BooksBarbecue
Back Embers of War
Chapters (85)
  1. Cover
  2. Also by Gareth L. Powell and available from Titan Books
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Prologue: Pelapatarn
  7. Part One: Three Years Later
  8. One: Sal Konstanz
  9. Two: Ona Sudak
  10. Three: Ashton Childe
  11. Four: Sal Konstanz
  12. Five: Trouble Dog
  13. Six: Sal Konstanz
  14. Seven: Ashton Childe
  15. Eight: Sal Konstanz
  16. Nine: Sal Konstanz
  17. Ten: Trouble Dog
  18. Eleven: Ona Sudak
  19. Twelve: Sal Konstanz
  20. Thirteen: Trouble Dog
  21. Fourteen: Nod
  22. Fifteen: Sal Konstanz
  23. Sixteen: Ona Sudak
  24. Seventeen: Sal Konstanz
  25. Eighteen: Ashton Childe
  26. Nineteen: Ona Sudak
  27. Twenty: Sal Konstanz
  28. Twenty-One: Ashton Childe
  29. Twenty-Two: Trouble Dog
  30. Twenty-Three: Ona Sudak
  31. Twenty-Four: Sal Konstanz
  32. Twenty-Five: Trouble Dog
  33. Twenty-Six: Ashton Childe
  34. Twenty-Seven: Trouble Dog
  35. Twenty-Eight: Nod
  36. Twenty-Nine: Ona Sudak
  37. Thirty: Sal Konstanz
  38. Thirty-One: Nod
  39. Thirty-Two: Ona Sudak
  40. Thirty-Three: Sal Konstanz
  41. Thirty-Four: Nod
  42. Thirty-Five: Ashton Childe
  43. Thirty-Six: Sal Konstanz
  44. Thirty-Seven: Ona Sudak
  45. Thirty-Eight: Ashton Childe
  46. Thirty-Nine: Ona Sudak
  47. Forty: Trouble Dog
  48. Forty-One: Sal Konstanz
  49. Part Two: The Marble Armada
  50. Forty-Two: Ona Sudak
  51. Forty-Three: Sal Konstanz
  52. Forty-Four: Nod
  53. Forty-Five: Trouble Dog
  54. Forty-Six: Sal Konstanz
  55. Forty-Seven: Ashton Childe
  56. Forty-Eight: Trouble Dog
  57. Forty-Nine: Sal Konstanz
  58. Fifty: Nod
  59. Fifty-One: Ashton Childe
  60. Fifty-Two: Ona Sudak
  61. Fifty-Three: Trouble Dog
  62. Fifty-Four: Ona Sudak
  63. Fifty-Five: Sal Konstanz
  64. Fifty-Six: Ashton Childe
  65. Fifty-Seven: Ona Sudak
  66. Fifty-Eight: Trouble Dog
  67. Fifty-Nine: Sal Konstanz
  68. Sixty: Ashton Childe
  69. Sixty-One: Ona Sudak
  70. Sixty-Two: Sal Konstanz
  71. Sixty-Three: Ona Sudak
  72. Sixty-Four: Nod
  73. Sixty-Five: Trouble Dog
  74. Sixty-Six: Ashton Childe
  75. Sixty-Seven: Sal Konstanz
  76. Sixty-Eight: Trouble Dog
  77. Sixty-Nine: Sal Konstanz
  78. Seventy: Sal Konstanz
  79. Seventy-One: Ashton Childe
  80. Seventy-Two: Trouble Dog
  81. Seventy-Three: The Marble Armada
  82. Seventy-Four: Nod
  83. Acknowledgements
  84. About the Author
  85. Also Available from Titan Books

Until that time comes, for the survival of all, peace must be enforced.

War must be prevented, at all costs.

Our motto has always been, Life Above All.

Life is sacred.

Life must be preserved.

And we must remain ever vigilant.

Seventy-Four: Nod

SEVENTY-FOUR

NOD

Of course, they could have asked me.

But nobody asks the Druff.

We served the Hearthers, just as we served the humans, the Nymtoq, the Graal. All the races of the Multiplicity.

Five thousand years isn’t so long to us.

A single flowering of the World Tree.

A single beat of the galactic heart.

And yet nobody asked us because we kept our mouths closed. We kept our speaking faces pressed to the ground and did not volunteer that which was not asked.

We were discreet.

We had other concerns.

Like fixing Hound of Difficulty.

Fixed ship, then slept.

Fixed hull plates, drive chambers, damaged sensors.

Endless list.

Then curled in nest and slept.

Did work, then slept with much satisfaction and contentment.

There will always be work.

We will always fix, then sleep.

Nothing stays damaged for long.

Nothing ruined.

Everything can be salvaged.

Everything fixable.

Maybe even humans.

Acknowledgements

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I’d like to thank everybody who encouraged me with this novel, especially my agent, Alexander Cochran at C+W, and my editors, Miranda Jewess and Gary Budden, and all the team at Titan Books. I’d also like to thank Su Haddrell and Gillian Redfearn for reading and commenting on an early draft, and Emma Newman for unwittingly inspiring me to try writing a novel in the first person—something I’d hitherto not attempted. And last but by no means least, I want to give a big shout-out to my family, for their patience and enduring support.

About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gareth L. Powell lives and works in North Somerset. His alternate history thriller Ack-Ack Macaque won the 2013 BSFA Award for Best Novel, spawned two sequels, and was shortlisted in the Best Translated Novel category for the 2016 Seiun Awards in Japan.

Gareth’s short fiction has appeared in a host of magazines and anthologies, including Interzone, Solaris Rising 3, and The Year’s Best Science Fiction, and his story “Ride The Blue Horse” made the shortlist for the 2015 BSFA Award.

In addition to his fiction, Gareth has written film scripts for corporate training videos, penned a strip for the long-running British comic 2000 AD, composed song lyrics for an indie electro band, and written articles and reviews for The Irish Times, Acoustic Magazine, and SFX.

He studied creative writing under Helen Dunmore at the University of Glamorgan, and is now a popular panellist and speaker at literary events and conventions around the UK. He has run workshops and given guest lectures at a number of universities, libraries and conferences, is a frequent guest on local radio, and has appeared on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

Gareth lives near Bristol with his wife, daughters and cats.

Also Available from Titan Books