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1200 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2020
Annnd here's my original reaction to this book!
Just released my Top 10 Books from 2020 BookTube Video - now that you know this one made the list, click the link to find the rest!
The Written Review
I am overwhelmed. I'm overjoyed. And I Vlogged the Reading Experience.
Just posted my Goodreads Choice 2020 Reaction Video on Booktube! Click the link to check it out!!
“Eat the path, or the path will eat you.”
“I screamed, though I have no mouth to scream. I wept, though I have no eyes for tears. I crawled through space and time, a worm inching through a labyrinth built by the dreams of a mad god. This I learned, meatbag, this and nothing more: when air, food, and shelter are assured, only two things matter. Work and companionship. To be alone and without purpose is to be the living dead.”
“Beware the temptation of false hope,” whispered Gregorovich. “Resist and seek your validation elsewhere.”
“Somehow I don’t think we’d be paid anything for peace. The only wages to be earned out there are paid in blood.”
“See you by the light of a strange star, Captain.”
“May your path always lead to knowledge.”
“Knowledge to freedom.”
—Entropic Litany
“The path to our goal is rarely straight. It tends to turn and twist, which makes the journey far more enjoyable than it would otherwise be.”
“We’re losing. They won’t break us tomorrow. And they won’t break us the day after. But at this rate, it’s inevitable.”
“We’ll meet again at Sol,”
“In the shadow of the moon,”
“By the shine of that green Earth.”
Without consciousness to appreciate it, existence was meaningless—an abandoned tomb decaying into oblivion.
“Everyone messes up. How you deal with it is what determines who you are.”
“I was in fractures before. I am in fractures now. But the pieces still form the same broken picture.”
“Nature has no regard for those who squirm and crawl within its tainted depths. The storm that batters, batters all. None are spared. Not you, not I, not the stars in the sky. We bind our cloaks and bend our heads and focus on our lives. But the storm, it never breaks, never fades.”
“Hear me now. The Lord of Empty Spaces protect us as we venture forth to fight our foes. Guide our hands—and our thoughts—and guide our weapons that we may work our will upon these perversions of peace. Let daring be our shield and righteous fury be our sword, and may our enemies flee at the sight of those who defend the defenseless, and may we stand unbowed and unbroken in the face of evil. Today is the Day of Wrath, and we are the instruments of our species’ retribution. Deo duce, ferro comitante. Amen.”
P.S. There are four appendixes at the end of the book: Spacetime & FTL; Ship-based Combat in Space; Terminology; Timeline. Do NOT miss them, this is a gigantic book and you might need help.
Horror welled up inside Kira.
She clawed at her forearms in a desperate attempt to rip off the alien organism. Even with their hard veneer, her nails couldn’t cut or break the fibers.
"Hey, headcase," she said. "You in one piece?"
After a brief pause, Gregorovich answered. Even with a synthesized voice, the ship mind sounded sluggish, groggy: "I was in fractures before. I am in fractures now. But the pieces still form the same broken picture."
Kira grunted. "Yeah, you’re fine."
This book brought me sad and many many happy tears.And so she sailed on, content to hold and wait and there to sleep, to sleep in a sea of stars.