Gene Wolfe, again

[hmpf]

"Someone fired a pistol. The bolt set [Baldanders', the giant's] costume afire, but must have missed his body. Several exultants had drawn their swords, and someone -- I could not see who -- possessed that rarest of all weapons, a dream. It moved like tyrian smoke, but very much faster, and in an instant it had enveloped the giant. It seemed that he stood wrapped in all that was past and much that had never been: a gray-haired woman sprouted from his side, a fishing boat hovered just over his head, and a cold wind whipped the flames that wreathed him."

That short paragraph just took my breath away. (And never mind what 'tyrian' smoke may be).

A lesser writer would have elaborated, explained to us what exactly the dream does, how a dream can be used as a weapon, but Wolfe leaves it at that. He only suggests, and thus creates magic. The dream is never mentioned again, as far as I can see.

I don't have time for deeper thoughts now, university demanding my attention - but I just wanted to say that that paragraph and the feeling it evokes are the perfect embodiment, for me, of what science fiction and fantasy should be and do. I am not surprised that Neil Gaiman likes Wolfe. I bet he loved that paragraph, as well.

Totally unconnected:

*waves to parents*

Also, I'd like to thank my IKEA thermos bottle for being totally indestructible. I just dropped it from a height, and it still works. They should use these things to store atomic waste in. Would be safer than anything they have now.

Comments

[ankae.livejournal.com]

>>Also, I'd like to thank my IKEA thermos bottle for being totally indestructible. I just dropped it from a height, and it still works. They should use these things to store atomic waste in. Would be safer than anything they have now.<<

And they should better use these very small thermos bottles for the atomic waste so that they'll produce less of it and try harder to use alternatives to atomic gained electricity.