hedgehogreads

[hedgehogreads]

"You don't know anyone here; you have no history, no scores to settle. You belong to no faction." She stared fixedly at the road ahead of them, biting off her words. The bitterness in her tone was bottomless. "It makes perfect political sense. We have reached the point where ignorance and neglect are the best we can hope for in a ruler."

-- Lev Grossman, The Magicians

[hedgehogreads]

Fantasy imposes order on the universe. Or, at least, it superimposes order on the universe. And it is a human order. Reality tells us that we exist for a brief, beleaguered span in a cold infinity; fantasy tells us that the figures in the foreground are important. Fantasy peoples the alien Outside, and it doesn't matter a whole lot whether it peoples it with good or bad guys. Putting 'Hy Brasil' on the map is a step in the right direction, but if you can't manage that, then 'Here Be Dragons' is better than nothing. Better dragons than the void.

-- Terry Pratchett, "Roots of Fantasy", A Slip of the Keyboard

[hedgehogreads]

They say nothing lasts forever but they're just scared it will last longer than they can love it.

-- on earth we're briefly gorgeous, Ocean Vuong

[hedgehogreads]

"You're an interesting case," she said. There really is no end to lifes little humiliations, Quentin reflected.

-- Lev Grossman, The Magicians

[hedgehogreads]

Life is easy and cheap to make. But the things we add to it, such as pride, self-respect and human dignity, are worthy of preservation, too, and those can be lost in a fetish for life at any cost.

-- Terry Pratchett, "Point Me to Heaven When the Final Chapter Comes", A Slip of the Keyboard

[hedgehogreads]

Let us speak, for a moment, on the matter of sisters. They can be enemies to fight ot companions to lean upon: they can, at times, be strangers. They are not required to be friends, or have involvement in one another's lives, or to be anything more than strangers united by the circumstances of their birth. Still, there is a magic in the word "sister," a magic which speaks of shared roots and hence shared branches, of a certain ease that is always to be prusued, if not always to be found.

-- Seanan McGuire, In an Absent Dream

[hedgehogreads]

"The problem with growing up," Quentin said, "is that once you're grown up, people who aren't grown up aren't fun anymore."

-- Lev Grossman, The Magicians

[hedgehogreads]

'Keep an eye on the trade press. When an editor moves on, immediately send your precious MS to his or her office, with a covering letter addressed to said departed editor. Say, in the tones of one engaged in a cooperative effort, something like this: "Dear X, I was very pleased to receive your encouraging letter indicating your interest in my book, and I have made all the changes you asked for . . ." Of course they won't find the letter. Publishers can never find anything. But at least someone might panic enough to read the MS.'

-- Terry Pratchett, "How to be a Professional Boxer", A Slip of the Keyboard

[hedgehogreads]

It's in these moments, next to you, that I envy words for doing what we can never do--how they can tell all of themselves simply by standing still, simply by being. Imagine I could lie down beside you and my whole body, every cell, radiates a clear, singular meaning, not so much a writer as a word pressed down beside you.

-- on earth we're briefly gorgeous, Ocean Vuong

[hedgehogreads]

The towering figures of magical history weren't famous at all in the mundane world, and the obvious guesses were way off base. Leonardo, Roger Bacon, Nostradamus, John Dee, Newton -- sure, all of them were mages of various stripes, but of relatively modest ability. The fact that they were famous in mainstream circles was just a strike against them. By the standards of magical society they'd fallen at the first hurdle: they hadn't had the basic good sense to keep their shit to themselves.

-- Lev Grossman, The Magicians

[hedgehogreads]

Fantasy worlds have a huge attraction. There are rules built in. The appeal is simple and beguiling in the complex world of the twentieth century. Evil has a map reference and a remedy -- the finding of a sword, the returning of a Grail, the destruction of a ring. The way will be tough but at least it has a signpost. If the Good exhibit enough goodness, moral fibre and bravery they will win through, although at some cost. And for a span they'll live happily ever after . . . until they have to do it again.

-- Terry Pratchett, "Magic Kingdoms", A Slip of the Keyboard

[hedgehogreads]

The colors this morning have the frayed tint of something already leaving. I think of the time Trev and I sat on the toolshed roof, watching the sun sink. I wasn't so much surprised by its effect--how, in a few crushed minutes, it changes the way things are seen, including ourselves--but that it was ever mine to see. Because the sunset, like survival, exists only on the verge of its own disappearing. To be gorgeous, you must first be seen, but to be seen allows you to be hunted.

-- on earth we're briefly gorgeous, Ocean Vuong

[hedgehogreads]

But walking along Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn, in his black overcoat and his gray interview suit, Quentin knew he wasn't happy. Why not? He had painstakingly assembled the ingredients of happiness. He had performed all the necessary rituals, spoken the words, lit the candles, made the sacrifices. But happiness, like a disobedient spirit, refused to come. He couldn't think what else to do.

-- Lev Grossman, The Magicians

[hedgehogreads]

"They know their Master won't reward them for defending him. That isn't how a challenge works. All they can do is die for a man who's never viewed them as more than cattle. It would be senseless."

-- Seanan McGuire, Come Tumbling Down

[hedgehogreads]

Where do you get your fantastic ideas from? You steal them. You steal them from reality. It outstrips fantasy most of the time.

-- Terry Pratchett, "Straight from the Heart, Via the Groin", A Slip of the Keyboard

[hedgehogreads]

"Stop looking for the next secret door that's going to lead you to your real life. Stop waiting. This is it: there's nothing else. It's here, and you'd better decide to enjoy it or you're going to be miserable wherever you go, for the rest of your life, forever." "You can't just decide to be happy." "No, you can't. But you can sure as hell decide to be miserable."

-- Lev Grossman, The Magicians

[hedgehogreads]

"That's the trouble with gods. They don't care much how poorly they treat their toys."

-- Seanan McGuire, Come Tumbling Down