The Fall of Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #2)

by Dan Simmons

‘The deus ex machina. What we were talking about earlier. I suspect that this is precisely the reason each of us is here. Poor Lenar with his deus in the machina of the cruciform. Brawne with her resurrected poet trapped in a Schrön loop, seeking the machina to release her personal deus. You, Sol, waiting for the dark deus to solve your daughter’s terrible problem. The Core, machina spawned, seeking to build their own deus.’

there must be some hope that we can rise to a higher level . . . that consciousness can evolve to a plane more benevolent than its counterpoint of a universe hardwired to indifference.’

The best lack all conviction, he thought, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.