Genevieve Cogman

"She’d sort things out later. She’d explain things later. Right now she just had to make sure there would be a later."

"Irene hated trusting to luck. It was no substitute for good planning and careful preparation."

"It was only a hypothesis, but it made an uncomfortable amount of sense."

"She wasn’t actually going to lie, but there was…well, there might be an element of flexibility."

"There were so many possible logical holes in that statement that Irene could have used it as a tea-strainer."

"The problem with paranoia was that if you let it rule all your decisions, then you would miss some perfectly good opportunities."

"“I dislike the fact that she treated you like a servant,” Kai commented. His voice had an undertone to it that promised reprisals. “Leave it for the moment,” Irene said wearily. “I’m not going to waste my time feeling insulted. And don’t you think we’ve got more serious problems to consider? Much more serious problems?”"

"The news was highly coloured, even if the print was black and white."

"She’d thought the situation couldn’t get much worse. She’d been wrong. The situation could always get worse."

"There were clear class divisions among the protestors: the upper-class ones stood back and gave the orders, while the lower-class ones did the actual work. Some things didn’t change, no matter how many worlds you visited."

"First things first. Get the facts, then decide what to do next. And hope that there is a next."

"“I met one (that is, a dragon) once,” Irene said. “What did you talk about?” “He complimented me on my literary taste.” Kai blinked. “Doesn’t sound like a life-threatening sort of conversation.”"