Middle Earth as a Parallel Universe

[Rumil]

To bring this down to a less 'physicsy' level,

I'm sure that most have noticed that many sci-fi writers use the 'alternate universe' theory as a plot device. Michael Crichton has been mentioned but I remember reading one sci-fi novel (probably sometime in the 80s) which mentions Middle Earth. In this story, a 'ship' is invented which allows travel betwen the universes, but as there are an infinity of alternate universes (in this book at least), the ship must be guided by the thoughts of the crew. It turns out that their subconcious minds draw them to universes based on popular books, one of them being Lord of the Rings. Sadly they don't land as they consider it too dangerous and lacking in medical facilities! (I think they end up in Barsoom instead). Does anyone else remember this one?

On another tack entirely, does anyone read Ian M Banks? I'm sure his hyper-powerful Culture starship 'minds' could terraform a planet into Middle Earth and do the necessary genetic engineering to create its inhabitants.

As Pratchett says, 'beware the trousers of time' [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]