The Stone of Farewell (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #2)

by Tad Williams

But though the world was vast beyond comprehension, still every mote of life in it fought for its own continued existence. And each mote mattered.

He wondered why they should bother, when any moment a hawk or snake or hunter’s arrow might snuff out their lives. The thought of life scrabbling pointlessly beneath the shadow of death filled him with an oddly exhilarating disgust.