“You must live a very free life.””Me?” she laughed. “I am not who swoops out of the sky to rain fire on pirates!””Yeah, but before this I never did much. I mean I did a lot, but…I lived in a room at a university, and my whole world was in that little room. There was this world inside my head.”De la Fitte studied his head as if she could see through his skull to a little globe inside it somewhere.”— Sam Starbuck
“Trains are beautiful. They take people to places they’ve never been, faster than they could ever go themselves. Everyone who works on trains knows they have personalities, they’re like people. They have their own mysteries.”— Sam Starbuck
“Do Engineers have stories, Jack?” he asked. “What?” Jack said, without moving.”Stories. Myths. Things to keep the boredom out on a long shift.””I think they play cards, mostly,” Jack answered. It was a lie, but he told it with surprising deftness; not a waver in his voice or a hesitation in his words. Only the tightening of his shoulders told Ellis he was lying.”— Sam Starbuck
“Miss Fields,” said a servant, stepping into the room and closing the door, “There is a visitor for you. Are you in?”Clare blinked. “Yes, obviously.””Ah. Miss Fields, I should advise — you may be in without being ‘in’, if you prefer,” he said, offering her a tray. There was a calling card on it; Arthur Conan Doyle, Edinburgh.”— Sam Starbuck
“Do you always try to upset the world as much as possible?” Clare asked.He gave her a surprised look. “Of course. Otherwise how does anything change?”— Sam Starbuck