Excerpt from The Oceans and the Stars by Mark Helprin, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

The admirals were expressionless and grave. The cut, insignia, ribbons, and devices of their uniforms added to their genuine authority. Most had a lot of gray in their hair. Some had nothing but gray.

At the prosecution table, trial counsel drummed his fingers as he and his numerous assistants scanned the panel, but at the defense table sat only defense counsel and defendant. Despite recent wounds and surgeries, the defendant's military posture was straight and strong. Whatever the verdict, his expression would remain the same and he would neither move a muscle nor blink.

As there was much that he loved, he had much to lose. But the prospect of death made love full and intense, and love that was full and intense made it possible to face death with equanimity. Although it takes some doing to know this, nothing could be more true.

Now, in a blaze of light and color, after the unprecedented snow that had streamed down upon the halyards, the masts, the stays, and the whitened decks of a mile-long line of ships, Stephen Rensselaer, Captain, United States Navy, awaited the capital verdict with less apparent anxiety than even those who would hand it down.

Excerpted from The Oceans and the Stars by Mark Helprin. Copyright © 2023 by Mark Helprin. Excerpted by permission of Harry N. Abrams Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.