Dancer's Lament Quotes

“The truth was, most people simply weren’t worth one’s attention. *”
― Ian C. Esslemont, Dancer's Lament

“If you corner him there will be bloodshed. And I do not like bloodshed.’
Dorin arched a brow. ‘Really. You don’t like bloodshed.’
‘No. It’s messy and unsophisticated. There are better ways of doing things.’
‘Such as?’
Wu brightened, flashed his yellowed crooked teeth. ‘My ways. Lying, trickery, deceit, cheating, or just plain patience. He will come to us.”
― Ian C. Esslemont, Dancer's Lament

“So he was finished with Dorin. He was not the lad he’d been when he’d entered the city. Not that he’d been some green farmhand, but he’d been untested, unbloodied . . . unready.
Not so now. Dorin was done.
Hard lessons luckily survived had put an end to that lad and his dreams. A transition from which a good few do not emerge alive. But necessary, if hard. The city had cut away the untried Dorin and trampled his dreams into the mud and the mire.
He was Dancer now, and Dancer from now on.”
― Ian C. Esslemont, Dancer's Lament

“[...]They offended Hood,' he stated flatly.
'And How they did that?' Silk enquired.
'They demanded a tithe upon the temple. I demonstrated Hood's tithe.'
'And who are you to judge?' Smokey demanded. The lad's Dark, almost blue-black eyes edged aside to Smokey. 'I am Hood's Sword.”
― Ian C. Esslemont, Dancer's Lament

“Yet, obviously, there were many who could not let go of the past. It was how they had learned to define themselves.”
― Ian C. Esslemont, Dancer's Lament

“Two figures dressed in dark walk an empty street at night. Ice crystals of sleet swirl about them. One is short, his walk a side to side duck-like waddle, the other tall and slim, his walk smooth and gliding, utterly silent. The short one taps a walking stick as he goes; the other holds his arms hidden within his cloak.”
― Ian C. Esslemont, Dancer's Lament

“Kings are like children. They expect to be obeyed, and throw fits when thwarted.”
― Ian C. Esslemont, Dancer's Lament