYAGE long ago, but I didn't recall this explanation for how miniaturization could work. I don't know if that can be POSSIBLE, however.
I even have a copy of Asimov's revision of FANTASTIC VOYAGE, but I don't recall anything from that book which would be relevant in this discussion. Maybe I should reread both!
Sean
Sean,
Please feel free to reread and to report back here! Does Anderson have miniaturization even in one short story? Blish has characters visiting the microcosm and miniature human beings in a pool of water.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Poul Anderson using the idea of miniaturizing people? Hmmm, I can't recall any story or novel of his which uses that idea in any of his hard SF. Probably because he thought, like me, it was a scientific absurdity.
I already have Blish, Anderson, and now Stirling on my "to read" list, so I don't know if I'll get around to Asimov any time soon! (Smiles)
Sean
Paul and Sean:
Asimov's explanation, as the character Dr. Michaels gave it, was:
"We are miniaturized, not as literal objects, but as images; as three-dimensional images manipulated from outside the universe of space-time."
Grant smiled. "Now, teacher, those are just words."
"Yes, but you don't want theory, do you? What physicists discovered ten years ago was the utilization of hyper-space; a space, that is, of more than the three ordinary dimensions. The concept is beyond grasping; the mathematics are almost beyond grasp; but the funny part is that it can be done. Objects can be miniaturized. We neither get rid of atoms nor push them together. We reduce the size of the atoms, too; we reduce everything; and the mass decreases automatically."
So it can be possible *IF* we discover how to manipulate a "hyper-space" in ways that make it possible. Poor ol' hyperspace; it's gotta do everything: FTL travel, miniaturization -- it's probably a variant of hyperspace keeping food fresh in Larry Niven's "stasis boxes"....
David,
And HG Wells uses the Fourth Dimension two or three times apart from in THE TIME MACHINE.
Paul.
Hi, David!
Many thanks for explaining how Asimov rationalized the absurdity somehow being able to reduce the size of atoms, so that the mass of a person or object thus decreases.
Truthfully, I would find a "hyperspace" used as a means of going than FTL more plausible than as a means of reducing the size and mass of atoms.
Sean
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