Neil Gaiman meets Joe Hill in this astonishingly original, terrifying, and darkly funny contemporary fantasy.
Carolyn's not so different from the other human beings around her. She's sure of it. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. She even remembers what clothes are for.
After all, she was a normal American herself, once.
That was a long time ago, of course--before the time she calls "adoption day," when she and a dozen other children found themselves being raised by a man they learned to call Father.
Father could do strange things. He could call light from darkness. Sometimes he raised the dead. And when he was disobeyed, the consequences were terrible.
In the years since Father took her in, Carolyn hasn't gotten out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient Pelapi customs. They've studied the books in his library and learned some of the secrets behind his equally ancient power.
Sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God.
Now, Father is missing. And if God truly is dead, the only thing that matters is who will inherit his library--and with it, power over all of creation.
As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her.
But Carolyn can win. She's sure of it. What she doesn't realize is that her victory may come at an unacceptable price--because in becoming a God, she's forgotten a great deal about being human.
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司各特·霍金斯(1969- ),美国当代幻想作家,现居佐治亚州亚特兰大。
关于本书的创作,身为电脑程序员的司各特·霍金斯这么说:
我在家里的地下室写作,用的是Win7台式机。平板和笔记本我用不了,手太大。
2012年夏天的那三个月,我写完了《上帝的图书馆》的主体部分。那段时间,除了这本书,我脑子里什么都不想。周末的时候,我凌晨两三点起床,一直写到下午六点——完全沉浸其中,打字的速度都快跟不上了。
灵感迸发时,写小说是最美好的事。
同样美好的是,作为司各特·霍金斯的长篇处女作,本书刚一上市便在美国幻迷中引发了轰动。
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日子ー天天、一周周、一李季地过去,他发现自己一直无话可说。想说,却说不出来。慢慢地,他明白这种无话可说的状态便是自己的常态。在牢房里,在他邋遢的公寓中,他一直重复着这种状态。“无话可说”就像冗长的祷词,用锋利而丑陋的诗句把他切得粉碎。“无话可说”回响在阴暗的走道里,回响在他虚度的生命的时时刻刻,就像对所有问题的回答,就像所有曲子的歌词。
一但阿图尔语有些很有意思的短语。其中一个叫“Uzanyva",意思是一颗纯真心灵第一次实施谋杀并因此蒙上污垢的时刻。对阿图尔人来说,谋杀的罪孽是次要的,心灵堕落才是主要的。这种想法和个中深意深深吸引了卡萝琳。
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