All These Worlds (Bobiverse, #3)

by Dennis E. Taylor

I took a moment to mourn the people I’d just killed.

This is stupid. Killing killers in the act of killing innocents is a just and merciful act. This toxic sympathy is nauseating.

People die. And I remember each and every one, as clear as the day it happened. Over time, that’s more and more unhappy memories to deal with. I think I’m trying to move toward thinking of my relatives more as a group and less as individuals.”

This is stupid. Yes grieve, but you are ignoring all of the happy memories you’ve built. Even if something ends, you still have had the something. This is a common image of eternity as imagined by those without it. I find it unconvincing.

“You’re going to make arbitrary decisions about who lives and who dies. How do you live with that?” Will’s face took on a haunted look. “I don’t know, Herschel. I just don’t know.”

Ugh. Stupid unearned guilt is becoming a theme. A tiresome one.

“Rosie?” Bridget shook her head. “She laid down an ultimatum. If I show up, she won’t. Or if you do, for that matter.”

Shouldn’t she be in jail?!? Isn’t tampering with medical equipment, like, really bad?

“We’re not alive.” “Yeah, we are. We’re not biological any more, but we’re still alive. We make friends, we grieve, we apparently still fall in love… Let it happen. Mourn. And don’t get all bent out of shape when other people don’t mourn as deeply. They have their own lives.”

This is the most mature thing I've seen so far in this series. I hope it penetrates. I'm afraid it won't.

One less thing to feel guilty about.

Seriously? Talk about inappropriate guilt. Gads. You did your best to protect an entire species but were outgunned. Yeah, let's feel guilty about that...