Rachel Blackman > Rachel's Quotes

“Lieutenant Sakakibara liked to hold his morning briefings early, a proclivity that made the top brass admire his diligence and made Mariko wish he’d fall over dead.”
― Steve Bein, Year of the Demon

“I’d never exactly wanted a reputation—frankly, I’d spent most of my life just trying to fade into the background of almost every situation I was in—but I’d apparently, despite my best efforts, secured one for myself. Fortitude Scott—Holy Shit, We’re Glad You’re Not Your Sister.”
― M.L. Brennan, Dark Ascension

“His sophomore Creative Writing class was as silent as a room full of teenagers could be, only whispering and shuffling a little as they tried to complete their papers. This wasn’t one of the “easy A” electives, and he usually got the kids who were serious about the idea of being better writers. Half of them just wanted to get better so they could improve their Pacific Rim hurt/comfort fanfic, but there was nothing wrong with that. Besides, one of them had let slip that a good portion of the class was posting on Archive of Our Own, and he’d spent a few nights with a beer in his hand, learning more about his students. He hadn’t read the NC-17 pieces—there were professional limits—and yet he felt he respected them more as writers because he’d seen what they were capable of when they weren’t being graded.”
― Seanan McGuire, Reflections

“People kill to get power, they kill to keep power, and they kill if they think they might lose it, which is pretty much always. Even if you and I both stay out of it, even if we both die, whoever came after us will keep coming. They’ll find the next threat, the next worrisome voice, the next person with the wrong name or the wrong skin. Maybe they’ll go after the rich for their coin or the peasants for their rice, the Bascans because they’re too dark or the Breatans because they’re too pale—it doesn’t matter.”
― Brian Staveley, The Providence of Fire

“The heart of democracy is violence, Miss Tagwynn,” Esterbrook said. “In order to decide what to do, we take a count of everyone for and against it, and then do whatever the larger side wishes to do. We’re having a symbolic battle, its outcome decided by simple numbers. It saves us time and no end of trouble counting actual bodies—but don’t mistake it for anything but ritualized violence. And every few years, if the person we elected doesn’t do the job we wanted, we vote him out of office—we symbolically behead him and replace him with someone else. Again, without the actual pain and bloodshed, but acting out the ritual of violence nonetheless. It’s actually a very practical way of getting things done.”
― Jim Butcher, The Aeronaut's Windlass

“Little Lion Street was presumably named after an incident hundreds of years ago which concerned something little and almost certainly involved a street but, Rhys felt, had in no way included a lion.”
― Kate Griffin, The Glass God

“She resisted the urge to take her camera from her bag. It was too easy to make life smaller by placing a lens between its vastness and her eye. In this moment she wanted no distance, wanted memories, not photos.”
― Douglas Wynne, Red Equinox

“Sir Isaac Newton legendarily wrote the famous Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which gave us principles that a couple of hundred years later were good enough to land a man on the moon. Then he wrote the slightly less well known Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Artes Magicis, which codified the magical techniques that allow me to inconvenience paper targets and Nightingale to demolish small agricultural buildings. “There”
― Ben Aaronovitch, The Hanging Tree

“I happened to know for a fact that the whole of Belgravia nick were running a pool on how long I would last and how I would go—the options being death, medical discharge (physical), medical discharge (psychological), indefinite disciplinary suspension, sacked for misconduct, secondment to Interpol and, with just one vote, ascension to a higher plane of existence. I suspected the last one was a bit unlikely.”
― Ben Aaronovitch, The Hanging Tree

“The very rich, having fundamentally missed the point of urban living, have long been frustrated by the fact that it’s impossible to squeeze the amenities of a country mansion—car showroom, swimming pool, cinema, servants quarters etc.—into the floor space of your average London terrace. Those without access to trans-dimensional engineering, a key Time Lord discovery, have had to resort to extending their houses into the ground. Thus proving that all that stands between your average rich person and a career in Bond villainy is access to an extinct volcano.”
― Ben Aaronovitch, The Hanging Tree

“As my squire, part of Quentin’s job is accompanying me when I do stupid shit; it’s a learning experience. Most of what he’s learning is how to get blood out of his clothes, but hey, at least it’s educational.”
― Seanan McGuire, The Unkindest Tide

“Do you need anything else?” “Basket, oil, herbs,” she said. “And a pony, but I never get that, unless you count the Kelpies, which I don’t. Kelpies are too naughty to count as ponies.” “They’re also horrifying and full of teeth,” said Patrick.”
― Seanan McGuire, The Unkindest Tide

“If monarchs are that much against being overthrown, they shouldn’t do things that would make it seem like a good idea.”
― Seanan McGuire, When Sorrows Come

“The majority of fae, if asked to label themselves by modern human terms, will go with “bisexual,” because the gender of their partners matters a lot less than the fact that everyone is there to have a good time. With shapeshifters and transformation magic and people who are literally trees for half the year running around, even “gender” can get a little bit vague and is rarely discussed outside of private conversations.”
― Seanan McGuire, When Sorrows Come

“Faerie’s relationship to physics is often casual at best, and sometimes it consists of Faerie promising to call when physics knows it never will.”
― Seanan McGuire, When Sorrows Come

“And I doubted there would be such a time as you would ever see reason. Like a specialized predator, you have evolved to a point where you are immune to all forms of logic.” She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Also, given the rate and quality of your consumption, I had doubts that I had any alchemics powerful enough to subdue you.”
― Sam Sykes, Seven Blades in Black

“I’m heading down to the galley for a minute,” he said. “Grab a coffee for me too,” Alex said. “Oh no. Not coffee. I’m maybe up to some chamomile or warm milk. Something soothing and unaggressive.” “Sounds good,” Alex said. “When you change your mind and get some coffee, grab one for me too.”
― James S.A. Corey, Leviathan Falls

“One of the few mercies of Faerie is that the purebloods like ritual and tradition so much that they have predetermined ways of saying almost everything from “Bob’s dead” to “Bob’s pregnant” to “Bob’s overthrown the rightful ruler and if you don’t recognize him as King right now, you’re going to regret it.” It’s sort of like having a society run by greeting cards.”
― Seanan McGuire, Be the Serpent