Quotes from Genevieve Cogman

And the dragons aren't interested in talking to us about how they do whatever it is that they do." Kai coughed. "Just like we aren't interested in talking to them about how we do what we do?

Vale stalked back in with a basin of water and some bandages. "Far be it from me to criticize," he said, "but setting the afflicted body part on fire is not a usual form of treatment for an injured hand. Though I hear that milk is high in calcium.

And it didn't help to brood over it herself: the brooding tended to devolve into corrosive anger,

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, and all that sort of thing.

Trust me," she said. "Oh, I do," Kai said. "I just happen to think that this is one of the most reckless, hare-brained, soul-endangering plans I have heard of since—" He broke off. "Nevermind.

Life was so much easier before I had to worry about everyone else worrying', Irene muttered. 'It's called growing up, dear. It comes with staying alive.

Irene glanced round at the three men. Somehow they shared a similar demeanor, whatever their reaction to this new information. Perhaps it was a kind of aristocratic poise, an in-built certainty that the world was going to cooperate with their needs. She wished she shared it.

People do keep on talking about wanting a war so that their side will win. But ultimately all they really want is for their side to be a bit better off. Nobody wishes for their side to triumph completely.

people who had lawyers just to prove how absolutely not guilty they were. (Of anything.)

global thermonuclear war

I think the time for blind trust is long over. Now I need answers.

Much as I usually like opera,' Irene said through gritted teeth, 'at the moment, I'd only take interest if a masked maniac was about to drop a chandelier on the heads of the audience. Which I hope is not going to happen.

We want books. We love books. We live with books.

Kai! There's been a palace revolution and the peasants are attacking!" Kai gave a deep shuddering sigh and finally opened his eyes properly. "Execute them all in the public square," he mumbled, clearly still half-asleep.

She was about to die. What she needed was a miracle. What she got was a dragon.

She spat out snow. 'Vale, you're not carrying a gun, are you?' 'Absolutely not,' Vale answered. 'Do your worst, Winters.

Fire existed only for a moment, remade with every passing second, constantly replaced by newly-created flames. While the burning materials might be of this world and contaminated by chaos, the actual tongues of fire were untouched. They were free from corruption as they winked in and out of existence.

Stay still." How stupid of him; did he really think she was going to go running off somewhere? "Bradamant will get help." "It's just a flesh wound," she murmured, then darkness came down over her eyes and swallowed her up.

There were three basic reasons why Librarians were sent out to alternates to find specific books: because the book was important to a senior Librarian, because the book would have an effect on the Language, or because the book was specific and unique to that alternate world.

My sole desire is to explain and to enlighten. And, Irene hoped, to entertain. She turned the page.

Memories were as important as books and almost as important as proper indexing

Natural causes - it's all at the back of the report; she was in a traffic accident. Hit by a crashing flying sleigh. The sleigh was flying, that is, and then it crashed.' The thought gave her a little unwanted shudder. Living outside the Library was never safe. Flying sleighs could come out of nowhere and hit you, however careful you were.

And, her conscience pointed out, leave an unconscious woman alone in the street—at night in a dangerous city. A woman whom Irene herself had drugged. Various words came to mind for this sort of behaviour. They were not nice words.

This witty and spirited adventure sets up a potential gold mine of lore for the writer to plunder in future sequels . . . a fun and original page-turner.