sdlotu
11/1/2022
Ray Cummings was apparently fascinated with the idea of a universe inside of a small bit of matter. He wrote at least three long works on the same subject, and his final publication was another, darker version of the same tale.
This is one of those works. A scientist has found a way to shrink people with an edible chemical, and they shrink down so small as to enter into the surface of a small chunk of rock. Becoming increasingly small, they ultimately find a whole civiliation living on one atom of the rock.
In this iteration, the scientist has a corrupt assistant who tries to take over the infinitesimally small world through the control of the drug and his own size. Along the way, he kidnaps the daughter of the scientist for his mate, and the story revolves around the efforts of her boyfriend, brother and father to rescue her and dispacth the evil-doer.
This story is different from the others in minor details only, and it lingers unnecessarily long on descriptions of the shrinking and growing process, leaving precious little discussion of the characters, places and background.
It is as though Cummings felt he had developed a topic which would guarantee a sale and could be cranked out with only small changes to the template.
This shorter, more breathless version pales in comparison to the original "Girl in the Atom", and has little to recommend it beyond an interest in Cumming's body of work.