The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy, #1)

by N.K. Jemisin

that was just the way of power: no such thing as too much.

In a child’s eyes, a mother is a goddess. She can be glorious or terrible, benevolent or filled with wrath,

“You can’t protect the things you love, Cousin—not forever. Not completely. Your only real defense is not to love in the first place.”

What was right mattered far less than what was orderly,

We slaves must stick together.”

barbarians grow up faster than civilized folk.