How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The Ancients destroyed themselves in that terrible flurry of orbit-to-earth atomics and tailored-virus bombs called the Sixty Minute War. (1.18)
A lot of our technology goes into weapons of mass destruction. And as we learned from the Cold War, one day these weapons might get out of our control and destroy us all.
Quote #2
"Mr. Valentine! Look! A seedy!" (2.33)
Tom finds a relic from the past, which you might know as a CD. It's amazing how things that were once technologically cutting edge become junk in just a few short years. Heck, CDs are practically junk already, and we're barely into the 21st century.
Quote #3
"The people of the old days may only have lived in static settlements, but their electronic machines were far beyond anything London's Engineers have been able to build." (2.36)
Why do you think the Engineers are able to build half-mile-high rolling cities but haven't been able to construct a Sony Discman?
Quote #4
London had never been meant to go so far, so fast. (16.1)
This line is technically talking about Crome speeding London toward the Shield-Wall. However, it could also be applied toward the speed of technological advancement that has pushed London, and the world, to the point of desperation.
Quote #5
Properly processed human ordure makes very useful fuel for our city's engines. And we are experimenting with ways of turning it into a tasty and nutritious snack. (16.22)
Mmm, Poop Bars. This is only the next logical step in energy bar technology. A Clif bar sort of looks like a pile of poop anyway, so who's going to know the difference?
Quote #6
"Perfect workers. [...] They don't need feeding or clothing or housing, and when there's no work to be done you can switch 'em off and stack 'em in a warehouse, so they're much easier to store." (18.47)
How horrible that they're building things like this, right? Oh wait, have you ever heard of the Industrial Revolution? Or computers? People have been building machines in these conditions for years. And think about it this way—since these machines have a human consciousness inside, at least someone isn't out of a job!
Quote #7
"The Ancients' terrible thunder-weapons had blasted their static cities and poisoned the earth and sky." (21.30)
In case we didn't get it already: military technology kills and poisons the earth. Why isn't more effort put into technology that saves people and heals the earth?
Quote #8
His department is always keen to find new and inventive ways to kill people. (25.7)
This is a blunt way to put this, and it makes Dr. Vambrace seem really evil (he kind of is). But Dr. Vambrace's technology isn't all that different from the bombs and missiles we already have; it's just that we don't always think of these things as "new and inventive ways to kill people."
Quote #9
"Quantum energy beams that drew their power from places outside the real universe..." (25.9)
This is a strange touch of sci-fi so late in the story. Do you think future books will explore this bit of quantum technology? Do you think anything like this is possible in the real world?
Quote #10
Katherine began to suspect that they didn't really understand this technology that her father had dug up for them; they were almost as awed by it as she. (35.17)
This messing with things people don't understands never ends well. If these people had movies, they would have watched Raiders of the Lost Ark and learned their lesson. (Spoiler alert!) Having someone's face liquefied would almost be preferable to what happens in this book.