The Raven Tower

by Ann Leckie

But let me tell you what I saw before I fell to earth! I saw two rocks collide, so far away from this world that it might seem no more than a bright speck, and one of those rocks might have passed silently by this world on yet another long trip around the sun, and yet because of that collision thousands of years ago and so very far away, it tumbled to earth instead. And I thought to myself that if I knew enough, if I had enough pieces of that puzzle, I could see what will happen and when, across those unspeakable distances, across those many thousands of years. Things change—you and I are both old enough to know it. But not all changes are inconsequential to us.” “Perhaps not,” I agreed. “But consequential for us is not the same as bad for us. And even if it were, even bad conditions pass eventually.” “We gods are usually long-lived enough to see that happen,” the Myriad agreed.