The Fall of the Kings Quotes

“Across the troubled maelstrom of time, people always need a beer.”
― Ellen Kushner, The Fall of the Kings

“What was it about scholarship and learning, he wondered, that seemed to wither the hearts of University men, leaving them incapable of loving anything as imperfect and fallible as an actual human being?”
― Ellen Kushner, The Fall of the Kings

“He had nothing against debauchery in the abstract, but he was particular about the details.”
― Ellen Kushner, The Fall of The Kings

“I studied you until I knew you, or at least, the public parts of you: your learning, your passion, the way your voice slows down when you answer a question. I studied your hands, and wondered how they'd touch me; your hair, and how it would smell. I wondered about that and about the rest of you I could not see. I wanted to know you. And I wanted you to know me. I wanted you to see me.”
― Ellen Kushner, The Fall of the Kings

“Answer me! The circle is complete, and bound in completion,” Basil heard himself say, and knew that it was true. “I charge you, Theron— No, wait.” Formally, he said: “Son of Tremontaine: Alexander Theron Tielman Campion, I charge you, speak!” Theron gave a great gasp, filling his lungs as though coming up from deep water. “The hunt!” he cried. Basil cradled him in his arms. “Hush,” he said. “The hunt is over, you’re with me. You did well.”
― Ellen Kushner, The Fall of The Kings

“Blake Lost his temper. "But they didn't do anything to you, did they?" He inquired savagely. "When they heard your Southern accent and your Southern name, they put you in a cell to think over your poor taste in lovers, patted you on the head, and let you go. You loved this man, Tony, or at least you led us to believe you did. The honorable thing for you to do is hear what he has to say.”
― Ellen Kushner, The Fall of the Kings

“You come from the country?” “You know that.” “No,” said Theron. “I thought you’d sprung full-grown from the University clock tower.”
― Ellen Kushner, The Fall of The Kings

“A great stag woven of rushes and fluttering with green ribbons was borne through the streets to the music of pipe and tabor. Crowds of women surrounded it, leaping and grabbing at the ribbons.”
― Ellen Kushner, The Fall of The Kings

“NICHOLAS GALING DRESSED FOR THE HISTORIANS’ debate with all of his usual care. He wore green, for spring, with a waistcoat embroidered with jonquils. In deference to the gravity of the occasion, the green was dark, and he wore no lace.”
― Ellen Kushner, The Fall of The Kings

“Theron had in fact written to Sophia, but his sister had not sent the letter. She did not think it would reassure his mother to be invited to witness the ceremony of his union with his wizard and lover, on the steps of the Great Hall, at the Festival of the Spring Sowing.”
― Ellen Kushner, The Fall of The Kings

“Thanks to you, the leaders of the University branch—Masters Greenleaf and Smith—are safely out of harm’s way. As to the Northern branch—well, my agent currently describes it as an association of young men, young and unmarried, who gather in the woods from time to time to celebrate elaborate rituals that draw equally from local folklore and a youthful taste for mysticism and indiscriminate copulation. We’re watching them closely.”
― Ellen Kushner, The Fall of The Kings

“Be careful to know yourself when the time comes,” he warned the Little King. “The man who fails the test will run for the rest of his life, with the beast still in his heart.”
― Ellen Kushner, The Fall of The Kings

“It does not become you, my lord, to lie. Not to me.” Now two spots of color, like red bites, stained his lover’s cheeks. “Because I am a lord? Or because you are so fond of truth?” “Both,” said Basil calmly. “And more besides. You, with the blood of kings, and I with—what I have. Now, come here.” He held out his hand as if coaxing an animal from the woods. “Come here and tell me about your latest conquest.”
― Ellen Kushner, The Fall of The Kings

“MIDWINTER IS THE DREARIEST of the year. Days are short, nights are long, and both are cold and wet with no immediate prospect of relief. Winter’s Tail is what the old wives call it, dragging filth at winter’s ass.”
― Ellen Kushner, The Fall of The Kings