Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand

"Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" is a science fiction short story by American writer Vonda N. McIntyre.

First published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in October 1973, it was anthologized multiple times, and also formed the first chapter of McIntyre's 1978 novel Dreamsnake.

Scholar Anne Hudson Jones called it a powerful story, and stated that its themes were "mythic and universal".

[2] During a 1972 workshop session, one of the writing assignments was to create a story from two randomly chosen words, one pastoral, and one related to technology.

[2] "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" is set after a nuclear holocaust that "destroyed everyone who knew or cared about the reasons it had happened".

[11] During the night Mist begins to have convulsions brought on by the drugs; searching for a hollow stem to give her artificial respiration, Snake is bitten by a wild horned viper.

The pain briefly incapacitates her, but her quick recovery from a normally fatal bite impresses the young man, and he tells Snake his name, Arevin.

[19] Snake is completely honest with the boy with respect to his treatment, telling him that he will feel pain, but later lies to him about Grass's death, so as not to affect his healing process.

Lauren Lacey wrote in the Cambridge History of Science Fiction that the story challenged assumptions about gender roles.

It accomplished this through Snake's character, as a powerful female protagonist, as well as through the depiction of three-person marriages as being the cultural norm.

[2] It was also anthologized multiple times, including in Women of Wonder, a 1975 volume published by Random House and compiled by Pamela Sargent that included 12 science fiction stories authored by women,[22] and in Fireflood and Other Stories, a 1979 collection of McIntyre's short fiction.

Comparing the story to Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune which featured giant "sandworms", as another example of the innovative description of reptilians, Westfahl described "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" as "quieter and more heartfelt".

[24] Scholar Anne Hudson Jones praised it as a powerful story, and stated that its themes were "mythic and universal".