Lifemaker Quotes

“Jacob and Whistler bumped into Taberah as she charged down the corridor, her hair a fiery halo, as if the hordes of Hell were behind her.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“And it was to the bottom that the vessel now plunged, into the waters that were blacker than any black on land, into a gloom that was more consuming than the deepest night. Were the crew not focused on their frenzied work to stop the steep descent, they might've glanced out one of the many round windows, and they might've thought that they were looking into the black iris of an evil creature—and they might've been right.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“The candles were adored and worshipped like idols, for, after all, they invoked the gods of light.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“Panic pierced the minds of almost everyone present, logic was pummelled into the floor, and human decency was discarded like bait for the frightful fishes that flocked towards the submarine.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“In the black abyss, there were creatures that even demons feared. No one knew what they looked like, not even themselves, for they were blind, and though many were scavengers, seizing and consuming any stray bits of food that'd sunk down from the higher levels, there were predators too, just waiting for larger prey.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“And maybe it’s foolish of me to save up for a rainy day in a world of desert sand, but I’ve lived, and worked, through enough rainy days to feel the need to save up for an umbrella.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“But he who knows not when to obey shall find that he's really obeying his rebellious lower aspects. His animal nature, if you well. So then, is he really a rebel at all”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“He hadn't thought of money when death was near. Perhaps that was because Heaven was too expensive, and Hell was free.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“Let me warn you again, in case your ghost ever tries to condemn me.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“In a sea of a thousand mines, the crew of the Lifemaker had to be lucky a thousand times, but in that same sea, the Regime only had to be lucky once.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“Rommond paused for a moment while he contemplated the idea, but he didn't have long to think. The victors in war were often those who made the quick decisions. He knew well, however, that some of the losers in war lost because they didn't think things through.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“The sting of the bee is worst in a swarm.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“Just because his own wings were burnt, it didn't mean he had to burn others’.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“Nothing else attacked the submarine that day, or the days that followed, but every sound was heard as the battle cry of a beast, every creak the war song of the deep. Nerves were frayed, and many among the crew found it difficult to rest, and impossible to sleep. For those who fought their way into the realms of slumber, the battle raged on in their dreams.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“Something bashed against the submarine with such a tremendous force that the vessel rocked violently from side to side, throwing people back and forth. Jacob and Whistler weren't ready for the first of these, and they earned bruises as their medals, but the second time the creature shook the ship, they clung to pipes that rattled in their holdings, as if they themselves feared the larger beast that came to feast upon them all.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“They stopped to catch their breath, and found that there were many breaths to catch.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“No one, not even the demons of the Regime, could survive at the immense pressures of the abyss, and even if they could, they would likely drown before they set eyes upon the gaping maws of the denizens of the deep.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“The mania of his comrades helped quell his fear of monsters, and made him fear instead the bashing boots of men.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“Jacob and Whistler fled as if fear itself had manifested outside. They tripped and tumbled, but they didn't care, so long as they fell forwards and away from that horrid creature that tried to feed upon the glass. They ran down the corridor, and they heard shouts and screams from many of the other cabins, and dozens more people raced out from their rooms, leaving wide the doors, from which could be seen many more of the yellow-eyed, many-toothed monsters, trying to get inside.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“Something pressed against the window, nudging the submarine. Its hide was almost as dark as the waters around it, but its scales glistened from the light inside the room. Jacob badly wanted to douse the oil lamp, to hide inside a different darkness, but he had a feeling that any change inside the room, any step, any dimming of a light, any sound, might be like a beacon to the beast outside.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“Jacob stood up slowly and turned towards the window. He felt his heart pumping like a piston, his lungs like little ballast tanks of their own. Every tiny movement was magnified, every sound amplified. The sweat dripped from his hands, forming another sea upon the floor.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“The abyss was awake, and its entire population was stirring, some to flee, some to investigate, but many, all too many, to feed. Fishes with fangs came. Bulbous bloated creatures came. Shelled monsters with massive jaws came. Things that defied description came. Every form or shape that stalked the nightmares of a child lurked there in the deep, and they all descended on the Lifemaker, no eyes to see, but many mouths to taste.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“As the vessel fell, the pressure rose. The hull creaked as if held inside the crushing fist of a giant, or the chomping maw of a giant fish. The most senior officers were unperturbed by the groaning of the metal, for they knew that the hull was thick and could withstand the terrible pressures of the deep, but the confidence of many others was shaken when bolts burst out of their holdings, striking walls, breaking the glass of gaslights, and even hitting members of the crew with a most violent force.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“I didn’t realise that we were also soldiers, fightin' a war o' wealth—only that those of us crushed beneath the boots o' the rich worked to make 'em newer, heavier boots.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“All Jacob could hear was the odd sob or sigh, the vocabulary of sorrow.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“The truth of it was that time was healing his outer wounds, but time with Jacob was healing the ones inside.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“The sweat rolled down Jacob’s forehead. It made an ocean on his palms. The chronometer showed just five and a half minutes remaining. Time was the greatest pressure beneath the sea.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“He liked the darkness, but this was oppressing. It almost flooded his being. He was afraid that even when he returned to the light—or if he returned to the light—he would still feel that darkness in his soul.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“We can bet on one thing in our flight, and that's that the Regime will be looking for us. Their maw is likely here in the west, where they know we're strongest. If you linger near the mouth of a predator, you make yourself an easy dish. Sometimes you're safer beneath the belly of the beast.”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker

“But let me warn you again, in case your ghost ever tries to condemn me: you”
― Dean F. Wilson, Lifemaker