On 28-11-2014 20:16, Bald Eagle wrote:
> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
>> On 27-11-2014 11:55, Stephen wrote:
>>
>>> Be careful. Once you start looking at old scenes. You will find
>>> something else that wants improving. Never ending.
>>> I noticed that some of my earth maps go back to 98 (when I downloaded
>>> them) and the ones I normally use are from 2008. So I downloaded some of
>>> the Blue Marble ones. Now the Nautilus model does not fit in with the
>>> Earth . I will need to rework its textures.
>>>
>>>
>> I know. It is a difficult to resist temptation.
>>
>> Thomas
>
> Having fun and "resting" my brain scrolling through
> https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=site:news.povray.org&tbm=isch
>
> and I came across this:
>
>
http://news.povray.org/povray.binaries.images/attachment/%3C43e348c8%40news.povray.org%3E/Alien%20Cliff.jpg?ttop=284089
> &toff=1600
>
> Which instantly meshed with a scene in the book I'm (finally) reading - "Against
> All Things Ending" by Stephen Donaldson, where Linden Avery beholds Landsdrop:
>
> "And she caught sight of Landsdrop. Grey in the depthless sunlight, it loomed
> two thousand feet and more above her own elevation: a blunt rampart smoothed by
> the ages until it appeared almost blank; too sheer to scale. But she knew from
> old experience as well as from tales that Landsdrop was more accessible than it
> looked. There were trails of all kinds up and down the precipice, although she
> could not descry them at this distance. Ignoring the impatience of the Ranyhyn,
> Linden studied the vista. Almost directly to the west, a thin string of water
> fell as though it had been tossed over the rim by a negligent hand. Dull against
> the dim stone, like a strand of tarnished silver, it dropped in stages, shifting
> from side to side as its plunge encountered obstacles, and casting fine hints of
> spray into the etiolated sunshine."
>

And yet, it was not inspired by Donaldson... :-) It was by another SF 
world: Mount Lookitthat on Plateau, imagined by Larry Niven. The concept 
then drifted slowly away from there to the present image.

Thomas

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