The day after tomorrow wasn’t too long to wait, though, she told herself. Jesse would return by airship, a much faster and safer design than the Satoshige, and they would spend a day getting used to each other again before settling back into the comfortable routine they had spent the last year establishing.
It had been jarring at first, seeing him from three very different perspectives. She had barely known him, loved him, and lost him all at the same time. Meanwhile, he remained haunted by the other Jesse and the experiences he could never share. But . . . slowly and surely. That was their mantra. It was the Reconstruction’s mantra too.
Life is good, she told herself, banishing all thoughts of Nobody and the dark days. Does it matter if I’m wrong or not?
She felt real, safe, and loved. If Q was watching over her, that was all the more reason to relax.
Besides, there was the last message. The world, if simulation it was, was no prison.
“Come find me,” said Q’s last message, “when you’re ready. I’ll be waiting.”
A gift, a challenge, and . . . an invitation.
Clair rolled to the edge of the bed and stretched down to meet the polished wooden floor, smooth and cool beneath the soles of her feet.
Maybe one day, she thought, we will.
[Q]
* * *
I bid these joys farewell
and pass them by for a life of my own, afar;
not free from strife
—from the strife of noble human hearts alone—
for there will be agonies enough among the stars,
with nobody but Nobody to talk to.
Author’s Note
For my niece, the one and only Jessica Claire Sopp
Sincere thanks to my extremely hard-working yet endlessly cheerful editor Kristin Rens, and Jill Grinberg, without whose valuable support, advice, and representation I would have even fewer hairs on my head. (While I hope never to write a book as complicated as this one ever again, I would do so knowing that there’s an excellent team in place to prop me up along the way.) To Katelyn Detweiler, Ant Harwood, Kelsey Murphy, Stella Paskins, Eva Mills, Sophie Splatt, and everyone at Balzer + Bray, Egmont UK, and Allen & Unwin who made this series so marvelous to behold on numerous continents. To Garth Nix, James Bradley, Caroline Grose, Anne Hoppe, and my wife, Amanda Nettelbeck, for hearing me out during times of crisis and offering valuable advice when sorely needed. To Sean E. Williams and Lindsey Duoos Williams for firsthand research into faraway caves. To Val and Lee for lifesaving names, and Hannah, Steph, Linda, Madeleine, and Jon for limb-saving medical advice. To the quoted and misquoted: Edgar Allan Poe, Buddha, Matsuo Basho, and, of course, the mighty John Keats, who enriches these pages in so many ways.
It would be proper to list everyone who made this book (and series) possible, but there are far too many of you. If your name doesn’t appear here, rest assured that I love you regardless, and that I will make amends with chocolate.
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About the Author
Photo by Scott Westerfeld
SEAN WILLIAMS is a #1 New York Times bestselling writer for adults and the author of Twinmaker and Crashland, as well as coauthor of the Troubletwisters series with Garth Nix. As a resident of South Australia—which he reports is a lovely place a long way away from the rest of the world—Sean has often dreamed of stepping into a booth and being somewhere else, instantly. This has led to a fascination with the social, psychological, and moral implications of such technology. When not pondering such weighty matters, Sean can generally be found eating chocolate (actually, he eats chocolate when pondering these matters, too). You can visit him online at www.seanwilliams.com.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Books by Sean Williams
Twinmaker
Crashland
Hollowgirl
Credits
Cover art © 2015 by Howard Huang
Cover design by Erin Schell
Copyright
Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
HOLLOWGIRL. Copyright © 2015 by Sean Williams. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.epicreads.com
* * *
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Williams, Sean, date
Hollowgirl : a Twinmaker novel / Sean Williams. — First edition.
pages cm
Sequel to: Crashland.
Summary: “In the final book in the Twinmaker series, Clair, Q, and Kari Sargent must enter the Yard, a digital landscape created by their enemy, in order to save the world”— Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-06-220327-4 (hardback)
EPub Edition © October 2015 ISBN 9780062203298
[1. Science fiction. 2. Cloning—Fiction. 3. Space and time—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.W6681739Ho 2015 2015006514
[Fic]—dc23 CIP
AC
* * *
15 16 17 18 19 CG/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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Hollowgirl Page 37
