The Library At Mount Char Quotes
"Carolyn, blood-drenched and barefoot, walked alone down the two-lane stretch of blacktop that the Americans called Highway 78."
"The guacamole, she remembered, is really good."
"That’s enough socializing for one night, I think."
"Americans called this time of year 'October' or, sometimes, 'Autumn,' but the librarians reckoned time by the heavens."
"Father survived, as did Carolyn and a handful of other children."
"The beer beat Carolyn back to the table by a good couple of minutes."
"I’ve got a problem. My sister said you might have the sort of experience required to solve it."
"She said you’ve got a knack for mechanical things and an outlaw streak."
"I'm trying to figure out what you get out of this."
"One hundred and twelve sounds about right, though."
"Everything was polished wood, glowing brass, well-sprung leather seats shaped like a friendly invitation for your ass."
"If you kill, lie, or steal…you dig up your own roots."
"Father said something very similar a few weeks back."
"All she really wanted out of life was to be feeding someone."
"Faint comfort is better than no comfort at all, you see?"
"The memory always diverges from the actual thing."
"She will either find a way to let the boy go, or she will die of the memory."
"That's what—who—Michael has been apprenticing with?"
"He's doing it. He's going to look for Father."
"It occurred to her that that moment had probably been her own uzan-iya. Yup, she thought, that was probably it. Up until then I was still in shock."
"The bolts Father threw to lock the hatch shut were not bronze, but thick iron, ancient and pitted."
"But David was so very strong. It was not until full dark, when the bronze belly of the bull began to glow a dull orange, that he began to shriek."
"For the first time, it occurred to her to wonder whether David might be of some use."
"Then he started taking classes two years ahead of his age group on account of because he was so smart."
"He wasn’t post-traumatic or anything. He still loved his men. He still thought the enemy were a bunch of assholes. He was just done with it."
"He loved the kids—he allowed himself to love them—in a way he hadn’t thought he was capable of anymore."
"He wept for a good solid hour, then poured the rest of the scotch down the drain and turned on the TV and watched Charlie Brown."
"The tongues of flame licking at the bull’s belly reminded them of bad things."
"He felt alive in a way he hadn’t since Afghanistan."
"Each night Dresden begged God to grant him this one prayer, to accept his own life as forfeit."
"She prayed only that his cub be given a chance at life beyond this cage."
"The buzz of the fluorescent lights reminded him of a cloud of flies around a corpse."
"When the kill is this way, the lions say it is a thing of respect."
"Most times, the hunter has no wish to hurt his prey."
"His attention was all on the buzzing sound and, a moment later, on the brown cloud of dust that accompanied it."
"The rest of his life stretched out before him, worse than any nightmare."
"Quiet, Steve. Shut up for a second and I’ll explain. I have a plan. If you’ll do a small service for me, I can make every single one of these problems you’ve mentioned go away."
"You can make a murder charge go away? A death penalty case?"
"Grab me one of those cinnamon rolls and pull up a chair. I’ll show you."
"Is this a heart? Like, a person’s heart? It looks like a person’s heart in your refrigerator, Carolyn."
"My name is Carolyn. I’d like to be connected with the president."
"I know where the president was on the night of March 28, 1993."
"The code is ‘bear 723 walking 33744 dawn,’" Carolyn said, translating.
"Is there something that I—"
"Get him out of the meeting."
"Get him out of the meeting."
"Because I was the one who killed Detective Miner."
"My Father is the Adam Black who was mentioned in the folder waiting for you on your desk on the day when you first took office."
"I’ll send you the details. Thank you, Mr. President."
"When you’re giving that speech I want you to say something for me. Say, ‘Auld lang syne.’"
"It’s called a reissak ayrial. Its essence is a mathematical construct, a self-referencing tautology, consecrated in the plane of regret."
"Father is a more important person than he lets on. He’s…something of a kingmaker."
