Time, when you are no longer human, becomes a strange and fluid thing, not a river that flows forward, but an ocean that folds and unfolds around you, swallowing years whole and then spitting out memories with no warning....

I wish I could tell you that when I rose from the dead, I rose with the mind, the morals, and the measured heart of Kalenji Oba'Rai, son of Aru‑Odan, heir to the sacred grove, protector of my people...

Deep in the bowels of the ship, I lay chained upon the floorboards like an animal; wrists bound, ankles shackled, my body connected to dozens of my brothers and sisters by iron links that clattered whenever someone shifted or...