“It was as if he had two faces, one of utmost calm, one of furious action; and he wore both with ease. He was like the animal whose face he wore, able to sit in silence for hours, without moving a muscle, then flying like a raging storm into battle, returning again to perfect calm when the fight was over.”
“Travelers aren t found. They re called.”
“That s half of your trouble, muttered the crocodile. You believe everything s true. That s because everything is, replied Mr. Bacchus.”
“Come what may and hell to pay.”
“Evil is just . . . so harsh. I prefer ethically unfettered.”
“He remembered believing there had been a time when monsters roamed the earth. The brave hearted fought flesh-and-blood dragons instead of shadowboxing their inner demons, the sport of modern man.”
“Keegan opened his eyes and gasped in awe when he saw his gift. In his hand was a beautiful silver ring. It had a bright, shining ruby embedded in the center, and two golden dragons on either side of the ruby seemed to be caressing it, making it the most stunning ring Keegan had ever seen.”
“We are exiles in Time s abyss, strangers now in the Promised Land.”
“Our sexual fantasies are often redundant and intense, like many other ideas involving ourselves. Most people approach sexuality limited to the idea that they should imitate other people, art (e.g., romantic literature) or movies (e.g., pornography). In this way, vicarious events and even fictions become a point of reference that we can actually feel. We judge actual people in our real lives against fictional events and unrealistic concepts. As such, real lovers seem inferior as a result.”
“I can t imagine why knowledge, truth and love should be so much of a secret”
“Now that I had run out of steam I realized I was in Ronan’s room, at night. He was standing there in a pair of boxers and nothing else. Gulp. Maybe I shouldn’t be too hasty to throw away this betrothal. Ew. Great, Grazi, why not just drool all over the boy in his underwear after you pretty much told him you wanted nothing to do with him? I’m such a freak. “Um, I’ll see you tomorrow.” I turned around and left as quickly as I had come in.”
“Can you see the power emotion has to distort out outlook? Makes you wonder, did you have a bad day, or did you make it a bad day?”
“Ian looked skyward to see the firedrake soaring overhead. Its mass was a black deluge, an eclipse of aberrant origins, and its wings were tautly wound, like a spider’s web. Scales that shown like bejeweled armor glistened upon its body. Its tail crashed against the air; the storm surge of an impetuous sea. The shadow it cast was an aperture of dementia that ripped asunder the sanity of those who watched. Astride the beast’s spine, rode a figure that resembled a man, but with such grandeur at his disposal, appeared a living god.”
“Walking alongside his apprentice’s horse, Sethil Longmere, magus of the Third Circle, Magi Master of Dormir’s army, and a man who had seen more years than most men could count, did his best to keep his apprentice Rousche from falling off his gelding. The dun horse had a sure foot and a good temper, but it seemed unlikely the animal was used to a grown man lying face first in its mane, legs sprawled behind, dangling with each step.”
“I d run. But maybe you can t run. Think of that, too. His yellow eyes seemed to look inward, and he sounded tired. Sometimes you can t run.”
“After the third [San Miguel], I am likely to announce that all writing is fantasy anyway: that to set any event down in print is immediately to begin to lie about it, thank goodness; and that it s no less absurd and presumptuous to try on the skin of a bank teller than that of a Bigfoot or a dragon.”
“Holding fantasy to our chests only means our hands are not free to work.”