Linden A. Lewis > Quotes

“The second reminder is this: while technological advancements can carry humankind to impossible heights, power must be exercised responsibly. After all, people tend to forget that Daedalus’s wings for his son did work; it was Icarus who used them incorrectly.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The First Sister

“Isn’t that what growing up means, learning to be disappointed by your parents? You’ve said it is accepting them as human, but that’s the same damn thing, Lito. Seeing your parents as humans instead of the perfect, loving caretakers of your childhood is accepting disappointment and learning to live with it. Childhood is a lie. The end.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The First Sister

“Many are scared to live in a society without laws, because they fear people will act lawlessly. But it is not law as laid down by a court that keeps people honest and kind. Anyone who has lived in a society that is truly equal only fears losing it.
Dire of the Belt”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“For the Asters, who have suffered. For Hemlock, who died without seeing his dreams come true. For my brother, who might have been reborn among the Synthetics. For Ofiera, who counseled me to hold on to my rage when all else failed. For Dire and the Alliance, who lost their home but not their purpose. And for Castor—” Who I once loved.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“Perhaps man is a creature meant to love war by virtue of his own nature.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The First Sister

“Isn’t that what growing up means, learning to be disappointed by your parents?”
― Linden A. Lewis, The First Sister

“My dearest husband, if you are reading this, I am dead. When I bade you farewell this afternoon, I knew it was the last time I ever would. I should have told you then what our escape from the surface of Venus meant for me, but I couldn’t bring myself to, because I knew you would try to dissuade me from what I must do next. Please do not hold it against me. This is my death, and I choose to do something with it. My darling, I know you will be tempted to fall apart, but you cannot. Not for the Black Hive, not for the Asters, and not for the shining future we dreamed of, almost in reach. Now, more than ever, you must be strong. Go to the Elders and convince them of the necessity of our plans, no holding back. There is only you now. I wait for you in the next life.
Message from Ofiera fon Bain, sent through Black Hive operatives”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“Go to sleep, I sing.
“No,” I tell myself.
Go to sleep, I beg.
I am a traitor to myself.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The First Sister

“Ofiera nods as if she expected my answer. “One last piece of advice, then,” she says, and leans toward me in order to whisper. “When the pain becomes too much, remember why you’re fighting. You’re angry. I can hear it in your voice. And that’s good. Sometimes anger is all you have. “This is a battle in a war of a different type. I’m sure you’ve been told not to show your anger. Not to feel it. Women often are.” Her predator eyes gleam. “But when death comes for you, Lucinia sol Lucius, when it grasps you with cold fingers, that anger can burn through it. That anger can save you. Better to be alive and angry than dead and peaceful.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Second Rebel

“In her arms, in this place surrounded by my sisters, I am home.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“With a religion as oppressive as theirs, any time they can relax, any freedom they experience is quickly overindulged.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The First Sister

“I wonder if the windows and lighting are so the managers can watch the employees in the offices, or so the employees can’t see what the smugglers are doing.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The First Sister

“The brown hair that’s fallen out of her low bun is a little longer, her skin a little paler, but she’s gained weight and looks worlds better than when I last saw her with a wound in her gut. And she seems . . . calmer, I guess. More self-assured, though I never thought she lacked confidence. Perhaps it comes from having Sorrel back in her life.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“Lucinia," Hemlock says, and I look back at him. He flashes me his crooked teeth, his black eyes shining. He is, in this moment, the most beautiful I've ever seen him. "Thank you..."
Sorrel jerks me out of the room.
The last I see of Hemlock is his slowly fading smile.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“I’m almost twenty—I shouldn’t sleep—hic—shouldn’t have toys.” “There are bigger things in the world to worry about, and anyone who gives you shit about it isn’t worth your time, love,”
― Linden A. Lewis, The First Sister

“I don’t know what happened to Ofiera, and I may never know. Maybe Father got his last laugh in the end. Maybe she’s not dead, just locked away in some cryo pod. Despite what she did, I still find the thought of her death appalling. She deserved peace with the Aster who loved her. Instead, she got a war.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“Asset has little to no regard for her humanity. Believes death of those she deems ‘harmful’ to Asters more important than the preservation of her species.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Second Rebel

“You can’t go through life thinking of all you’ve lost and holding that against people who’ve never taken anything from you.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Second Rebel

