Two chapters in one post today because they flow together perfectly. Chapter 2 gets Rydra to the Alliance War Yards. Chapter 3 is a tour of weapons that would make any Bond villain jealous. And through it all, the mystery gets thicker.
The chapter is called “Murphy,” and if you know Murphy’s Law, you already know how this is going to go. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong. And then it gets worse.
This is the chapter that breaks Rick Deckard. Not physically. Not even professionally. Something worse. It breaks the wall between him and the things he kills.
Why do people follow horrific orders when they have a clear chance to say no? That is the question Chapter 8 of Ordinary Men tries to answer, and the answers are more unsettling than you might expect.
Chapter III of Perry’s book is where Singapore stops being just a dot on the map and starts becoming a real city. And the story of how that happened is basically about people showing up, working hard, and some seriously questionable government revenue strategies.
Part 2 of Babel-17 starts and the title is “Ver Dorco.” We don’t know what that means yet. But we do get an epigraph from Rydra’s own poetry about words being all her hands have ever seen. Nice touch, Delany.
Birkenfeld showed up at a French courthouse handing out free copies of his own book. An armed guard told him to stop selling. “I’m not selling them,” he said. “They’re free. Want one?” The cop hid a copy inside his body armor.
This is the big one. Chapter 4 of Earthman, Come Home is called “He,” and it’s the longest chapter in the entire novel. “He” is a planet, not a person. And what happens on that planet is one of the most ambitious things Amalfi and New York City have ever attempted. They move a whole world.
This chapter is tense from the first line to the last. And it ends with one of those quiet, devastating moments that Philip K. Dick does better than almost anyone.
Chapter II is called “Wings of Canvas,” which is honestly a great title. It captures this moment in the 1400s and 1500s when Europeans figured out long-distance sailing and suddenly showed up in Asian waters like uninvited guests who never left.