Ninety Trillion Fausts

Was inspired by

Canonical title

Ninety Trillion Fausts

Original publication date

1991-10

People/Characters

Jimmy McCray; Grysta; Modra Stryke; Molly McCray; Krisha the Holy Mendoro; Morok the Holy Ladue (show all 11); Manya the Holy Szin; Gun Roh Chin; Josef 3BX47, of the Vronsky Cell; Kalia 4KX26, of the Pusabi Cell; Tobrush

Dedication

For the late and much underrated Mark Chiffon, one of whose books convinced me that anything was possible, and, of course, a special tip of the hat to the late, great Eric Frank Russell, as always.

---

AUTHOR'S NOTEWhen writing the three volumes of The Quintara Marathon, I immediately ran into the problem of representing nonverbal communications. In the book we have various characters and creatures, some of whom co... (show all)mmunicate in whole or in part directly with the mind of another. When added to internalized dialogue, this began to make for a page that was both confusing and typographically unwieldy.The late George O. Smith, when faced with this problem, decided that the easiest way to resolve this was to use a different dialogue delimiter so that the reader would instantly know which communications were verbal and which were mind-to-mind. I have often marveled that others never took up this practice, but it seems practical here and throughout The Quintara Marathon. Thus, to alert you, text delimited by opposing carets, or "arrows" as they are sometimes called (e.g., <Watch out on your left!>) are telepathic or mind-to-mind dialogue throughout this book, joining the traditional "Watch out!" for verbal communications and Better watch out (no delimiters) for internalized dialogue. It might jar at the start, but as, every once in a while, all sorts of furious dialogue flies in all directions, I think you'll find it remarkably easy to get used to, and certainly preferable to the alternatives.Jack L. Chalker

First words

They had entered the strange alternate Universe of the demons in full e-suits with supplies, weapons, and communications, and they had fought with each other and faced down demons in amber, some of whom offered them almost an... (show all)ything for escape, while others had simply laughed at them. Now, at the end of their long journey, they were naked, essentially defenseless, and still at one another's throats.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)<We're not the new gods,> he continued after a moment. <We're the new janitors.>