“They’ll build the damn place over,” he said to Jula. “I guess they will.”
“Yes,” Jula said. “We always rebuild. Even ourselves.” She held out the broken dove, “Even this will rebuild itself. All things, always.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, “you and Picaro—I’m sorry.”
Jula laid the dove gently down again into the cradle of the sea.
The pale wind was freshening. They rowed towards the shore.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air;
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capped tow’rs, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
Perhaps.
Tutto crolla, ma nulla crolla.
(Everything collapses, but nothing falls.)
—TRADITIONAL
GLOSSARY
Amerian:
A native of the double continent formerly known (as in the time of del Nero) as the Amarias.
CX:
Super-advanced computerization of a type not yet feasible in our world, and generally incorporated. Any new or apposite word therefore that includes (normally at the end) the letters cx, indicates that this is exactly what the object so named also includes: as in optecx, computer-strengthened glass; decx, music disks with CX function; or recx, historical or other reconstructions facilitated by CX.
ESDNA:
The type of isolated DNA obtained (at the time of the book) for use in genetic and archaeological study, and finally in the “return” process of the Venus experiment. The letters stand for Elective Specific DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid.)
Flecx:
As with the above CX, a CX-permeated gun, primed to reflexes.
Intel-V:
Computerized world-link TV, already mostly obsolete by the main time frame of this novel.
Plascords:
Plas, at the start of a word, indicates use of a form of advanced plastic in the item so called. Plascords are plastic-invested coordinations, that is, materials incorporating the new plastics, and so highly resistant to wear and soiling. (Plastivory meanwhile is a type of fauxivory derived from a plastic source.)
Viorno-Votte:
The diurnal cycle of Venus under-dome, lasting twenty-seven hours, thirty seconds, Ve’notte—Venus day night. Sometimes abbreviated to VV.
N.B.
It may be noted that most scientific and technological terms are in Amer-English, despite the setting for the book being Italy. This is the case in our world, and remains so in the world of Venus.
“Tanith Lee is an elegant, ironic stylist … one
of our very best authors.” —Locus
VENUS PRESERVED
THE SECRET BOOKS OF VENUS
BOOK IV
TANITH LEE
The thrilling conclusion to Tanith Lee’s compelling Secret Books of Venus quartet, Venus Preserved is set centuries into the future in the undersea city of Venus (Lee’s brilliantly re-imagined alternate Venice), the site of a macabre experiment to bring two lost souls back to life. Salvaged from beneath the sea and rebuilt under a dome, Venus itself has been resurrected with a vast network of advanced computers that regulate weather, noise, and the most precious undersea commodity of all—air.
When the experiment goes awry, claiming several lives, the questions abound: Was it merely an accident? Computer failure? Or has an airborne virus been unleashed? Or is there an even more sinister danger afoot, a force from beyond that threatens the survival of Venus itself? To answer these questions, a traveler from the surface is forced to confront mysteries in his own past and to reveal the connection that ties him to the unavenged spirits wreaking havoc on the doomed city.
“This is a book that readers will not want to put down. … Venus Preserved ends the series with a bang … one of the most imaginative and interesting books of Tanith Lee’s career.”
—Baryon
Tanith Lee has written more than fifty novels and short story collections, among them the best-selling Flat Earth series. She is the author of another Overlook fantasy series, The Secret Books of Paradys, as well as Mortal Suns. She has won the World Fantasy Award numerous times as well as the August Derleth Award.
Tanith Lee, Venus Preserved (Secret Books of Venus Series)
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