Readers interested in a retelling of the story
from a different viewpoint should try Mary Reilly
(1991) by Valerie Martin, in which one of the
housemaids employed by Dr. Jekyll becomes ro-
mantically obsessed with the elusive Edward Hyde.
A film version of the novel was released in 1996.
The Jekyll Legacy(1990) by Robert BLOCH and
Andre NORTONis a direct sequel in which Dr.
Jekyll’s niece inherits the property and begins to
suspect that Hyde has somehow survived after all.
“The Drowned Giant”J. G. Ballard(1965)
Early fantasy writers such as Clark Ashton SMITH
and Lord DUNSANYoccasionally wrote short fan-
tastic tales that were not stories in the strictest
sense. They were anecdotes, episodes, or even just
short descriptive passages that evoked a fantastic
image or idea. Sometimes they were constructed to
comment on one subject or another, but at other
times they were merely intended to create an un-
usual image and describe it in elaborate prose. This
form has almost entirely disappeared from modern
fantasy, but there have been a few remarkable ex-
ceptions, of which this short piece by J. G. Ballard,
whose early work was generally science fiction, is
an extraordinary example.
The story is, in its simplest form, the descrip-
tion of the body of a giant washed up on a beach
near an unnamed city and the subsequent mutila-
tion and decay of the oversized corpse. The name-
less narrator responds to what he initially believes
to be just a rumor and discovers that it is true.
The body, which seems not particularly impressive
upon initial inspection, proves to be as large as a
sperm whale. It has died only recently and is still
unblemished when first encountered, and Ballard
compares it alternately to a beached ship and a
temple. Initially, the onlookers remain at a re-
spectful distance, but eventually familiarity makes
them irreverent; they begin climbing on the body
and making sport of it. It is at this point that the
reader begins to recognize the parallel between
the giant’s body and the “great man,” a person
who becomes prominent in the public eye, is
revered until the first flush of fame fades, and
then becomes the subject of jokes and jibes. The
parasitic nature of public opinion is represented by
those who clamber across the body, who are com-
pared to flies and later seagulls.
The narrator returns after a three-day lapse to
discover that the natural decaying process has
made the body look more mature. Scientists and
city officials have arrived to consider how best to
deal with what is now clearly a public nuisance.
Similarly, we can conclude, fame makes our own
outstanding individuals troublesome to established
authority. Graffiti begins to appear, evidence of re-
pressed spite, and the giant now seems no more
than human. Ultimately, the various parts of his
body are disassembled and disposed of, sometimes
frivolously, and specific memories of what hap-
pened begin to fade until the giant is no more than
a series of disparate and generally mistaken recol-
lections. Ballard’s story has no plot in the conven-
tional sense and no specific characters. The
protagonist is, if anything, the public in general
and an indictment of the way we treat anyone who
stands out.Duane, Diane(1952– )
Diane Duane, who is also the author of several
Star Trek novels, began her career with the fantasy
novel The Door into Fire(1979), a sword and sor-
cery series set in a world where the power of fire is
supreme, and its manipulation is a talent ordinarily
limited to women although one male character
shares that ability. The story rises above the gen-
eral run of similar fantasies, and the sequels that
followed drew a considerable number of fans, al-
though its publishing history is erratic. The Door
into Shadow (1984) and The Door into Sunset
(1992) were both very fine continuations of the
original story, but the long-promised fourth volume
has yet to appear. Duane developed her world into
a unique and interesting setting, and some of the
characters—including Sunspark, the fire elemen-
tal—are quite well drawn.
Duane is better known among fantasy readers
for her young adult series, which opened with So
You Want to Be a Wizard?(1983) and has now been
extended to seven titles. In the opening volume
children from our world are transported to a magi-
cal alternate New York City, where they discover
that they have supernormal talents. They are96 “The Drowned Giant”