by Tad Williams
"Two years? I'm not getting any less confused."
She smiled for the first time. It changed her face, transformed nice but nondescript into radiant. "No. I imagine not. Do you suppose we can get decent coffee delivered in this hospital? There is much to say."
"Shouldn't I be resting?" he asked, but gently, not wanting to offend her.
"This version of you has been asleep too long already. Hear what I have to say, at least a little, then decide," she said. "Oh, Paul, I am glad I came here. The others want to see you too, but they are so busy—there is still so much to do. But when you are healthy we will visit them all."
"I don't think I'll be able to travel terribly soon, at least not far."
She shook her head and smiled again. "Your friends are closer than you think."
"What friends? You keep saying that." He searched his still-fuzzy memory. "Do you mean Niles?"
The woman called Martine laughed. "I am certain this Niles is a fine person—but no. You have the most wonderful friends imaginable, friends who have suffered at your side and who have triumphed against all odds, in large part because of your heroism."
"Then why can't I remember them?"
"Because, Paul—dear, brave Paul—you haven't met them yet. But you will."
Table of Contents
SEA OF SILVER LIGHT
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
OTHERLAND: City of Golden Shadow Synopsis
OTHERLAND: River of Blue Fire Synopsis
OTHERLAND: Mountain of Black Glass Synopsis
Foreword
A VOYAGE IN THE HEART
Strange Bedfellows
Execution Sweet
Restless Natives
In Silver Dreaming
The Last Fish to Swallow
Talking to Machines
The Man from Mars
Listening to the Nothing
Hannibal's Return
The Land of Glass and Air
GHOST SONGS
Yours Very Sincerely
The Boy in the Well
King Johnny
The Stone Girl
Confessional
Badlands
Breathing Problems
Making a Witch
The Bravest: Man in the World
Thompson's Iron
Handling Snakes
More Very Bush
THE DYING HOUR
Orientation
Getting out of Dodge
The Hidden Bridge
Flies and Spiders
The Green Steeple
Master of His Silence
Stony Limits
Climbing the Mountain
Romany Fair
Bad House
SORROW'S CHILDREN
Weekend Hours
Desert Smile
Rainbow's Shoe
Without a Net
The Locked Room
Boy in Darkness
Broken Angel
The Third Head of Cerberus
Playing the Knight
Old School
Tears of Ra
Stolen Voices
Send
Thoughts Like Smoke
Star Over Louisiana
Unreal Bodies
The Next
INHERITORS
No Promises
Watching Cars Explode
The Oracle Surprised
A Borrowed House
Afterword