“Yes, there’s an Aster elephant in the room. Now let’s all build a bridge and get over it.”
Aunt Tamar huffs. “You mix your metaphors so freely . . .”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“I turn away to follow Sorrel. “Lucinia,” Hemlock says, and I look back at him. He flashes me his crooked teeth, his black eyes shining. He is, in this moment, the most beautiful I’ve ever seen him. “Thank you . . .” Sorrel jerks me out of the room. The last I see of Hemlock is his slowly fading smile.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“The promise we made at the Academy holds more weight than ever.
I'll make sure you stay you, okay? And you make sure that I stay me.
And his answer, a promise I make myself every day.
If we lose ourselves, at least we'll lose ourselves together.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“nd what of Hemlock and his years of service in the darkness of Ceres? Was he skipped over because he was too cautious in the face of Sorrel’s ambition? Or did the Elders have a darker reason for disregarding Hemlock? Like his genetic shortcomings—defects from my father’s lab.

“The opinion of one who would be an Elder had misfortune not befallen him has been noted. Are there any other options?”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Second Rebel

“Every night that Arturo and I slept in the captain’s bed, wrapped in sheets and each other, he whispered promises to me. Promises that he had no intention of keeping. I swallowed his words with all of the hope that only a girl who has nothing can. Why would he lie to me, I thought then, when I have given him everything he wants, a silent, obedient companion, and asked for nothing in return?”
― Linden A. Lewis, The First Sister

“She lifts her chin. “It would be naive to think you would accept. But I wanted to offer nonetheless. Out of respect for our past together, you deserved that much before . . .”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“What? Why?! After everything you’ve done to be free—” “Because I’m dying, Lito,” she spits at me, “and I’m taking as much from Souji val Akira as I can on my way out.”
(...)
“That’s treatable, Ofiera! We just need to escape this trap together and find you medical aid.” I’m surprised to find I’m begging. “Or at least send you back to Sorrel before—”
I can see from the way she smiles at me sadly that she’s already thought of this.
“I’m not able to survive the trip to Sorrel. What do you expect me to do, walk into a hospital? They’ll arrest me, and I know where that road ends.” She shakes her head. “Souji val Akira could fix me, but Sorrel and I made a promise . . . We’d rather die than go back into cryo.”
(...)
Oh-feaaaaaaaaar-uhhhhh.
(...)
“There are innocents working at the docks and in the levels below this—”
“When will you learn?” she shouts, so loud it echoes through the hold. “This is war, and there are no innocents.”
(...)
“Did Sorrel ask you to do this?”
(...)
“What did he tell you to do? You’ve already given everything. Do you need to give this too?”
(...)
“Don’t do something monstrous because of him, Ofiera. Don’t burn yourself into oblivion because of his blind need.”
(...)
“Did you think,” Ofiera snarls, “that I am some weak-willed woman to be manipulated by a man?” She shoves the blade deeper, all the way up to the hilt. “Did you think I didn’t choose of my own volition to give everything I have to stop Souji val Akira?”
(...)
“Everything I did,” she says, “was for me. For what val Akira did to me.”
(...)
I see nothing but naked fear in her eyes. Her hands on the hilt of the mercurial blade tremble. She’s terrified. We’d rather die than go back into cryo.
(...)
I press my thumbs against her trachea and go still, a silent offering.
I see the moment she realizes what I’m doing. She too softens. Closes her eyes.
(...)
She does not fight, in the end. She could detonate the explosives, but she doesn’t. She’s so ill. So weak. She wants to die.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“She lifts her chin. “It would be naive to think you would accept. But I wanted to offer nonetheless. Out of respect for our past together, you deserved that much before . . .”
(...)
The pressure and heat of the atmosphere rushes over me—the walls must’ve been punctured—and beneath me, Ofiera screams before the sound is cut short—
She curls into me, shaking, and I can’t imagine what it feels like without a suit—
(...)
“You want this warehouse to burn?” she asks, her voice coming out mechanical through whatever breather they put on her. “Then burn with it.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“The Harbinger appears, far more haggard than we are. Drained, almost, like a piece of his soul has been stolen. I’ve never seen him look like this—like all his careful control has been stripped away. Ofiera’s death has left its mark on him . . .”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“You are not palatable, they say, and we Sisters must change or suffer. Smile prettily. Brush your hair. Wear cosmetics, but not too much. Touch us, but not with too much enthusiasm. Tempt us, but do not look as if you want to tempt us.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Second Rebel

“I wonder if the windows and lighting are so the managers can watch the employees in the offices, or so the employees can’t see what the smugglers are doing in the hangar. Plausible deniability and all that.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The First Sister

“Chaos, he tells me, is predictable for being chaotic. It’s when one promises order that you never quite know what will happen.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero