Ian Tregillis

Quotes

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

2. 

   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.

3. 

   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.”

4. 

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

5. 

   “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.”

6. 

   “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.”

7. 

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

8. 

   “The duke was right about you.”

   “He survived? That’s a shame.”

9. 

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

10. 

    Alchemy was useful but never compassionate.

11. 

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

12. 

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