Mark Lawrence

“This is where it starts. When they write the legend, this will be the first page. Some old monk will go blind illuminating this page, Makin. This is where it all starts." I didn't say how short the book might be though.”

“Three months previously I had entered the Haunt alone, covered in blood that was not my own and swinging a stolen sword. By Brothers followed me in. Now I left the castle in the hands of another. I had wanted my uncle's blood. His crown I took because other men said I could not have it.”

“In battle though his hands grow clever, and you'd think him whole, until the din fades, the dying fall, and Maical wanders the fields weeping.”

“We wrap up our violent and mysterious world in a pretence of understanding. We paper over the voids in our comprehension with science or religion, and make believe that order has been imposed.”

“Below is a conversation between Jorg and his new bride."The Prince of Arrow has a much bigger army than you," Miana said. No "Your Highness" no "My Lord.""Yes, he does." I kept waving to the crowd, the big smile on my face."He's going to win, isn't he?" she said. She looked twelve but she didn't sound twelve."How old are you?" I asked, a quick glance down at her, still waving."Twelve."Damn.”

“The Prince of Arrow has a much bigger army than you," Miana said. No "Your Highness" no "My Lord.""Yes, he does." I kept waving to the crowd, the big smile on my face."He's going to win, isn't he?" she said. She looked twelve but she didn't sound twelve."How old are you?" I asked, a quick glance down at her, still waving."Twelve."Damn.”

“For the longest time I studied revenge to the exclusion of all else. I built my first torture chamber in the dark vaults of imagination. Lying on bloody sheets in the Healing Hall I discovered doors within my mind that I’d not found before, doors that even a child of nine knows should not be opened. Doors that never close again. I threw them wide.”

“Hangings, beheadings, impalement, oh my!”

“Cowards make the best torturers. Cowards understand fear and they can use it.”

“Tell me, tutor,' I said. 'Is revenge a science, or an art?”

“You soon learn there’s no elegance or dignity in death if you spend time in the castle kitchens. You learn how ugly it is, and how good it tastes.”

“There’s something brittle in me that will break before it bends.”

“Most men have at least one redeeming feature. Finding one for Brother Rike requires a stretch. Is 'big' a redeeming feature?”

“Few things worth having can be got easily.”

“When you take a woman away from her man, what you get is a woman who can be taken away from her man.”