Home > Work > Revenger (Revenger #1)
1 " We all have it in us to be something other than what we are, I thought, but we don't often get a glimpse of what we could have been "
― Alastair Reynolds , Revenger (Revenger #1)
2 " Peoples think I’s a harmless idiot,” he said. “They’s only half right. "
3 " That,’ Peregrine said, ‘is civilisation. Not all who were rewarded deserved to be; not all who should have been were. "
4 " Could kindness – by only ever taking little steps – twist itself into the worst kind of cruelty? "
5 " That didn’t take long,” Trysil said, clenching a fist so that the muscles popped out along her arm. “You know the captain. When he wants to leave, we leave. "
6 " This one could turn her back on her own dying father, or watch a blinded man whimper in pain and not give one cold cuss. "
7 " There was no call for that,” Father said. “I’ve never been so—” “Humiliated?” Adrana finished for him. “You know what the real humiliation is? Being a Ness, that’s what. Grovelling our way up the Mazarile social ladder, trying to pretend we’re something we’re not. "
8 " No,” Father said, wiping a hand across a sweat-glistened brow. “They were using both entrances, and you can bet your sister’s headed for one of them.” Paladin was still sweeping the room, its dome spinning around, lights flashing agitatedly behind the glass. “All right,” I said. “You go back to the cloakroom, where we came in. I’ll go to the south entrance.” “Can I trust you to come back?” Father asked. “Of course. "
9 " And you have no idea what a creep he really is. I know what he wants to do to you. They’ve come up with this medicine now. It slows down biological growth, allows adults to stop their children from ever growing up.” “Why would anyone want that?” She looked back at me with an exasperated expression. “You’re so naïve, Fura. "
10 " He was like that child who always wants to join in the others’ games, but wants it too badly, so that the other children wonder why they don’t already have friends of their own, and end up even less likely to invite them in. "
11 " I knew that the swallower was just a little knot of matter, squashed so tight that even its own light couldn’t break free of it, and I knew it didn’t have a mind or a will or anything you could think of as an appetite. "
12 " Another kind of wind, raging out of the Old Sun all the while, but it slips through the hull and the photon sails like they aren’t there at all. Dark-wind, some call it. Or ghost-wind or shadow-wind. "
13 " Banking and Prosperity in the Thirteenth Occupation or even A Child’s Treasury of Economics or The Young Person’s Illustrated Omnibus of Fiscal Prudence. "
14 " Watch out for pickpockets and gropers now,” Adrana said, as if my words counted for nothing. “We’ll go all the way along, then come out at Cat Gate. "
15 " I don’t think the Rattlers are coming back,” I said, remembering the bar in the Hall of History. The Rattlers had come and gone during the Fourth Occupation, about nine million years ago, and nothing had been heard of them since. "
16 " Paladin swivelled around. “Disturbance detected,” it kept saying. “Disturbance detected.” Father started rolling up his sleeves. “I suppose I’d better …” he was saying, making a show of letting everyone know he was at least considering getting involved, even though he was happier behind a desk than wrestling with drunks. "
17 " Probably fake anyway,” Adrana said, with a knowing sniff, as if she had plenty of experience in this area. “C’mon. Don’t want to dawdle, not when there’s so much to see. The next one’s a Limb Broker. "
18 " Get off the throne, Mr. Quindar. And you,” Madame Granity said, pointing to me, “you get on it. I know your sister’s got the gift, and it often runs in siblings, however I’d still like to see it for myself. "
19 " talked into a stupid investment in exactly the thing he disapproved of. He was like that: easily persuaded against his "
20 " You always do, Mister Ness, and it’s to your credit. As are your daughters. Fine specimens, both. It’s been my pleasure and my privilege to have seen them through their development.” He carried on with the humming, and started digging his short, fat fingers into his pocket. “Would you like a … "
