Bright Ruin Quotes

“Silyen wasn't in touch with his own emotions, let alone anyone else's, and it was tiring just looking at Luke. But then, he did still want to keep looking.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“Keep it to hand. You’ll know when to use it. Now, how about something in exchange?’

Luke narrowed his eyes. You never just agreed to Silyen’s bargains.

‘A kiss for the hero who’s going to save everyone,’ the Equal said.

And Luke was halfway through laughing at him when Silyen’s hand went round the back of his skull and Luke found that he was kissing him instead. It was . . . startling. It was absolutely mortifying.

It was quite possibly the best thing ever.

He felt dizzy, and reached out to steady himself, one hand on Silyen’s shoulder, the other on the Equal’s hip, pulling him closer. Something coiled and fizzed inside his chest that had nothing to do with Skill. He heard himself groan and felt Silyen smile against his mouth.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“I'm sorry,' said Silyen, barely glancing up from his book. 'I'm a prodigy of Skill, not a missing persons' database.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“History only appeared inevitable because it was written in a world where it had already happened.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“Sometimes the person who benefited most when you forgive someone was yourself.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“People claimed love was the supreme human experience. Silyen begged to differ. The greatest gift was wonder.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“They were a good pair, these boys. A brain and a heart. A how and a why.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“All it takes for a tyrant to fall is for the people to rise.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“That’s fine, it was on the tip of Sil’s tongue to say. Everyone sounds like an idiot to me. But he stopped himself.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“What she felt for Jena hadn’t been love. She knew that now, but it had been something that had felt bewilderingly, beautifully, deceptively like it. And though it had ended in horror and betrayal, she had learned something from Jena, too. Loving someone didn’t mean you could save them, and you didn’t save yourself simply by the act of loving.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“Which was when she noticed an inexplicable scent.
Woodsmoke and the sea.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“That loving someone didn’t mean you could save them. And that you didn’t save yourself simply by the act of loving.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“But the day you lost the ability to hope that people were better than they seemed was the day your heart hardened to nothing more than a mechanical pump.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“Someone’s always got to have power, Luke. If it wasn’t Skill, it would be money. Or intelligence. But you know what they say: the only ones who should be trusted with power are those that don’t want it.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“Innocent people always die, Luke. It’s usually the guilty that live.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“Luke’s hands were shaking. Silyen took them and squeezed until he heard the bones click. Then he pulled Luke’s head against his shoulder and held the boy there while he drew in great heaving breaths.”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin

“Screw you, Gavar. You think this is about you? Oh, I forgot – everything is about you. The heir. The golden boy, even when you were snorting drugs and failing your exams at Oxford. Well, who’s in the family office every day, keeping Kyneston running? Me. Do you know how many tenants we have? How many slaves? How many properties? Do you know the first thing about the estate you’ve always blithely assumed you’re going to inherit, even while you stagger about with women and booze and disgrace the family name?”
― Vic James, Bright Ruin