“to be injured on this tundra would lead to a quick and painful death—or at the very least abject humiliation before the popping flashes of the tourist season's tail end, which was slightly less painful than a painful death, but lasted longer.”

“There is always a use for everything, Victor had told him. Even pain.”

“Remember the pain?' thought Artemis. I hate myself. I really do.”

“Nobody's death is impending." ..."Well technically everyone's death is impending.”

“It would take less than a second for you to die. But that's quite long enough to be in mortal agony, don't you think?”

“Humans have a saying that "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder", which basically means that if you think it's beautiful, then it is beautiful. The elfin version of this saying was composed by the great poet B.O Selecta, who said "Even the plainest of the plain shall deign to reign", which critics have always thought was a bit rhymey. The dwarf version of this maxim is "If it don't stink, marry it", which is slightly less romantic, but the general gist is the same.”

“Ma was using her for-company voice. Sweet on the outside but with an underlying death threat.”