"The token that serves as the reissak’s nexus is just sitting somewhere, probably out in the open."
"You have to get indoors," she said. "Get inside, Steve! Get inside!"
"The librarians weren’t much good with technology, nor was Mrs. McGillicutty."
"Well, I suppose it was going to be one of the two. Margaret, which do you think would be worse? Ripped apart by dogs, or gummed to death by the dead ones?"
"Unless someone intervened quickly, there usually wasn’t much left."
"He’s disposable. If we get in there in the next little bit, maybe. Otherwise, as far as I’m concerned he can stay dead."
"Their private lives could not bear much inspection."
"That went rather well, she thought. Mission accomplished, and Steve is in a safe place."
"It was true that the dead ones were fierce defenders of their quarters. It had to be that way."
"He looked down. He was dripping blood on the floor, but not actually spraying it, as far as he could tell. That was probably good."
"Well, you got Thorpe over there. He ain’t much of a negotiator. You gonna kill ’em?"
"He walked out the funky curved door, pausing just a moment to run his fingers across the perfect wainscoting."
"She didn’t say anything. The woman who had bought him his one and only fifteenth-birthday present slapped him hard across one cheek and then the other and delivered her verdict. 'You…you little…you asshole.'"
"But seeing as how they'd just saved my life, I didn't feel like leaving them out there to fucking die was the dao way."
"When I got up this morning I was under the impression that lions were scary."
"We’ve struck a mighty blow against prejudice this day."
"She won’t be full-grown for another couple of years."
"I'm not here to hurt anyone, I swear, but I need help."
"He's not sick. Agoraphobic means he doesn't like being outside."
"The true Buddhist will not be a moral and intellectual coward."
"I'm really in a rush. Me and the kids are meeting my in-laws."
"The only real escape from hell is to conquer it."
"The world's a lot different now than it was in the third age."
"The bartender refilled Steve’s tequila without asking and poured one for himself."
"Don't worry so much, Steve. People will adjust."
"Carolyn's face was bathed in the red light of the bar lamps, but her eyes were dark."
"It’s about the Library," Carolyn said. "Right now the only thing that matters is who takes control of Father’s Library."
"Jennifer skittered back a few feet, out of grabbing distance. 'Dammit, Carolyn!' She put her hand to her heart. 'You scared the shit out of me! Sheesh!'"
"Jennifer gave her a measuring look. 'You know, Carolyn, you’re pretty self-possessed, for a bookworm. Has anyone ever told you that?'"
"That’s normal," Jennifer said. "This was the first time you died, right? No one ever remembers the first time."
"So far as I know she and I are the only other ones who’ve studied the white folio."
"You won’t be harmed, Steve. The dogs obey me. They’ve been mine all along."
"Steve managed to nod without looking too pissed off."
"She examined her hands. Steve looked too. Her fingertips were steady, untrembling."
"Everything will be fine if you leave it to me."
"I still love you, Steve. You should know that, too."
"There's always the chance you'll run into someone who's better at it than you."
"The risk in working to be a dangerous person is that you might encounter someone who's better at it."
"That book has been through a lot. It's tougher than it looks."
"You could fly a plane in here," he said. "Maybe not a 737, but a Cessna—easy. Probably even a Lear."
"It'll be warm enough," she said defensively. "No one will freeze. And people will adjust."
"We're the only ones in here. No help. No one else is coming."
"You could just come in. I couldn’t stop you, right? No one could."
"Your affection is not meaningless to me, puny one. I shall devour you another day."
"My Lord Hunter will be the one to save us all. It has been foreseen."
"People are a little on edge. What with everything that’s been going on lately."
"She’ll do whatever’s necessary—after I get her attention."
"You can adjust to anything if you don’t give up."
"Before I move closer towards my vision of the Buddha, I would respectfully plead that you adopt a stance of compassion towards the small things of this world."
"He’s at peace. That’s what’s different about him. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him look really happy."