“Never despise a pawn. If it succeeds in crossing the board safely, it becomes a queen - the most powerful piece in the game.”

“Feronia played at politics the way she played chess--shrewdly, always thinking about her next move. In this game, Feronia was queen, and Byrony a pawn. Normally, there was no comparing their strengths. But if a pawn was clever and evaded the ire of stronger pieces, if it moved strategically, if it refused to yield, there were ways it might advance. Ways it might become a queen.”

“I had to wonder what sadistic pleasure and entertainment human suffering must provide to the divine game players who decided the fate of their pawns in a board game they made of life.”

“Learning often means changing the game board, not just learning fancier strategies on the same board with the same pieces.”

“I'm a chess piece. A pawn,' she said. 'I can be sacrificed, but I cannot be captured. To be captured would be the end of the game.”

“He hated games they made the world look too simple. Chess, in particular, had always annoyed him. It was the dumb way the pawns went off and slaughtered their fellow pawns while the king lounged about doing nothing. If only the pawns would've united ... the whole board could've been a republic in about a dozen moves.”