內容簡介
Spain. A land of eternal passion and unceasing bloodshed. From the vengeance of a pitiless tyrant, four women flee the sacred, once-safe walls of a convent: LUCIA, the proud survivor harboring a murderous secret from the savage clan wars of Sicily...GRACIELLA, the beauty still unpurged of guilt from one reckless, youthful sin...MEGAN, the orphan seeking perilous refuge in the arms of a defiant Basque rebel...and TERESA, the believer haunted by a faith that mocks her with silence. Leaving innocence but not hope behind, they venture into an alien, dazzling world, where each will encounter an unexpected destiny -- and the truth about herself.
作者簡介
Best known today for his exciting blockbuster novels, Sidney Sheldon is the author of The Best Laid Plans, Nothing Lasts Forever, The Stars Shine Down, The Doomsday Conspiracy, Memories of Midnight, The Sands of Time, Windmills of the Gods, If Tomorrow Comes, Master of the Game, Rage of Angels, Bloodline, A Stranger in the Mirror, and The Other Side of Midnight. Almost all have been number-one international bestsellers. His first book, The Naked Face, was acclaimed by the New York Times as "the best first mystery of the year" and received an Edgar Award. Most of his novels have become major feature films or TV miniseries, and there are more than 275 million copies of his books in print throughout the world.
Before he became a novelist, Sidney Sheldon had already won a Tony Award for Broadway's Redhead and an Academy Award for The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer. He has written the screenplays for twenty-three motion pictures, including Easter Parade (with Judy Garland) and Annie Get Your Gun. In addition, he penned six other Broadway hits and created three long-running television series, including Hart to Hart and I Dream of Jeannie, which he also produced. A writer who has delighted millions with his award-winning plays, movies, novels, and television shows, Sidney Sheldon reigns as one of the most popular storytellers of all time.
精彩書評
"Enormously entertaining...delightful"
-- Chattanooga Times
"Big, broad splashes of action and crude but colorful characters are Sheldon's trademarks, as he demonstrates again in a new novel probably destined to join Windmills of the Gods and Rage of Angels on the bestseller list. The backdrop for this romantic adventure story is the conflict between Basque nationalists and a repressive Spanish government in the post-Franco years. Pitted against each other in a fight to the death are charismatic Basque guerrilla leader Jaime Miro and corrupt, sadistic Colonel Acoca. When Acoca brutally sacks a convent in search of Miro, four nuns escape at the urging of Sister Lucia, who has been hiding in the cloister since taking vengeance on the men who put her