I ended the first volume with a moral, and the second with a deus ex machina. This third and final volume ends with hope, always the last thing to come out of any box.
THANKS
In the cyberpunk books of the eighties, people were fitted with brain/computer interfaces, which seems like a wonderful idea until operating systems are upgraded to the point where your interface won’t. Just like them, I’ve been writing in Protext since 1987, and for the last decade I’ve been feeling like a Jack Womack character. My overwhelming thanks to Lindsey Nilsen, who has now made Protext work in DOSBOX for Linux, ensuring that I can keep writing even as the last DOS computers become one with the dodo. I no longer have to resign myself to descent into oblivion and darkness, or at least not so soon. This book, like everything I write, was written entirely in Protext, which remains the best word processor in the world. And now it runs on netbooks running Ubuntu, which makes me so much more flexible. Thank you, Lindsey.
This is unquestionably the most difficult book I’ve ever written. Time travel seems like such a useful thing until you have to confront the implications close-up. (Just say no to time travel. You think it will solve your problems, but in the end you have all the same problems, just much more tangled up with time.) I owe huge thanks to the late John M. Ford, whose GURPS Time Travel started me thinking about it in interesting ways, and whose personal conversation on the subject was invaluable. There were so many times when I really wanted to email him when writing Necessity but he has gone where email doesn’t reach. Death sucks. Read his books.
Ada Palmer was the person I could still pester with my queries and hesitations. She was unfailingly helpful, thought-provoking and wonderful throughout the process, and I am deeply grateful. This series wouldn’t exist without her. She was with me at the solar telescope in the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, and in Bologna. Read her books and listen to her music.
While tearing my hair out over this book I also had useful conversations with Evelyn Walling, Emmet O’Brien, Ruthanna and Sarah Emrys, Mary Lace, and Alison Sinclair. Emmet also put up with me while I was writing, which isn’t always easy. My son, Sasha Walton, insisted on dinosaurs and alien gods.
Lauren Schiller read the second draft overnight, which was both useful and reassuring. And she, Ada, Mack Muldofsky, Jon Singer and Jim Hannon put up with me while I was writing and travelling at the same time. I have the best friends.
After it was written it was read by Elaine Blank, Pamela Dean, Ruthanna and Sarah Emrys, Eric Forste, Steven Halter, Mary Lace, Marissa Lingen, Lydy Nickerson, Emmet O’Brien, Ada Palmer, Doug Palmer, Lauren Schiller, Sherwood Smith, and Sharla Stremski, for all of whose timely comments I am very grateful. Marissa Lingen and Emmet O’Brien also provided invaluable help with science.
The beautiful teahouse Camellia Sinensis of Montreal gave me a free sample of magic writing tea when I mentioned that was what I needed to get unstuck, and it really worked. Never underestimate the power of tea, or placebos either.
“You must change your life” is a quotation from Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Archaïscher Torso Apollos,” 1908.
My thanks as always, but never pro forma, to Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Alexis Saarela, Jamie Stafford-Hill, and everyone at Tor.
BOOKS BY JO WALTON
The King’s Peace
The King’s Name
The Prize in the Game
Tooth and Claw
Farthing
Ha’penny
Half a Crown
Lifelode
Among Others
What Makes This Book So Great
My Real Children
The Just City
The Philosopher Kings
Necessity
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JO WALTON won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012 for her novel Among Others and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award in 2015 for My Real Children. Before that, her novel Tooth and Claw won the World Fantasy Award in 2004. A native of Wales, Walton lives in Montreal. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraphs
1. Apollo
2. Jason
3. Marsilia
4. Crocus
5. Jason
6. Marsilia
7. Jason
8. Apollo
9. Marsilia
10. Crocus
11. Jason
12. Marsilia
13. Crocus
14. Apollo
15. Jason
16. Marsilia
17. Crocus
18. Jason
19. Marsilia
20. Apollo
21. Jason
22. Marsilia’s Pod
23. Crocus
24. Apollo
Thanks
Books by Jo Walton
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
NECESSITY
Copyright © 2016 by Jo Walton
All rights reserved.
Cover art: The School of Athens (detail) by Raphael / Vatican Museum and Galleries / Bridgeman Images
Cover design by Jamie Stafford-Hill
Edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
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Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-7653-7902-3 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-6570-9 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466865709
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First Edition: July 2016