The Bone Shard War Quotes

“But we shouldn’t have to hope for the kindness of the rich. We need to take what we’re due.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“All she really wanted was for Ayesh to be safe, to get an education, to grow and thrive without having to fight and scrape for everything the way she had.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“I will give them what they really want: to cause the suffering they feel has been heaped upon them all these years. To make the Empire and all those who oppose them pay.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“Hope was a weed that grew wild and unchecked, choking out all other emotions.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“Maybe no one was a hero. Maybe I’d gotten it wrong from the beginning. Maybe there were only heroic moments and decisions and we all had to keep choosing those as best we could. When we could.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“Yet clothes still needed to be mended, children still needed to be fed, and people still found the time and money to have a drink or two or three. Live in a crisis long enough and it just becomes normal.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“I took an experimental step toward the rail, wondering if a command against self-destruction was a thing written into the shards Nisong had placed inside my body.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“He’d told her he’d been a prodigy, that the monks had marveled at his skills even as they’d denied him the title of master.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“I learned about witstone,” I said. “I know what it is. Bones of matured ossalen, gone brittle after the deaths of their bonded companions. Take a little, and the island survives. Take too much, and the island dies. We’ve been mining ourselves into the Endless Sea.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“taken in by Ragan’s rhetoric and only wanted to wreak havoc, and which ones genuinely thought they were fighting for a better, more equitable society. Or was there no longer any difference?”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“How many of you will find people that you love and care about are Alanga as well, if they aren’t already? Will he imprison all those that he feels aren’t loyal? Be careful who you give power to. Be careful who you choose to follow.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“Are you my mother or are you the new leader of the Ioph Carn?” “If I were your mother, I would have drowned you at the first word out of your mouth.” She waved a dismissive hand at me before I could respond. “Fine. It’s your life.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“You want to follow Dione to the ends of the earth while your Empire falls apart and your people die? Fine. But you do it without me.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“Is it better to be consort to the Emperor or to have witstone mining reopened? Everyone is suffering for it. Especially Iloh. When Lin is gone, I won’t do anything to restrict mining. I’ll be too busy keeping the Alanga in line.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“So what do you think matters more to him – taking down the Empire or ensuring that the Alanga survive this time around? Guilt colors all his actions. He’s already shown you cannot trust him.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“learned how to use bone shard magic; I never had a piece of my skull taken. Thrana is mine, yes, but she never would have been mine if my father hadn’t committed atrocities. I wish I could make things right for you.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“Even if you are not like your father, how many generations until his blood runs true again? Will you teach your heirs the bone shard magic or will you truly leave them defenseless against people like Nisong who would use it against them?”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“A daughter without a father, an Alanga, a friend. I would not let Dione tear the islands apart to bring back the Alanga. I would not let him set us all against one another to appease his own selfish conscience.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“Dione thinks pigs want clean, fresh water and an enriching environment. What they really want is to root around in the mud.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“The Empire is rotten to its core, no matter what this new Emperor tries to do. But if you think bringing the Alanga back will right some sort of wrong, then I don’t know what to tell you.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“Nisong, said Wailun’s voice in her head, must you always seek the sharp edges of broken men?”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“How many of you have I entertained? How many of you were proud to be seen in my company?” Her eyes flashed. “How many of you kissed my lips and shared my bed?”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“Putting Jovis under Kaphra’s control had been a victory to him in more than one way. It subdued Jovis, but it also left Lin thinking he was dead.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“Did you actually think the other Alanga would bow down to you and raise you as their leader for no other reason than that’s what you want? You have to be smarter than that. You have to know you’d need to do more. Right now, you’re not convincing anyone.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“This is a pathetic institution. The Alanga will build something stronger. Something not filled with lies about us.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“Much as I hated being beholden to Kaphra, being under the sway of Ragan or Nisong would be worse. Ragan especially. His cruelty didn’t always have a point.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“Did they – I don’t know – give you opium or something? You have to stay here? In a dark room with water running through it? Come with me.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“And our daughter? She was a gutter orphan before we adopted her. Should she have run off, refused to be adopted by a governor and her wife? Or does accepting our love make her complicit as well?”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“put a hand to my mouth. “There are people in power who are corrupt? Shocking!” He gave me a sly look. “Oh, they’re all corrupt, Jovis. Each and every one of them. You don’t sit in a seat of power like that and never look the other way when it’s convenient. Me? I have the freedom to be openly so.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War

“It’s hard to have patience when your wife is in the hands of the enemy.”
― Andrea Stewart, The Bone Shard War