Gilberte Berti

“For two years the battles raged across the lands, one side fighting for conquest, the other for freedom. Othium-powered weapons wreaked havoc on defending armies. The red fire was hard to resist, but the white light was stronger. Gradually the tide turned and the freedom fighters regained control of their lands and their cities. The stage was set for the final battle.
The opposing forces met outside the Ackar city of Erbea in 1302 and the forces of good won the day. The alchemist escaped and was about to take his revenge at a wedding ceremony when he was bound by the white light. All that remained was his heart, or maybe his soul, encapsulated in a piece of red rock.
Dewar the Third succeeded his father and the new king promised a time of peace and prosperity. History would call him the Peacemaker.
Now, two hundred years on, a new Emperor seeks to rule the world, while an illegitimate son sets out on a path towards revenge and a thief begins to learn his trade. It is time for the alchemist to return.”
― Robert Reid, The Emperor

“The sunset bled into the edges of the village. Smoke curled out of the cottage chimney like a crooked finger.”
― Sara Pascoe, Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask For

“Why is your species so dissatisfied?”
“How so?”
“Humans are individuals, quite social in nature. You strive to
become more than yourselves using Silicon reconstructions in your
bodies and filaments in your brains connecting you, unnaturally, to
the NET.”
“Our bodies are mortal. We employ silicon and alloys to extend
our bodies’ existence.”
“You appear to be attempting the same strategy with your brains’
architectures.”
“By using the NET? Is that what you mean?”
“You will never accomplish this. You must know it.”
“Surely you can understand that as we are now, we have what we
consider a limited lifespan, and, it seems, so does this planet. When
the inevitable happens, we will not be able to travel any substantial
distance in space. We cannot escape our dying planet. Humanity will
cease to exist if we fail. We face our ultimate existential crisis as a species.
Our most basic instinct is the survival of our species, so you see
we must try. It is in our nature. It is evolution or elimination.”
― Brian Van Norman, Against the Machine: Evolution

“This world would be a pleasant place if people didn’t inhabit it.”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master