I Read Books: The Girl In The Golden Atom
A Chemist has the theory that just as the universe might be infinitely large, things might be infinitely small. He procures the finest lenses in the world and looks deep into an atom of his gold ring where he spots a fascinatingly beautiful woman, the eponymous girl. Fortunately before he can spy on her more the lens breaks. As the First World War is going on he can’t get a replacement lens from Europe. (The story was published in 1918)
After explaining all this to his mates at his gentleman’s club, (the Doctor, the Banker, the Business Man and the Very Young Man*), he then reveals that he has spent the war years on creating substances that allow you to grow or to shrink. They test it on some animals and it works, though a big cockroach gets out of hand. Anyway, he goes into the ring (fortunately as well as effecting the body it also shrinks or grows things in close contact, allowing him to take the growth substance with him, and also not be naked thanks to a tight-fitting white wool bathing suit).
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| Innaccurate chapter title |
He says he’ll be back in 48 hours so they spend a boring weekend keeping watch. He comes back, explains that there is a war going in the world in the ring and he helped the girl’s side by growing super-big (still invisible to the eye) and defeating the enemy. Then he goes back into the ring, leaving instructions on how to keep the ring (in a museum with a watchman) and letters to be opened after five years.Inevitably after that time the others (except the Big Businessman who has become too fat and unfit in the intervening period to go on adventures) go in where they discover that it is a utopia of sorts, one that is (inevitably) on the verge of revolution. Their arrival fans the flames with the claim that they will become giants and conquer the place, so they try and leave, having various size-related adventures on the way.
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| Another innaccurate chapter title |
The best parts are the difficulties involved when sizes are mis-matched. Unfortunately the long boring bits are concentrated at the start of the story, then just when it’s interesting we have to stop and have the semi-communist nature of the golden kingdom explained to us. This is inevitably much less interesting than being trapped in a tunnel by revolutionaries and being unable to grow big enough to fight your way out without injury.
Read This: For an early, pulp adventure about shrinking and growing
Don’t Read This: If you want anything other than the shrinking or growing to be interesting.
Out of Copyright: And available to read online.
* Eventually they use their names but the narrative refers to them by their descriptions.
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