~~There are too many good quotes and I've been sticking them on GR without thinking about it, so instead, I'm going to keep them here. I'm not sure whether they're useful as a blog entry--they're more for me; an interaction with the book and a way to remember parts and quotes that are important to me. The added bonus: I can spoilertext them here!~~
DONE. Holy. I don't really do GIFs, but imagine a Dr. Who "WHAT" gif here.
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pp549
"We who see the shape of the stone as it bends beneath our feet, who hear the singing in the wires and know the weight of the turning tide. We who hide beneath the city's skin, blood in its veins, beating invisible life under the surface. We could do such things, you and I. We could change...everything.
You will ask yourself why. Why we do not, with the power that we have. I have no simple answer. All I can do is tell you this: that to do such a thing is not to be human. If you think yourself gods, well then, here is the world, waiting to be shaped. Stand and shape it, if you dare. [...] But before you do this, ask yourself--what are you giving away? What will you lose, to make this wonder? Who will you become, when you are a god, no longer human?"
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pp532
"This is the coat of infinite pockets, which hold not things but thoughts, memories and dreams tied away like knots in a string."
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pp508
"Feeling is difficult. Mortals have other mortals with whom to share their thoughts. They have built houses to hid in, words to protect them, stories to make them feel right. You will have none of that. It will be difficult."
pp497
"Maybe it's our eyes. Maybe you look at us and know, deep down inside, that we were never human."
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pp455
"You taught me that life was magic, that in all things that live there is not just power, but wonder and possibility, shadows and time, that magic is a reflection of layer upon layer upon layer of life plastered across this world like air."
pp433
"We ought to kill you...but we realise now that death...it is not sorrow or grief or despair. It is not guilt and retribution, it is not justice and the cries of the lost. It is merely a not-ending. A stopping of all things. A blackness without feeling."
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pp407
"You feel guilt because you think you're a good man, and good men feel guilt. But I'm gonna tell you, good men don't have to burn their clothes regularly because there's too much blood in them to wash out. Which isn't to say you shouldn't do the guilt thing--it's better than, say, taking it in your stride, because that would make you a psychopath---but Matthew, as a guy who's in the know, I'm here to tell you, you're not a good guy.
Sure, it's sweet that you try, but don't trick yourself into thinking you can relax. Don't think that just because you're beating yourself up about it now, you won't do it again. You will."
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pp329
"Spend enough time concentrating on the big picture and, sooner or later, you'll forget about being human."
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pp313
"'I was groping for a financial image that you would appreciate and understand, but I'm not sure if you are the right crowd for the gag.'
'You know, I'm always impressed at how many ways people find to call me stupid. You'd think I'd be getting bored of it, but since I'm that mind-numbingly thick, there's always that twinge of novelty as I try to work out what's being so wittily said.'"
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pp270
"We all want to defeat evil, Matthew, all of us. But too often the greater good asks us to let a little evil live, for the good of us all."
pp251
"'Did you expect their deeds to be clean as well?' he asked, struggling to keep the incredulity from his voice. 'They are the protectors of the city, Matthew. Not of you or me, not of individuals standing on the corner. Theirs is a world of numbers and ideas, of big problems and bigger solutions, of what is best for the majority and of prices that must be paid. Of course they would go behind your back if it were for the greater good. It is, frankly, what they would expect of you.'"
pp 230
"Penny said at last, 'Fucking freezing.'
'You're not good at uncomfortable silences, are you?' I said.
'I cook, I sew, I do my own DIY, I pay my taxes, I look after my nieces and nephews when my aunt's away, I can ask for the bill in French and order a paella in Spanish, and can summon spectres like a fucking taxi cab, what do you want here, perfection?'
'We could play I-spy,' suggested Nabeela. We stared at her. 'I'm just saying.'
'You don't think,' remarked Penny, 'that would undermine this amazing aura of impending doom that we've got going here?'
I was scanning the low courtyard, half listening to them both.
'Okay-I spy with my little eye, something beginning with "s."'
