Arm of the Sphinx (The Books of Babel, #2)

by Josiah Bancroft

“Of course it is clarified! That’s because all the confusing and muddling and disagreeing parts have been removed. It’s clear because it’s untrue! Who are these pious men writing the story of time anyway? To whom are they devoted? Every historian I’ve ever heard of has a benefactor or a master or a duty to his country. History is a love letter to tyrants written in the blood of the overrun, the forgotten, the expunged!”

What good does it do to punish a man who so stubbornly punishes himself?”

“Yet, while bedeviled, I have kept the crew fed. I have kept the ship whole. I may be haunted, Edith, but I am not defective,” Senlin said, rallying some pride. “You say the crew is still with me, but what about you?”