City of Last Chances (The Tyrant Philosophers #1)

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

“Nine pennies,” Blackmane said, “is a lot for a cravat I’ll only wear the once.” Hoyst laughed with genuine mirth. “Oh no, sieur,” he said. “Think of it as paying nine pennies for a garment that will last the rest of your life. Looked at from that perspective it’s a bargain and a half, is it not?”

When Ruslav shatters someone’s kneecap or breaks an arm, it would take a philosopher to say with certainty whether it was an act of crime or liberation.

He’d poured out a libation for God, but God wasn’t touching it. God had no truck with that foreign muck. Which made God sound very bigoted,

Sometimes, the difference between a street party and a riot is in the provocation.