Endymion (Hyperion Cantos, #3)

by Dan Simmons

De Soya catches his sergeant’s eye. Gregorius almost never smiles unless combat is imminent,

“You make the universe and its processes sound like a machine,” I said. “Programmed, unstoppable, inevitable.” The old man shook his head slowly. “No, no … never a machine. And never inevitable. If Christ’s coming taught us anything, it is that nothing is inevitable. The outcome is always in doubt. Decisions for light or dark are always ours to make—ours and every conscious entity’s.”