“Those who die never truly leave us. They are forever there beyond the shimmering of light at the edge of sight.”— Vanna Smythe
“For the wanderer astray, the hermit seeking the lost booksTo him the bitter path of knowledge is truly germaneAnd to gaze at the grand canvas of depravity, the deified crooksAll the depth of duplicity of the celestial rulers most profane.”— T. M. Lakomy
“…making some noise in the woods is a thing that one can forget. The sound of a man’s voice on the other hand, is something else entirely.”— Angelo Tsanatelis
“It is not Love that is the crime and it is not Love that is the sin. It is the absence of it!”ARcher Tariq – “A Rising Darkness”— Nikki Dorakis
“Those of strong character and training are chosen by fate. They cannot help but rise to the forefront when their nations are troubled.”— Daniel McHugh
“(Evil people) do not believe in forgiveness. Their transgressions are either punished or not punished. That is the only result that matters.”— Daniel McHugh
“A man without equals is a dangerous man indeed. He must exercise the most difficult of attributes, restraint.”— Daniel McHugh
“We forgive only that which requires forgiveness. To do otherwise is wasteful of grace.” — Laniel, Abbot of Bilkar the Furred”— Jordan MacLean
“Your best disguise is the strong impression your enemy has of you. Strong…and dead wrong.”— Michael Joseph Murano
“Man, Sub-creator, the refracted Lightthrough whom is splintered from a single Whiteto many hues, and endlessly combinedin living shapes that move from mind to mind.”— J.R.R. Tolkien
“The mind that thought of light, heavy, grey, yellow, still, swift, also conceived of magic that would make heavy things light and be able to fly, turn grey lead into yellow gold, and the still rock into a swift water.”— J.R.R. Tolkien
“I propose to speak about fairy-stories, though I am aware that this is a rash adventure. Faërie is a perilous land, and in it are pitfalls for the unwary and dungeons for the overbold.”— J.R.R. Tolkien
“Walking alongside his apprentice’s horse, Sethil Longmere, magus of the Third Circle, Magi Master of Dormir’s army, and a man who had seen more years than most men could count, did his best to keep his apprentice Rousche from falling off his gelding. The dun horse had a sure foot and a good temper, but it seemed unlikely the animal was used to a grown man lying face first in its mane, legs sprawled behind, dangling with each step.”— Clifton Hill
“She was the lover of two mighty kings.She was their Chalice.The certainty of the knowledge settled over her shoulders like a weighty mantle. She might not know where she came from, but she knew where she was going. She knew who she wanted to be, who she was.She was the queen of Amendal, leader and protector of the dal.Time to start acting the part. She stood and pulled them up with her. Amendal was still in danger, and she would not stand for it any longer.By Aiea, and all the gods of Odren, no more would die today.”— Elizabeth Varlet
“This is the beginning of a new time,” Torius said, “a great moment for us. One of us has learnt the Tongue and freed a princess. I have saved him and killed the guards. No longer will we be slaves. No longer will the guards tell us what to do. No longer will we listen. We will fight till we get what we want!”A roar exploded from the children around him.“This is a revolution,” Torius went on. “You all remember the pain that you have felt when the guards have touched you. You all know the shame we carry within us at being treated like this. No more! We will stand!”— Y.K. Willemse
“Down they went, into the darkness. Down ancient, worn steps coated in slippery mildew. Down into the deep recesses of the earth, far beneath the corridors of Deep-Spire.”— Sam J. Charlton
“When his dead father touched his hand, Athson almost dropped the arrow.” From The Bow of Destiny”— P. H. Solomon
“The villagers had removed their masks. They displayed their true faces. And they were dreadful, diabolic visages. Blasted skin hung from shrunken mouths and red veins burst from their skin, leaving pronounced contours akin to miniature rivers. Each throbbed and pulsed, at home on scabby foreheads.I balked. The eyes drew all attention.Silver coins replaced eyeballs. They glinted with the same alluring lustre as the ones I had coveted in the chests. Instantly, dreadfully, I knew they were one and the same – accursed treasure used for nefarious sight, a symbol of the damned. And yet, the more I stared, the more I coveted them.”— Tim Reed
“And once upon a time I wondered: Is writing epic fantasy not somehow a betrayal? Did I not somehow do a disservice to my own reality by paying so much attention to the power fantasies of disenchanted white men?But. Epic fantasy is not merely what Tolkien made it.This genre is rooted in the epic — and the truth is that there are plenty of epics out there which feature people like me. Sundiata’s badass mother. Dihya, warrior queen of the Amazighs. The Rain Queens. The Mino Warriors. Hatshepsut’s reign. Everything Harriet Tubman ever did. And more, so much more, just within the African components of my heritage. I haven’t even begun to explore the non-African stuff. So given all these myths, all these examinations of the possible… how can I not imagine more? How can I not envision an epic set somewhere other than medieval England, about someone other than an awkward white boy? How can I not use every building-block of my history and heritage and imagination when I make shit up?And how dare I disrespect that history, profane all my ancestors’ suffering and struggles, by giving up the freedom to imagine that they’ve won for me.”— N.K. Jemisin
“They have forgotten that war is momentum.War is natural. And war makes one strong.”— Robert Jackson Bennett
“You said the d-word,” Owllwin said regretfully. “I didn’t think you would, or I woulda warned ya.”“ . . . the d-word?” Cricket repeated in confusion.“Yeah . . .” Owllwin paused as if he was glancing around, then he whispered through the wall, “Dragon.” Cricket blinked. “Why can’t I say that?”— Ash Gray
“Owllwin was easiest the most contrary person Cricket had ever known. He was arrogant but humble, cowardly but brave, foolish but wise. He was funny, but sometimes she caught him crying when he was off on his own. It were as if he pushed himself to be a better person in spite of himself, in spite of his own failings, and Cricket secretly admired the fact: not many people were willing to admit they had faults in the first place.”— Ash Gray
“There was love, a reliable and real love grown in a handful of days, and Tristan did not know why it was: friendship had happened to both of them, on the sudden, completely aside from Tristan’s both endangering and saving Crissand’s life. It was no reason related to that, it was no reason that either of them quite knew. Crissand had simply risen on his horizon like the sun of his banner…and that was that….They were together, and there was a great deal right with the day simply in that.”— C.J. Cherryh