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391 pages, Hardcover
First published January 14, 2020
“Geniuses are born all the time, but kindness is rarer, these days especially. The world could use more kindness.”
“They once called me cursed… Best not to listen to what they say. There’s no end to the stories that cowards tell.”
“The people who leave always forget that the world doesn't end once they've gone… They forget about the decay.”
“Let my daughter be a lesson to the world… that society’s idealization of physical beauty is wrong—that beauty comes in many forms, the most wonderful being the brilliance of the mind.”
“Whatever you might think, I am but a mere mortal, and it is startling how easy it is for mortals to be cruel when they are afraid… But I hope that doesn’t dissuade you from learning your own lessons on love… whenever that may be. It should say something that despite my regrets I still stand by its recommendation. I would do it all again if I could, even with its lackluster ending.”
“He wanted to warn these children that time was not their friend; that though today might seem special, there would be a tomorrow, and a day after that; that the best-case scenario of a well-spent life was the slow and steady unraveling of the heart’s knot.”
“Take my day, they sang, but give me the night. Feed the hearth and ready the brew, for I am coming home to you.”
Apparently, according to the interview with Simon Jimenez (https://bookpage.com/interviews/24695...) this chapter was indeed actually written as a self-contained story as he was working up to writing longer fiction :
“Jimenez began working on the novel when he was studying for his MFA at Emerson College. In an effort to draw his classmates into his story without burying them under piles of science fiction lore, he started in a somewhat self-contained way, composing the opening chapter of the book almost like a piece of short fiction.
“I felt like I had to prove that I could write genre with some level of emotional intelligence, and that meant writing this fleshed-out short story of this person’s life,” he says. “So it’s very grounded but in a heightened reality.”
“The black spires. Sounder’s Outpost Kai. Networked streets of Suda-Sulai. The icescapes of Gallahad. We’ve performed countless jobs in places both large & small. Delivered vaccinations across continents. Escorted three wealthy sisters as they pilgrimaged to the old temples of their religion. Diagnosed the mysterious ailment that plagued the son of a Primark Prince, an ailment that would go on to take his life. We’ve traveled circles & zigzags across all of fringe space, rambling behind us years of stories.”
“Not everyone gets to leave. The least I can do is give them some working lights to read by.”
The black spires. Sounder’s Outpost Kai. Networked streets of Suda-Sulai. The icescapes of Gallahad. We’ve performed countless jobs in places both large and small. Delivered vaccinations across continents. Escorted three wealthy sisters as they pilgrimaged to the old temples of their religion. Diagnosed the mysterious ailment that plagued the son of a Primark Prince
"they could take my day...but i'd still have the night."
"take my day, but give me the night."