Quotes from Jonathan Stroud

At last, he was being decisive once again. Playing for the highest stakes, shrugging off the inertia of the last few years. He felt almost as he had done as a child, thrilling in the audacity of his actions. That was how it had often been before politics and the stultifying role of John Mandrake had closed in on him. And he no longer wished to play that part.

the earth, while someone passed a few feet beyond the fence.

Well, when you're being held at gunpoint by a geriatric madman in a metal skirt, you've kind of hit rock bottom anyway," George said. "It can't really get much worse.

Die Katastrophe war so verheerend, dass jede normale Reaktion unangemessen war.

La libertad es una fantasía, siempre tiene un precio.

It was one of those moments when a great Don't Care wave hits you, and you float off on it, head back, looking at the sky.

Wenn man schon eines grässlichen Todes sterben muss, sollte man wenigstens einen stilvollen Abgang hinlegen.

Change couldn't be stopped, it couldn't be controlled. Sure as the debris brought in on the ceaseless tides, it would go on unendingly, for better or for worse.

He had a very slender face, with a long nose and a dark mop of unruly hair.

A small plinth sat on the wall between the central windows. On it was a marble bust of a stern, well-fed Victorian-looking man sporting an enormous pair of muttonchop whiskers. I went to take a look.

You could stuff a cushion with all that hair. I wonder if—" "Hold it!" I said.

It was one of those occasions. Those big not-thought-through/spur-of-the-moment/more-intuition-than-rational-analysis occasions. The occasions that make us who we are.

Lucy, you look delightful," he said. "George, you'll have to do. Oh, here's something for you, Luce. Might go well with that excellent dress." He took my hand and placed in it a necklace of pretty silver links, with a small diamond suspended as a pendant. It was really very beautiful. "What?" I stared at it. "Where'd you get this?" "Just something I had. I suggest you close your mouth when you wear it-it's more elegant that way.

And saw a field mouse whistling through the air in a karate attack position, claws out, hind legs foremost—right at him.

He smiled at us; we smiled at him. Three crocodiles on a muddy shore could not have smiled at each other more eloquently or with such gleaming teeth

Their first stop, naturally, was the library.

There was a quality about him - fragile, but at the same time steely and undaunted - that managed to awaken your sense of pity without irritating you at the same time. In a world where no kid can really afford to be helpless, where most of us risk our lives in a matter of course, that was quite a hard balance to achieve.

He turned to face her, his body tingling. She gave a little shudder. "Did you feel that too?" she asked. "Yes," he said softly, "but don't talk." She pushed him away. "It was our sensor webs, you fool. Something's triggered them.

But she has little experience of helpless-looking boys.

One eye was black and closed. I allowed myself a smile. Despite my predicament, there were still a few things left in life to enjoy.

It is a wicked world and they have taught you very little.

I see. Yes, you kill, you lie, you rob, you hit old men and steal their boats. I only thanks the gods you draw the line at swearing — it would have been just too dreadful otherwise.

In Swindon, if you pick your nose in public, they lock you in the can.

One magician I worked for once called for my aid during an earthquake which was toppling his tower. Unfortunately, the words he used were "Preserve me!" A cork, a great big bottle, a vat of pickling fluid, and - presto! - the job was done.