"It was true, it was all true. But none of it was the truth."
Guy Gavriel Kay is a Canadian writer of fantasy fiction. The majority of his novels take place in fictional settings that resemble real places during real historical periods, such as Constantinople during the reign of Justinian I or Spain during the time of El Cid. Kay has expressed a preference to avoid genre categorization of these works as historical fantasy. As of 2025, Kay has published 16 no
"“The Tyrants have cleaned out most of the highway brigands. Just a matter of protecting their own interests. They want to make sure no one else robs us before they do with their border tariffs and taxes.” He spat, discreetly, into the dust of the road. “Personally I preferred the brigands. There were ways of dealing with them.”"
"There are no wrong turnings. Only paths we had not known we were meant to walk."
"But knowledge, however you got it, changed things, Ned Marriner thought. You couldn’t go back to not knowing, even if you wanted to."
"“But why would they attack us? What have you been doing here, Ned?” “Why would who attack us?” “Wolves.” “What? No way. Wolves are mostly vegetarian. I learned that in school last year.” “Then tell these to go find the salad bar,” said Aunt Kim, grimly."
"“Sometimes the blind to do with the blind.” “Yeah,” said Ned. “Straight over cliffs.”"
"I suppose being right will have to compensate me for being poor—the story of my life, I fear."