The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (D.O.D.O. #1)

by Neal Stephenson

“You have an agreeably uninteresting existence. Let’s see if we can change that.”

“Just saying,” Tristan said, “that it’s about choosing possible outcomes that already exist—slipstreaming between closely related alternate realities—as opposed to bringing those realities into existence.”

The kind of woman who could pleasantly instruct you to fuck off, dear, and you immediately would because you’d just hate to disappoint her.

She gave him a furious, disgusted look. “I want to be very clear with you about something,” she said in a warning tone. “There are many novels in which there is a handsome man and a beautiful woman and they argue all the time and are at odds and constantly clash and it is because secretly they want to make passionate love to each other. That is not the case here.”

“Good way to win points,” himself said confidently, in that tone that says: he has made up his mind about it, and therefore any new information or suggestion has the weight of mist.