I did this in January, grabbed an excerpt from one of the books and set you a question. Since I did Princelings of the East in January, and just posted an excerpt from Pirates in February, I thought I’d skip to Lost City for this month’s question.
Quote:
The flying machine was losing height and heading straight for the road. People scattered into the fields on each side, shading their eyes and screaming in fear and wonder at the new invention.
Suddenly the sound stopped. The machine floated forward a few feet above the ground. The wheels underneath it touched the ground. It bounced once, twice, then on the third time it settled and ran along the road, rocking from side to side as it hit ruts and stony bits. It rolled to a standstill as the road widened and became a nice large paved square in front of the castle gateway.
The people who had scrambled to get away from the monster now scrambled back to get close. Admirers and the simply curious surrounded the machine. Many willing hands, each wanting to touch a hero, helped the pilot from his seat, and he took off his helmet and goggles to reveal himself as Prince Miles of Dimerie. The people remembered their manners and stood back to give him space, and then stood back again as Prince Lupin and the official welcoming party arrived. Miles turned to help his sister descend from her lofty seat.
Fred and George had rushed from their room to get to the entrance among the official party. Despite his impatience, Fred hung back during the formal welcome before stepping forward at Lupin’s request to show Kira to her temporary quarters. He grinned at her, bowed low, and gave her his arm, which she took, smothering a smirk at the ceremony of it. He escorted her upstairs to the quarters he normally occupied with George. They had put a few touches to the room that they thought she would like, but hadn’t made as much effort to clear their own things as the Lady Nimrod had advised, because they knew Kira was interested in their work.
from The Princelings and the Lost City, Chapter 1: A New Machine
The Question(s):
What would you do if you were confronted with a new machine? How would you feel? … and… if you had the ability to do it, what would you invent?
Ug. Poorly functioning computer stuff ate my response. I’d commented that I tend to keep a safe distance from large, unknown machines, at least if they are running!
As for inventions, I want to harness the energy of toddlers, a renewable resource and, if not non-polluting, one that seems to be out there polluting whether we harness it or not 😀
Great idea. Sorry about your earlier response being eaten. Did you get a 404 message from here?
I avoid large machines too! I would invent a robot that could do exactly what I wanted it to do, efficiently. (Housework/Gardening!) 😉
There was a robot vacuum cleaner and also a lawn mower I’ve seen on tv that should be on the market. I suspect I’d have to do so much tidying before using either it would be quicker to use a normal one!
A warp engine (shades of Star Trek) for space exploration. New machines fascinate me, but that’s probably just the scientist in me.
Good idea 🙂