Academ's Fury (Codex Alera, #2)

by Jim Butcher

Killian let out a rather grim little laugh. “Not so long as you win.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe how reckless that was, Academ. But you pulled it off. You will probably find, in life, that successes and victories tend to overshadow the risks you took, while failure will amplify how idiotic they were.”