Quotes from Jonathan Stroud

And what about you, Scarlett? You've heard lots about me now. What's your story? Take a chip and tell me all.

And it was easy to believe her, standing beside him like that — her hair tied back from her face, her skin shining so, all brisk and sure and confident. And with her thoughts gleaming above her, as bright and effervescent as he'd ever seen them. Showing how she would scale the wall, break in, come down to fetch him... Scarlett's belief in her talents was absolute. It made Albert believe her too.

This was what she liked — a clear, straightforward objective, a simple danger to be faced down. But more than that, she had a sense that things were going her way. She had a bulging sack of banknotes, a head start on her enemies, a gun in hand, and the wilderness up ahead. Life was good again, and the sun was shining too.

As their conversation had ebbed, it left anxieties strewn behind it, scattered like pebbles in his mind.

She straightened, looked at Albert. There was a touch of that old serenity about him, the calmness he exuded despite it all.

if you ever did want to come back to Lockwood and Company--I mean as a proper, permanent colleague, not just as a client, associate, or hanger-on, or whatever it is you are right now--we'd at least have the pleasure of each other's company for a bit before my untimely end...

His features were blunt and brutish, as if drawn at speed by an untalented child.

What's not to like for a boy who's running from the world? I'd say you're nicely sorted now.

a minute!" I felt that queasy sensation in my stomach that you always get when they dismiss you. Like someone sucking out your insides through your back. They have to say it three times to get rid of you, if you're keen on sticking around. Usually you're not. But this time I remained where I was, two glowing eyes in an angry fug of boiling smoke. "Do you know what you are asking

Breathing hard between her teeth, she swung the torch around. Where was Albert? Lying on his back by the steps, with his legs wavering in the air. It was typical of him.

I'm sure there are wolves around. Savage ones. They'll be drawn by the scent. You'll open the window and find me gone. Just my trainers left, with my little feet inside them.

And don't bump the backpack. It's got gelignite in it. If it goes off, your head'll shoot over the rooftops and ping between the chimneys.

Istared at George's body.

What do you think? Is the middle way a trifle wider?" "I was going to suggest right." "Let's go left, then. We've both got a terrible record at this sort of thing. We're almost certainly both wrong.

I was rude, unfeeling and brutally confrontational. Basically, I just imagined I was you. - Albert, to Scarlett

You're a girl," Lockwood called. "Aren't you supposed to be more sensitive?" "To emotions, yes. To nuances of human behavior. Not necessarily to secret passages in a wall." "Oh, it's much the same thing. Besides, flailing about with rapiers is basically all George and I are good at.

Lockwood led the way down a side street, rapier glinting beneath a long, heavy overcoat that swung stylishly behind him. George and I trotted alongside.

I memorized her automatically. I would appear in her guise tomorrow when I went back to visit that kid. Only naked.

Some of them had bits of cloth still on them, but most were nothing but whorls and spars of bone. They were a mess of bony apostrophes, commas, and exclamation marks brushed off some giant's notebook into a tangled, ungrammatical heap.

You don't think it's unheard of, do you, for apprentices to try too much, too soon? It often marks out those with the most talent. Arthur is livid, but he is also impressed, I can tell. I think you should confide fully in him; throw yourself on his mercy. He will like that.

My mind works on several levels at once.1

It is a mistake to be too concerned with names and titles, my dear Rekhyt. Such things are never more than rough approximations; matters of convenience. The people speak this out of ignorance. It's when they understand your nature and are still abusive that you will have to worry." He grinned at me side-long, "Which is always possible, let's face it.

Your face is never the same twice,' Jakob had said. 'Er—that's a compliment!' he added hastily, when Kitty glowered at him.

I'd been having dark thoughts about waffles