The Destroyer of Worlds (Lovecraft Country #2)

by Matt Ruff

Before blowing out the lantern he shoots another warning glance at Adolphus, who responds with a fair imitation of Simon’s “Yessuh” nod. I still don’t see nothing, boss.

What was the mule's(or was it a donkey) name in Animal Farm?

words on the marquee: TODAY ONLY D.W. GRIFFITH’S CLASSIC THE BIRTH OF A NATION “The King in Yellow,” Montrose said, nodding at the line of white people stretching away down the block.

The dog-eared book in his hands had a mushroom cloud on its cover, and the title, with its many exclamation points—THE ATOM SMASHERS!!!!!—promised

Congrats on whoever designed the cover for this book, I like that it references the book Horace is reading

It’s good to be brave; sometimes, it’s good to be angry, too. But if you live long enough you learn that bravery and anger aren’t sufficient. Power is what matters. Without power, bravery and anger will just get you hurt, or killed.”

“The cap locks in place to create an anti-entropic seal, which, among other things, renders it effectively shatterproof. Just don’t drop it when it’s open.”

Why do I feel this is going to be an important point later?

work. A big fly buzzed outside the window.

Or is it that mechanical scarab?

The panel Horace was working on covered half the sheet—a full page of the comic book it was destined to become.

A spray, she thought, not a pile. The cereal box hadn’t been dumped out; it had fallen over, probably while the trailer was moving.

Instead of Frosted Flakes it should have been named like the cereal box in Kill Bill. Like KABOOM!!!

In 1710, England sent in a new governor, Edward Hyde, and when Roanoke wouldn’t recognize his authority, either, that’s when the shooting started.

Dr. Jeckel, what are you doing in Roanoke?

“It’s like, everybody believes God is on their side, and everybody thinks it’s silly that other people believe God is on their side.

That's a nice summary of what's wrong with organized religion

Those university classes I’ve been taking? There’s this one girl I met, a preacher’s daughter named Candace Bates.

She's working on her master

“It’s the folks who think they have it all figured out who have the hardest time,” she said. “When they find out what they believe isn’t so, they panic; instead of changing the way they believe, they jump from one certainty to another—usually a negative one. So if the God they grew up believing in turns out to be too small for the universe they live in, that must mean there’s no God at all. No reason to hope.”

The creator of an infinite universe would have to be infinite too, every bit as strange and hard to comprehend, and just as full of surprises.”

“I’m talking about the reason you’re here at all. The universe might have just happened, but you didn’t. You’re alive because of choices other people made.” “What people?” “Your ancestors, of course

I would hope that it matters to you, and that that’s enough, but if it isn’t, remember those people who came before you, who made it possible for you to even think about giving up—and remember the ones who’ll come after, who’ll only get to make their own choices if you don’t give up.

So when you feel yourself despairing, remember that just because you can’t think of a reason to hope, doesn’t mean there isn’t one.

Montrose patted the backpack on Atticus’s shoulders. “Get this emptied out,” he said. “We got our marching orders.”

and a new sound came through. It was back in the direction of the marsh, distant but getting closer. Dogs.

Right now my dog is snoring so loud that I'm having trouble reading

Sure, Atticus thought, but logs don’t just sink.

Think that should read blink

“A body,” he said. “He wants me to steal him a body.”

Herbert West reaches through the ropes for a tag in

“you know what kind of man he is.” “I do,” George acknowledged. “I was up all last night, wrestling with that.

Ha, just made a wrestling reference on the previous page

“I hear you. Believe me, I hear you. But this cancer . . . I’m scared, brother. I’m goddamned terrified, like I can’t even describe.

Needs the fungi magic not the badguy magic

They were riding in Woody, George’s wood-paneled Packard station wagon,

It's the literal Toy Story car. "You got a friend in me"🎶

“Maybe.” George shrugged again. “All I know is, the ritual’s not over until the dead guy sings, too.”

Ha!!!

“I know there are white folks who are as sick of the color line as we are. But it’s a lot easier to do what your heart says is right when your wallet agrees.

“And you’re right—you could use Vishnu’s words to justify pretty much any war crime you liked. That’s the thing about scripture: the devil can quote it too.

But when Horace returned to his book and saw the photograph of Oppenheimer taken after the war, the haunted look in the man’s eyes said that he’d never managed to make the necessary leap of faith. Like Horace, he must have feared that the Hindus had it backwards: God was the illusion; death was real; and the worlds that it destroyed were destroyed forever.

Matt Ruff has been ahead of the cultural curve with both this and the first book

“In here,” Horace replied, securing the flap again. He turned around and saw a finger bone he’d missed lying on the floor. He ducked down quickly to grab it, and stuffed it in his pocket.

Is this a plot point, is he gonna swap the finger joint for the key? A skeleton key!

“I’m going out again. Victor Franklin’s on his way over to mind the travel office for me.

A man 's search for meaning in a travel office

walking at a lean with an odd shambling gait that seemed to parody Braithwhite’s bob-and-weave approach to Winthrop. Horace’s left foot was turned out to the side and his knee bent in a way that looked both awkward and painful.

Like Steven"flyboy" in Dawn of the Dead when he's a zombie