Don't be such a party-pooper, Missy --when you're well and truly screwed, either you just sit pissing yourself or you invent some reason to hope.

— James Alan Gardner

If you agree to work for us, half the time you won't know the purpose of your duties. . . And when we do explain, we might not be telling the truth. But that's the real world, folks. . .

— James Alan Gardner

The council is a place where everyone schemes against everyone else, and people talk incessantly about Power with a capital "Pow".

— James Alan Gardner