What makes a story exceptional? When I’m between writing projects, I’m going to post occasional essays about some of my favourite pieces of writing. This will be fun, partly because it gives me an excuse to re-read some great stories, but also because it’s useful and constructive – both as a reader and writer – to think about what makes a work of writing truly memorable.Right now, I want to look at what I consider to be a quintessential piece of speculative fiction: H. G. Well’s “The Land Ironclads,” which you can read online here.
Plot summary: Two unnamed countries are at war, one attacking, the other defending. The conflict is at a stalemate – “Since the first brisk movements after the declaration of war things had gone slower and slower, until it seemed as though the whole machine of events must have run down” – and the defenders are happily waiting their enemy out. But the attackers bring in a new weapon – massive, armoured land vehicles, that can easily traverse the trenches. These so-called Land Ironclads push through the front lines and essentially win the war for the attackers.