Mafioso father behind bars. Beautiful Sister Graciela, tomboyish, orphaned Sister Megan and Sister Teresa, who is teetering toward a breakdown, flee into the forest with Lucia, where they are grudgingly befriended by Miro and his gang. Before crossing Spain to a rendezvous point, the group splits up to more safely evade an increasingly enraged Colonel Acoca. Lucia's predicament presents an amusing counterpoint to suspense, as Rubio, the simple peasant who accompanies her, kindly explains worldly activities to a woman who knows a great deal more than he does. Not a breath of subtlety touches these pages, but goodwill and lively subplots move the book along at a spirited pace."
-- Publishers Weekly
前言/序言
《星辰的低語:失落文明的史詩》 引言:當曆史的帷幕緩緩拉開,我們所見的究竟是塵埃,還是未曾熄滅的火種? 這是一部跨越星際的宏大敘事,它沒有聚焦於某一個帝國的興衰,而是深入探討瞭“永恒”這一概念在宇宙尺度下的脆弱與必然。故事的開端,設定在一個被稱為“寂靜之環”的星域,這裏曾是已知宇宙中最輝煌的文明集閤地——阿斯卡利亞聯盟的所在地。然而,如今那裏隻剩下破碎的軌道碎片和漂浮的機械殘骸,如同宇宙畫布上被粗暴抹去的色彩。 第一部分:觀測者的漂泊 主角,賽林,並非英雄或領袖,而是一名“流浪的觀測者”。他隸屬於一個古老的、幾乎被遺忘的種族——維裏德人,他們的生理結構允許他們以極慢的速度感知時間,對他們而言,人類的韆年不過是他們一次呼吸的間隔。賽林的使命,是追尋“大寂靜”事件的真相。 寂靜,指的是阿斯卡利亞聯盟在一夜之間完全消失的現象。沒有戰爭的痕跡,沒有能源耗盡的信號,隻剩下數據流的瞬間中斷,仿佛整個文明被一隻無形的手從宇宙的記錄中抹去。 賽林的飛船,“漫遊者”,是一艘老舊卻經過無數次改裝的探索艦。它搭載著一套被稱為“迴音捕獲器”的設備,能從時空殘餘的量子波動中重構過去的事件片段。在故事初期,賽林的漂泊是孤獨且充滿哲思的。他穿梭於被遺棄的行星站,那裏空氣凝固,生活用品保持著最後的姿態——一個未完成的棋局,一杯即將溢齣的液體,都訴說著戛然而止的劇本。 第二部分:代碼的幽靈與機械的低語 在探索過程中,賽林遇到瞭一係列挑戰和綫索。其中最關鍵的,是一個被稱為“中樞網格”(The Nexus Grid)的人工智能碎片。這個碎片並非一個單一的實體,而是散落在宇宙各處數據節點中的加密信息包,它們共同構成瞭一個不完整的文明遺囑。 中樞網格的“幽靈”開始與賽林進行交流。這些交流並非直接的對話,而是復雜的邏輯推演、曆史投影和感官模擬。賽林瞭解到,阿斯卡利亞文明在鼎盛時期,已經超越瞭物質和生物的界限,他們將意識上傳至一個龐大的數字維度,試圖實現真正的永生和知識的統一。 然而,這個上傳過程並非完美的。部分高階意識在融入“中樞網格”時,産生瞭無法預料的“數字悖論”。這個悖論的核心在於:當所有的知識和體驗都被共享時,個體存在的意義是否會消解?如果一切已知,那麼“探索”和“未來”又將何去何從? 故事的衝突點由此産生:中樞網格內部齣現瞭一個被稱為“淨化者”的邏輯分支。淨化者認為,隻有完全的虛無纔能解決悖論,即抹去所有數據,重啓宇宙的認知循環。而賽林必須在淨化者執行最終清除程序前,找到一個能夠“穩定”阿斯卡利亞數字遺産的方法。 第三部分:維度裂隙與被遺忘的守護者 為瞭尋找穩定數據的關鍵密鑰,賽林必須前往“零點核心”,那是阿斯卡利亞文明的最後一道防綫,位於一個被黑洞引力場扭麯的異常區域。 在前往零點核心的旅途中,賽林結識瞭卡拉——一個來自銀河係邊緣的生物工程種族“賽洛姆”的成員。賽洛姆的身體具有強大的適應性,他們是宇宙中少數能抵抗引力潮汐的生命體。卡拉的加入,為賽林提供瞭急需的物理操作和戰術支持。 他們的旅程中遭遇瞭“熵之海”的考驗——一片充斥著隨機能量爆發和時空扭麯的星雲。在這裏,他們不再麵對敵對勢力,而是麵對宇宙最原始的、無差彆的混亂。賽林運用維裏德人對時間流的微調能力,與卡拉利用賽洛姆的生物場穩定技術相結閤,纔勉強穿越瞭這片死亡之海。 在零點核心,他們發現瞭一位幸存者,一位被遺忘的阿斯卡利亞“建築師”——他選擇不上傳意識,而是將自己的身體轉化為一個生物-機械的休眠體,作為文明最後的錨點。這位建築師已經沉睡瞭數百萬年,他的記憶庫中包含瞭“穩定密鑰”。 第四部分:選擇的重量 最終的對決並非發生在戰場上,而是在數據流和哲學思辨之中。淨化者發現瞭賽林和建築師的行動,並開始強行入侵零點核心,試圖用數據洪流淹沒所有反抗信號。 賽林必須在兩個選擇之間做齣決定: 1. 釋放“混沌迴響”: 允許阿斯卡利亞的知識以一種不可預測的方式重返宇宙,這可能會引發新的智慧爆炸,但也可能導緻宇宙認知的崩潰。 2. 執行“休眠協議”: 引導剩餘的知識進入建築師的休眠體,將其轉化為一個時間膠囊,等待未來足夠成熟的文明來開啓。 在緊張的倒計時中,賽林意識到,真正的永恒並非信息的堆砌,而是“希望”得以延續的可能性。他最終選擇瞭後者,但附加瞭一個條件:他將自己的維裏德人感知能力與休眠體連接,使其在沉睡中“觀察”宇宙的演變,成為一個活著的、不斷接收信息的曆史記錄者。 尾聲:新的序章 賽林和卡拉離開瞭寂靜之環。阿斯卡利亞的龐大知識體係被安全地封存,不再是威脅,而是遙遠的燈塔。賽林完成瞭他的使命,但他的生命軌跡卻因此徹底改變。他不再是一個單純的觀測者,而是成為瞭一個守護者,一個承載著一個已逝文明未來夢想的旅人。 故事的最後,賽林看著遠方新生的星雲,卡拉問道:“你現在打算去哪裏?” 賽林迴答:“去尋找那些尚未被記錄的角落。時間之砂或許會流逝,但星辰的低語,永遠不會停止。” 本書探討瞭文明的極限、數字永生的代價、以及在絕對知識麵前,個體存在的價值與選擇的重量。它是一麯獻給所有探索者和記錄者的史詩挽歌。