Defiant (Skyward, #4)

by Brandon Sanderson

I knew this cavern. I’d hunted in it—and it seemed that in my absence the rats had been on a rampage and fed freely on the fungus here. “Fear not,” I announced to them, “though I have returned, I come not for your blood! Turns out I prefer peanut butter. Enjoy your respite, fell beasts.”

I’d always loved how a crunchy salad responded to the stabby-stabby motions of a good forking.

“There are cows on Evershore,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to try some.” I poked at the brown lump of flesh, and then cut into it. And scud, it bled. “It’s not cooked!” “The kitsen chefs tell us this is how it’s supposed to be,” he said. “They…were very assertive about it.”

When faced with an unfortunate soldier who was trying to kill you, you didn’t have the luxury of wondering if they wanted to do it. They were there firing on you.

They warned us that one person having too much power would lead to a civilization without freedom. Strange, that I should learn this lesson from those who did not follow their own counsel. They few use their precious democracy to oppress the many.”

“A wise soldier chooses her battlefield, and we did not want this one. We rejected the call to arms, and so the first people we defied were our own leaders. That is the soul of the Defiant.

“Do you know of any other human poets that I should investigate?” “Unfortunately our archives are super fragmented,” Nedd said. “But there was this legendary poet named David Bowie, who may or may not have actually been real…”

“I think you should decide,” Jorgen said softly. “Cobb, you have the experience, the age, the wisdom.” Cobb snorted softly. “You think age brings wisdom, son? If it did, I wouldn’t know so many old fools.”