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Read: June 7th, 2023 – July 2nd, 2023
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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)
I was really close to give up on this book, but after reaching 15% it started to become REALLY interesting, and then I couldn’t put it down. I like the universe he’s creating, and I’m excited to read the rest of the trilogy.
Highlights
“The pain is of our own making, Kira.” He pressed a finger against her forehead. “It only hurts as much as we let it.” — p. 68
I stood over her on the ladder, a faint snow touching my cheeks, and surveyed her universe… a world where even a spider refuses to lie down and die if a rope can still be spun on to a star… Here was something that ought to be passed on to those who will fight our final freezing battle with the void. I thought of setting it down carefully as a message to the future: In the days of the frost seek a minor sun. — p. 153
“How did any of us get here? Hmm? And is it even that important? One could argue that all that really matters is that we learn to deal with where we are at any given moment, not where we were.” — p. 177
[…] for those who ventured into the unknown, there was a duty to protect those left behind, those who lived their lives in familiar bounds. — p. 196
“[…] circumstances press hard upon us. Soon all that will be left to you, or to any of us, is bare necessity. Before that happens, you must decide.” Kira frowned, almost angry. “And what exactly am I supposed to decide?” Inarë smiled and shocked Kira by patting her on the cheek. “Who you want to be, of course. Isn’t that what all of our decisions come down to? Now I really must be off. People to annoy, places to escape. Choose well, Traveler. Think long. Think fast. Eat the path.” — p. 319
“So you screwed up. Everyone screws up. What matters is how you deal with it. Hiding isn’t the answer. It never is.” — p. 360
“Because that’s what we do. We fall down, and then we help each other back up again.” — p. 362
It’s not easy, is it? – Kira Why should it be? Nature has no regard for those who squirm and crawl within its tainted depths. The storm that batters, batters all. None are spared. Not you, not I, not the stars in the sky. We bind our cloaks and bend our heads and focus on our lives. But the storm, it never breaks, never fades. – Gregorovich — p. 368
“Right. So the name of the game is discomfort. We’re going to impose some carefully calibrated stress, and we’re going to see what that does to you and the Soft Blade. Okay?” — p. 383
“Sometimes,” Falconi said, “everything just turns to crap, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” He looked at her. “No one’s to blame. Or maybe everyone’s to blame." — p. 578
“Bullshit. The truth is you don’t want to. It makes you feel good to blame yourself. You know why?” Kira shook her head, mute. “Because it gives you a sense of control. The hardest lesson in life is learning to accept that there are some things we can’t change.” Falconi paused, his eyes hard and glittering. “Blaming yourself is perfectly normal, but it doesn’t do you any good. Until you stop, unless you can stop, you’ll never be able to fully recover.” — p. 580
This I learned, meatbag, this and nothing more: when air, food, and shelter are assured, only two things matter. Work and companionship. To be alone and without purpose is to be the living dead. — p. 613
She stopped, annoyed with herself. Those were the sorts of thoughts she needed to avoid. What would be would be. All that mattered was the present. What was, not word-castles and hypotheticals. — p. 653
“Could I advise myself in the past, prior to my transition, I would tell myself to make the most of what I had while I had it. Too often we don’t appreciate the value of something until it has slipped our grasp.” — p. 734
“We all have to play the odds, Salvo. It’s the nature of life. The only alternative is to cash out early, and that’s just giving up.” — p. 741
Not that I ever really know who I am. Who does, hmm? We change as circumstances change, like wisps blown on the wind. — p. 963