Quotes from book
Nova

Nova
Samuel R. Delany

Nоva is a science fiction novel by American writer Samuel R. Delany. Nominally space opera, it explores the politics and culture of a future where cyborg technology is universal , yet making major decisions can involve using tarot cards. It has strong mythological overtones, relating to both the Grail Quest and Jason's Argonautica for the golden fleece. Nova was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1969. David Pringle lists it as one of the 100 best science-fiction novels written since World War II.

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“I was born,” the Mouse said. “I must die. I am suffering. Help me. There, I just wrote your book for you.”

Samuel R. Delany book Nova

Source: Nova (1968), Chapter 5 (p. 156)

Samuel R. Delany photo

“Don’t go chattering to the stars if you’re going to do it with your eyes closed.”

Samuel R. Delany book Nova

Source: Nova (1968), Chapter 7 (p. 197)

Samuel R. Delany photo

“Oh, for the rebirth of an educational system where understanding was an essential part of knowledge.”

Samuel R. Delany book Nova

Source: Nova (1968), Chapter 2 (p. 26)

Samuel R. Delany photo

“The inevitable is that unprepared for.”

Samuel R. Delany book Nova

Source: Nova (1968), Chapter 7 (p. 204)

Samuel R. Delany photo

“You can be bored with anything if you try hard enough.”

Samuel R. Delany book Nova

Source: Nova (1968), Chapter 3 (p. 36)

Samuel R. Delany photo

“The captain is different too, Cyana. Before, the Roc flew under half a man, a man who’d only known victory. Now I’m a whole man. I know defeat as well.”

Samuel R. Delany book Nova

Source: Nova (1968), Chapter 5 (p. 142)

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“What do you see, Captain?”
“Two boys with hands locked for a fight. You see how one is light and the other is dark? I see love against death, light against darkness, chaos against order. I see the clash of all opposites under…the sun. I see Prince and myself.”
“Which is which?”

Samuel R. Delany book Nova

“I don’t know, Mouse.”
Source: Nova (1968), Chapter 4 (p. 119)

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“You know, Mouse, I envy the captain. He’s got a mission. And his obsession precludes all that wondering about what other people think of him.”

Samuel R. Delany book Nova

Source: Nova (1968), Chapter 6 (p. 158)

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“Bear in mind that the novel—no matter how intimate, psychological, or subjective—is always a historical projection of its own time.”

Samuel R. Delany book Nova

Source: Nova (1968), Chapter 4 (p. 116)

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“The rich are always enamored of the ancient.”

Samuel R. Delany book Nova

Source: Nova (1968), Chapter 6 (p. 169)

Samuel R. Delany photo

“Dull grown-ups and bright children form a particularly tolerant friendship.”

Samuel R. Delany book Nova

Source: Nova (1968), Chapter 3 (p. 44)

Samuel R. Delany photo

“There are three types of actions: purposeful, habitual, and gratuitous. Characters, to be immediate and apprehensible, must be presented by all three.”

Samuel R. Delany book Nova

Source: Nova (1968), Chapter 6 (p. 166)

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