So, I have had some feedback from readers. They have mentioned certain favourite bits and pieces from the novel.
Every now and then something one of the characters says, or some thoughtful piece of wisdom from the narrator strikes a chord, and sticks in the mind. Pithy sayings carry a lot of weight in the world and in the Universe, while the very best ones are of course as light as a feather in flight.
Thus, without taking the piss, read on for a little of the pith…
In the late August of 2068, my career was at a crossroads. It was approaching a red light. I didn’t want to stop.
OK, so that is the opening line of the opening book. Of course in the time travel Universe one has to be very careful about beginnings, middles and endings. As well as straight lines, corners, circles, ellipses, and ends, both live and dead.
Eleanor Ruffles was her name, and she was an impressive sight indeed. Well, I didn’t know about her deeds, but the visage was full of glamour and intrigue. Almost six foot of pure Amazon. A hundred and forty pounds wringing wet. Well, I didn’t see her wringing wet, or even dripping damp, but it was nice to think of her that way. There was nary a nanomolecule of excess fat. She was leggy, and then even more leggy. A body like a statue, and a personality like a satchel.
Chapter 3. A delayed reveal of Jasper’s sexual interests and obsessions. Not that delayed though. Eleanor is surely to be adored. It would be fair to say that she brings out the very best, as well as the very worst in Doctor Jasper Jarman.
Light does travel quite rapidly. Yeah, it’s the second fastest thing in the Universe— after bullshit.
Chapter 8. That’s something that I think Einstein would have wanted to say.
He wanted to know what I knew, without revealing things that would enable me to ever grow what I know. It was a silly game, but I have no doubt that many a beautiful relationship has started in exactly that fashion.
This is from chapter 30. The prof had a secret, and he was searching for a handle on how much the doctor had deduced. The touchstone of all secrets, and all reveals, and also all secret reveals. The secrets emerge at some point, and are found to have always been in the process of emergence.
‘And if I tell you that I am working on a machine that will enable time travel, and am now prepared to show you a prototype, right now, this very night, what would you say to that?’
Chapter 37. It took quite a few chapters before the time machine was introduced. The ship was a slow burn, but it turned out to be worth the wait.
I was briefly lost for words, and then said, ‘Fuck it, go on then. I’m a fucking crackpot as well. Show me a shiny machine, prof. Me like shiny things.’
Chapter 37. I’m not sure exactly what Jasper meant by the word crackpot. Or whether it is a pejorative or a term of endearment. Also it turned out that the time machine was not really that shiny…
Stay tuned for some more quotables in the future. And send me any excerpts that you found interesting…