What Good Is A Glass Dagger?

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"What Good Is A Glass Dagger?" is a fantasy short story written by Larry Niven and published for the first time in 1972. [1] It occurs in the same fictional universe as the book The Magic Goes Away , by Niven, being the second story in this universe, the sequel to the short story "Not Long Before the End". [2] Asimov comments that in this story Niven "seeks to provide a scientific explanation for magic". [3] The concept of mana appears in it, and from it has spread to the RPGs [ clarification needed ]. However, it is not original to the book, as Niven said he learned about it by reading the book The Trumpet Shall Sound (1968). [4] [5] Niven also invokes the principle of conservation of mass at some point in the narrative. [6]

Plot

References

  1. ↑ Peter Nicholls . The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: An Illustrated A to Z, p. 376
  2. ↑ Fletcher Vredenburgh. "Black Gate » Articles » The Magic Goes Away by Larry Niven".
  3. ↑ Asimov, Isaac (ed.) . Magos: Os Mundos Mágicos da Fantasia, p. 53 (in Portuguese)
  4. ↑ Golub and Peterson . How Mana Left the Pacific and Became a Video Game Mechanic
  5. ↑ Bezarias, Caio (2002). "Os autênticos criadores de mundos". The Enemy.
  6. ↑ Charles L. Adler . Wizards, Aliens, and Starships: Physics and Math in Fantasy and Science Fiction, p. 15


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