Where there had been darkness, I-wait, what?

I was thinking about Steven Brust lately, which is not something I often do. He's a talented writer, but I never really got into his stuff.

I do like his Cool Stuff Theory of Literature,  though, which states "All literature consists of whatever the writer thinks is cool", and it's hard not to like a blacksmith who clearly loves his anvil so.

And I'll be honest in that I never gave him much of a chance. I read his first Vlad Taltos book and it didn't click for me, and I never tried him again, even though a lot of fans say the later books change a lot of what I disliked about the first.

So I seldom have reason to think about him, but when I do it's with a vague sense of goodwill.

Also, he is as responsible as anyone for giving this blog its name, so I like him for that. I first read his piece about what he wishes he had said at Roger Zelazny's funeral in the introduction to the Manna from Heaven collection.

He said he couldn't think of anything appropriate at the time, but Sandow's musings on life in Isle of the Dead occured to him after the fact. I had read that passage before, but never really appreciated it until Brust pointed out how wonderful and poignant it was. I had mentioned that I misread it at first, as "Where there had been darkness, I hung my words," and that was what leaped to my mind when I was looking for a title for this blog.

You can see the quote right there in the About the Site tab.

"Where there had been darkness, I hung my worlds. They were my answer. When I finally walked that Valley, they would remain after me."

The Shadows & Reflections anthology mentioned that they had received a story from him, so I was thinking about him a bit lately. So, when I found myself thinking about Brust and his essay, I picked up my copy of Manna from Heaven and opened it up, and read the passage again.

Where there had been darkness, I had hung my worlds...

Just like I remembered it.

Wait, what?

Where there had been darkness, I had hung my worlds...

Where there had been darkness, I  had  hung my worlds...

Where there had been darkness, I  had  hung my worlds...

WHAT THE FUCK?! I've been misquoting that line for three years now?! Why didn't one of you guys tell me?!