Watching hooded creatures circle the fire.
'Spectres?'
I'm not gonna play with you if you're like that," grumbled Penny.'"
pp217
"'You know how vampires are allergic to garlic?'
'Yes...'
'And werewolves to silver?'
'Yessss...'
'And banshees to ginger?'
'You're making this up.'
'I'm sorry, seven years medical training,' she replied, 'and you're just some git with fractured ribs, so whatever. Only, you see, bloodhounds...'
'You are kidding me.'
'Bloodhounds...'
'No, seriously.'
'Bloodhounds just can't take their garam masala.'"
pp215
"She rolled her eyes. 'Okay then. Painkillers!' A bottle was rattled somewhere above my head. 'No more than eight a day or your liver will go all squishy, and there'll be talk.'
Heh. Naughty Dr Seah just gave him Paracetamol, despite UK guidance changes. Should totally have given him ibuprofen, Dr Seah...
pp196
"'I'll do you a deal. You tell me your name, and how you're tracking me, and I promise not to go spontaneously mega-mystic in a way that would embarrass everyone involved.'
'Forgive me, Mr Swift, if I doubt the integrity of your offer. Your reputation has you as one who...if you'll pardon me saying so, goes "mega mystic" as something of a default reaction to a situation.'"
pp155
"'You've survived a lot of things that most wouldn't have; I respect that. But how'd you survive?'
I shrugged.
'You let others die for you.'
Oh, so very true. Except I'd change one verb. Matthew's culpability is not passive. He gets others to die for him. He causes others to die for him."
pp135
"I had some time to kill, before time came round to try to kill me."
pp130
"'It could just be that a mafia boss who trades in narcotic substances for the magically inclined is going to kill me and everyone I've ever loved. Happily, everyone I've ever loved is either dead or absent at the moment, but, when he realises that, he may just go after everyone else in a fit of pique, and that, Penny, includes you.'
...so who's "absent at the moment"?"
pp114
'I pulled out the crowbar, and hesitated.
Then our jaw tightened, we raised the crowbar overhead and, before I could change our mind, slammed it point-first into the floor beneath our feet.'
Holy. Ridiculously powerful scene, esp. when paired with Jablonsky's beautiful music.
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pp108
"You will try to run, of course you will, but it won't be enough. The stones will open up to consume you, the lights will darken as you pass, ...shadows will cringe back into the hidden places of the alley, the air that you breathe will turn to blackened soot and all the world will know that you are marked. There is nothing you can do to stop this. This is how it will be."
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pp75
"We will find [her]. Heaven and hell will not stop us; we will break every part of you until you help us, but we won't let you die. We will keep you alive, even if you have to be tied together, so that you can even resemble a thing that was a man."
Yep, totally the freakiest of my UF protags.
pp34
"New character: Nabeela. I hereby predict that she will die a horrific death, that it will be partly Matthew's fault, and that I will be very upset. Again."
pp28
"What Burns and Stoke are doing, Mr Brice, is using power to beget more power to beget more power and what do they do with that power? Knock me down with a feather but they go and beget yet more power until suddenly I've got...a lawyer standing in my office with a pair of vampire fangs dripping virginal blood and an expression on his face of 'wasn't me, guv'nor.'"
So much funnier after Stray Souls.
pp13
"She paused, too, looking straight into our eyes, unafraid. Very few look into our eyes and are not afraid. What I meant to say somehow didn't happen....
'That kind of power--that sort of magic--isn't meant. You can't do it. You'll burn. You'll go too far and stay too long and you'll burn. Promise me you won't.'"
pp8
"New character: Meera. I hereby predict that she will die a horrific death, that it will be partly Matthew's fault, and that I will be very upset. Again."
pp3
"I am we and we are me, and we are the blue electric angels, creatures of the phones and wires, the gods made from the surplus life you miserable excuse for mortals pour into all things electric...we are light, we are life, we are fire, and, would you believe it, the word that best describes our condition right now is cranky.
Would you like to see what happens when you make us mad?"
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