Andrew Rivard

Add friend
Sign in to Goodreads to learn more about Andrew.

https://www.goodreads.com/asymptotic

Deadhouse Gates
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
Book cover for Men at Arms (Discworld, #15; City Watch, #2)
He could lead armies, Angua thought. He really could. Some people have inspired whole countries to great deeds because of the power of their vision. And so could he. Not because he dreams about marching hordes, or world domination, or an ...more
Loading...
Dan Simmons
“No lifetime is long enough for those who wish to create, Raul. Or for those who simply wish to understand themselves and their lives. It is, perhaps, the curse of being human, but also a blessing.”
Dan Simmons, The Rise of Endymion

Dan Simmons
“… Thou art a dreaming thing; A fever of thyself—think of the Earth; What bliss even in hope is there for thee? What haven? every creature hath its home; Every sole man hath days of joy and pain, Whether his labours be sublime or low— The pain alone; the joy alone; distinct: Only the dreamer venoms all his days, Bearing more woe than all his sins deserve.”
Dan Simmons, The Fall of Hyperion

Neal Stephenson
“The entire country of Finland (to hear Otto tell it) has been plunged into an endless night of existential despair and suicidal depression. The usual antidotes have been exhausted: self-flagellation with steeped birch twigs, mordant humor, week-long drinking bouts. The only thing to save Finland now is coffee.”
Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon

Dan Simmons
“This is some sort of joke, isn’t it?” asks Hunt, staring at the flawless blue sky and distant fields. I cough as lightly and briefly as possible into a handkerchief I have made from a towel borrowed from the inn. “Possibly,” I say. “But then, what isn’t?”
Dan Simmons, The Fall of Hyperion

Dan Simmons
“[Once Ummon asked a lesser light Are you a gardener> Yes it replied Why have turnips no roots> Ummon asked the gardener who could not reply Because said Ummon rainwater is plentiful] I think about this for a moment. Ummon’s koan is not difficult now that I am regaining the knack of listening for the shadow of substance beneath the words. The little Zen parable is Ummon’s way of saying, with some sarcasm, that the answer lies within science and within the antilogic which scientific answers so often provide. The rainwater comment answers everything and nothing, as so much of science has for so long. As Ummon and the other Masters teach, it explains why the giraffe evolved a long neck but never why the other animals did not. It explains why humankind evolved to intelligence, but not why the tree near the front gate refused to.”
Dan Simmons, The Fall of Hyperion

year in books
Alanna ...
294 books | 283 friends

Val Kar...
4,441 books | 1,278 friends

Richard...
6 books | 69 friends

Joshua
3 books | 14 friends

Richard...
2 books | 247 friends

Eean Ovens
12 books | 138 friends

Shelagh...
1 book | 110 friends

April Z...
2 books | 85 friends

More friends…



Polls voted on by Andrew

Lists liked by Andrew