A Drop of Corruption (Shadow of the Leviathan, #2)

by Robert Jackson Bennett

Goddamn autocrats. They really are hardly better than shit-stained children.”

though the Legion defends our Empire, it falls to us to keep an Empire worth defending.”

But a prideful creature can talk themself into believing that every deed they do is legitimate. Thus, they both giddily and greedily spin their own doom.”

It seems the talents that make a man capable of navigating palace intrigue until he wins the throne generally don’t coexist with the talents required for—or even a passing interest in—good governance.

for if we are not instruments in service to one another, then we are nothing at all.