As for the depiction of the Catholic church, it's not meant to be a prediction.

Brawne looks at Johnny, realizing that she is seeing in infrared now as the heat-lamp light from distant furnaces of data suns bathes them both. He is still handsome. –.

Children bring chaos and clutter and an infinite potential for the future.

Abraham came not to sacrifice, but to know once and for all whether this God was a god to be trusted and obeyed. No other test would do.

Among us we represent islands of time as well as separate oceans of perspective.

I retitled my poem The Hyperion Cantos. It was not about the planet but about the passing of the self-styled Titans called humans. It was about the unthinking hubris of a race which dared to murder its homeworld through sheer carelessness and then carried that dangerous arrogance to the stars...

Jehovah had not simply been testing Abraham, but had communicated in the only language of loyalty, obedience, sacrifice, and command that humankind could understand at that point in the relationship.

So many important things pass quickly without being understood at the time. So many powerful moments are buried beneath the absurd.

God Almighty, I love life. Even this vile place, where the trees are shattered stubs and where nothing grows but craters, even the sights, scents, sounds, and stirrings of this place are preferable to the unchanging nothingness of the Great Darkness.

I love life, Eleanor. It is that simple. Had I the choice, I would live forever, accepting pain and loss as my due and learning – across time – even to appreciate the sharp seasoning of this sadness.