Alan (The Lone Librarian) Teder’s Reviews > Gently Instrumental > Status Update

‘It’s the performance that’s always mattered . . . isn’t it?’
‘Didn’t I tell you that from the start?’ Capel hitched forward and brandished his empty glass at Gently. ‘When the chips are down we’re all expendable – Virtue, Craggy, even Walt. We have our entrances and exits but music is for ever. Music is life, and sanity. We need it in our world. Music is hope. While we keep creating it civilization has a chance.’

‘First, a high incidence of iron oxide in the soil. Second, traces of fusion and extreme heat and residual ash. Third, any bronze artefact that doesn’t fit a pattern. If enough of these were found, it would be difficult to explain.’
Gently drank. ‘All that sounds familiar. I’m looking for much the same things every day – moral rust, signs of high temperature and behaviour that doesn’t fit established patterns.’