Chekhov's Gun/Literature: Difference between revisions

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** In ''[[Rage (novel)|Rage]]'', written under the psuedonym Richard Bachman, the lock pocketed by the lead character.

* [[Elizabeth Moon]]'s ''[[Vatta's War|Trading in Danger]]'' has two: the model kit and the fruitcakes given to the main character near the beginning both turn out to be very useful by the end, though neither in the way that's hinted at during the various times they are mentioned. {{spoiler|The model kit contains the makings of a communications beacon and the largest of the three fruitcakes holds a small fortune in diamonds and a letter.}}

* [[Larry Niven]] might just have pulled off the longest delay between the appearance of Chekhov's Gun and it's firing in the history of modern literature within the boundaries of his ''[[Known Space]]'' universe. In his 1966 short story ''At The Core'', Niven introduces the Quantum II hyperdrive, which is capable of moving a starship a light year in a minute and a quarter (as opposed to the Quantum I hyperdrive, which moves at a mere 3 days to the lightyear). In Niven's 2006 novel ''[[~~Ring World~~]]'s Children'', the Quantum II hyperdrive is used for it's ultimate purpose: to unilaterally end the Fringe War by removing the Ringworld from Known Space entirely. Thirty-eight years from mention to ultimate use just has to be some sort of record...

* [[Larry Niven]] might just have pulled off the longest delay between the appearance of Chekhov's Gun and it's firing in the history of modern literature within the boundaries of his ''[[Known Space]]'' universe. In his 1966 short story ''At The Core'', Niven introduces the Quantum II hyperdrive, which is capable of moving a starship a light year in a minute and a quarter (as opposed to the Quantum I hyperdrive, which moves at a mere 3 days to the lightyear). In Niven's 2006 novel ''[[Ringworld]]'s Children'', the Quantum II hyperdrive is used for it's ultimate purpose: to unilaterally end the Fringe War by removing the Ringworld from Known Space entirely. Thirty-eight years from mention to ultimate use just has to be some sort of record...

* Gary Paulsen's ''The Rifle'' is a story told from the point of view of a [[Chekhov's Gun]].

* In Peter Straub's "Ghost Story", Stella Hawthorne makes use of a Chekhov's Hatpin. Oddly, despite being a somewhat obvious example of the trope, it doesn't really affect the overall story very much.