Along the Razor's Edge (The War Eternal, #1)

by Rob J. Hayes

"That is just as simple. If you roll Friendship you keep your die no matter what. If you roll Betrayal you lose your die no matter what. As for the others." Isen held up the die and started turning it to show me all the sides. "War beats Peace. Peace beats Trade. Trade beats Coin. And Coin beats War. If you roll the winning face you take both dice. If neither player rolls a conflict, both players lose a die."

I really want to play this game in real life ...

Are we all just monsters waiting for the opportunity to show it?

I hated the idea of walking back through the Trough, of skirting the Hill and watching Deko laugh and joke with his syphilitic captains. Yes, I meant sycophantic, but I'd wager both descriptions were equally accurate.

There is an innocence in children that is only matched by their cruelty.

"Unpredictable to your enemies is good. Unpredictable to your friends is bad. Hard to catch a person when you don't know which way she'll jump."

So many great turns of phrase to this story.

I have always had trouble letting go of my anger. It boils inside of me for days and there is no quashing it save for violence or sex. Or sometimes violent sex. But when I was younger I only knew about the violence.

Apparently, I threatened to kill his entire family. And when he told me Isen was the only family he had left, I threatened to give him a puppy, wait until he'd formed a connection, then fucking drown it.

Rumours are like water spilt onto a flat surface. The more they spread, the bigger they get, and the thinner they become.

Two moons slowly becoming one, spinning through the sky above our world.

Loved this worldbuilding detail!

Reputation is a blade with no hilt, it cuts both ways.

Self-reflection is a personal thing. The act of looking inside oneself and shedding light on all the bits you would rather left hidden. Only there was no light inside of me. As I knelt there, amidst the rubble, and the blood of my best friend, I looked inside and saw darkness. And the darkness stared back at me.

I looked up at the sky, at my freedom, and felt a grin spread across my face. I had finally escaped my captors, but it was far from over. They were still alive. The overseer, Prig, Deko. The Terrelan Emperor. They were all still alive, and I had sworn vengeance on them all. My escape was only the beginning of my legacy. Now it was time to set the world ablaze and watch my enemies burn.