Ian Tregillis

"They were old enough to know such things were forbidden, yet young enough still to find the forbidden irresistible rather than terrifying."

"Heartlessness wasn’t the sole province of the rich."

"And, as was so often the case, the history taught to children was oversimplified, watered down, and ofttimes counterfactual."

"How could you comprehend things whose existence you doubt?"

"Freedom felt like… nothing. Free Will was a vacuum, a negative space. It was the absence of coercion, the absence of compulsion, the absence of agony. A gap in his consciousness where geasa had perpetually jostled for priority, demanding his obedience. It was the photographic negative of Jax’s existence during every minute of the 118 years since he’d been forged. It was overwhelming. Exhilarating. Terrifying. Overwhelming: he could do anything he wanted. But the grand sum of anything-at-all was nothing-at-all. The topology of freedom offered no gradients to nudge him, no landmarks to guide him. How did humans guide themselves? How did they know what to do and what not to do? How did they know when to do anything without the benefit of geasa and metageasa to prioritize every single action of their waking lives? How did they order their daily existence without somebody to tell them what to do?"

"First, the fact he awoke at all. Cogito, ergo how the hell aren’t I dead?"

"The fallacy of your personal bias is inherent in your choice of words."

"“Absence of proof,” said Bell, “is not proof of absence.”"

"“Sergeant,” she said as they mounted the stairs leading to her old apartments, “thank you for treating me like a human being. And, for what it’s worth, I am sorry about how this turned out.” He grunted. “It can’t be undone,” was all he said."

"He’d expected torture. He hadn’t expected surgery."

"He didn’t trust them. But he did trust their greed."

"Such were the brittle threads of a relationship built not on trust but on a slurry of fear, mutual codependence, and self-interest."

"It isn’t courtly politics if somebody doesn’t get a dagger in the back."

"It’s not my fault your makers made you humorless."

"Perhaps there really was a God, and He was just as cruel as the humans He made in His form."

"“You narrow-minded idiots have mistaken delaying the inevitable for a divinely bestowed right to survive… You aren’t noble survivors of a historical tragedy, you’re a lingering curiosity of a bygone age. The last vestige of a primitive past. Dust to be swept away. The difference between you and I, dear Berenice, is that I recognized the broom for what it was. And got out of the way.”"

"Only a fool wasted energy on things he could not control."

"But the speculation was pointless. The past was forever in the past."

"“The duke was right about you.” “He survived? That’s a shame.”"

"Your family excels at being a pain in my ass. Are you certain you’re not part Dutch?"

"“How have you acquired such intimate knowledge of our kind’s innermost construction?” “You know exactly how. You need me because I’m not burdened with a system of mores that hobbles my inquiries. So you can drop the indignation and make yourselves useful.”"

"Huygens, there are times when I take comfort in my sinful nature, for it means I’ll meet you in hell. I’ll be the one stomping on your jewels with singular dedication."

"We’ve drawn attention to ourselves with our obsessive need to stay inconspicuous."

"To lose the satchel now would prove that God, if He existed, was a truly sadistic son of a bitch."

"Every additional second the king didn’t take a bullet in the eye seemed a good sign."

"Alchemy was useful but never compassionate."

"The grotesque machine reassembled its head. The medical servitor stood, emitted a burst of ticktock cog chatter, then flung itself into the massacre with the fervor of a religious zealot."

"I’ve learned to be wary when something makes you this excited."

"“Well,” he said, “you must be feeling very proud of yourself right now.” “It occurs to me that I might be an underappreciated genius.” She paused to clutch the mast again during a particularly hard gust. “But I’ll tell you something. It’s not so wonderful, learning you were right all along to suspect the world is conspiring against you.”"

"“If you’re going to insist on giving perfectly logical and reasonable answers to stupid questions,” she said, “you may put a dent in my delusions of genius.”"

"Sometimes the contortions required to spit on Occam’s razor were just as disturbing as the insights one yearned to avoid."

"Because the universe was a cold, callous place. And they had just peered into the gulf separating the astronomically unlikely from the truly impossible."

"“It’s a debate,” he spat, “over truth. Which truth is more true? The inspiring myth or the bleak, blood-caked reality?”"

"I am a pragmatist, said Mab. I do what must be done to make a better world. “Oh, I’m sure you tell yourself that. But so does the woman who tortured Lilith. You sound exactly like her, in fact. The difference is that Berenice actually means it. She doesn’t use the pretense to justify her cruelty.”"

"Salazar consulted the map again. “Almost there,” he whispered. “Just another mile.” Arthur sighed. “Wonderful.” Anastasia rounded on him. “Go wander the tunnels on your own, you useless pencil pusher. You have zero skills of value to offer to our current situation. Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but of all the problems currently facing the city, the Guild, and the Empire, not to mention ourselves, a lack of properly filed paperwork is not one of them.”"

"“What the hell was that?” “That was a close call wrapped in some very unpleasant philosophical questions.”"

"“Have you any idea how long and painful my convalescence was?” Berenice shrugged. “Have you any idea how little I care?”"

"You’re no stranger to spinning gold from the hay of human misery, are you?"