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"The primary attraction [of writing sf] is the sheer pleasure of creating something from whole cloth."
- Dan Simmons
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| Variable Sword | ||
| A sword that could vary in length, and cut through anything. |
Among the various inventions which make use of a Slaver stasis field, the variable-sword was one of the more elegant. Very compact, which was very handy for the kzin who wielded it.
| "I have a variable-sword," said Speaker-to-Animals. "I urge calm." The kzin stood against a curved wall. In one clawed fist he held something like an oversized jump rope handle. Ten feet from the handle, held expertly at the level of the kzin's eyes, was a small, glowing red ball. The wire which joined ball to handle was too thin to be visible, but Louis didn't doubt it was there. Protected and made rigid by a Slaver stasis field, the wire would cut through most materials including the back of Louis's crash couch. |
| Technovelgy from Ringworld,
by Larry Niven. Published by Ballantine in 1970 Additional resources -
|
Louis Wu, the 200 year old protagonist of this novel, considered grabbing the red ball to gain control of the weapon, but one of the other aliens had a better way to control this unruly kzin.
And what, you ask, is a kzin that you should fear it? Imagine an eight-foot tall tabby cat built like a linebacker, with paws the size of baseball gloves, with retractable claws to match.
Find out about a uniquely flexible blade: the belt sword by William Gibson.
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'...there's a narrow belt where the climate is moderate.'
'... with the Master-operator all you have to do is push one! A remarkable achievement!'
'Not like me. A T-1000, advanced prototype. A mimetic poly-alloy. Liquid metal.'
'It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
'The massive feet working the pedals, arms and hands flashing and glinting...'
'There were cubic miles of it, and it glistened like a silvery Christmas tree...'
'Jason had been guiding the caravan of cars as usual...'
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
