Jeff Salyards > Quotes

“You haven’t lived until you’ve grieved. Death, life, together, the same. And if you’ve only experienced life you’re only half-alive.”
― Jeff Salyards, Scourge of the Betrayer

“I'll tell you this much. Men think memories are like murals or statues or truth or whatever happened, never changes none. But that ain't so. They can capture the untruth of something, just as easy. They can change, especially as time leads to time.

(...)
To each man himself, his memories seems as solid and factual as a stone mosaic, an urn he could turn around and heft, a flower he could sniff. But when I go inside another, I don't see it or feel it like that. Everything is shimmery, shifting, like it's bathed in mist and shadow, like... like walking down the foggiest street you can think of, with everything looking not like itself at all.”
― Jeff Salyards, Scourge of the Betrayer

“The years cool passions for some men, neutralize poison, soften the edges of grief and rage and prejudice. But for others, they hold on even tighter to the things that burn their insides out regardless of the passage of time, or even in spite of it, as if to curse the very world itself.”
― Jeff Salyards, Chains of the Heretic

“Sleep, elusive as a ghost, plaintive as a widow, and as easy to hold as the wind.”
― Jeff Salyards

“Gurdinn ignored him, still speaking to the baron. “I would sooner soak my cock in honey and ask a bear not to bite than trust a Black Noose, my lord.”
Braylar clapped and said, “I wouldn’t have suspected you of such colorful wit, Captain Honeycock. You’re a man of surprising gifts.”
Gurdinn wheeled on him, hand on his sword. “Shut your mouth, right quick.”
― Jeff Salyards, Scourge of the Betrayer

“And if that only inflames your curiosity, I say to you, a writer without curiosity is a bird without feathers.”
― Jeff Salyards, Scourge of the Betrayer

“It is a ripper. I would be disappointed if it simply nuzzled them and showed its belly for a good rub.”
― Jeff Salyards, Veil of the Deserters

“I always have to shit before a fight.”
― Jeff Salyards, Scourge of the Betrayer

“Really, all we managed to do was to ride fast and not all die, but that itself felt as rewarding as routing the enemy, considering how quickly that trap closed around us. Despite my throbbing tongue, sweat pouring double time from every pore, and my heart racing faster than any horse’s, I couldn’t suppress a huge smile. Survival was the greatest prize of all. I wanted to yell, to cry, to drink, and yes, to whoop, loudly, maniacally. We’d lost men, we’d been bloodied and injured, but no matter what, we survived. And that felt as sweet and wonderful as anything I could imagine. I”
― Jeff Salyards, Chains of the Heretic

“Skeelana was just in front of me, and I found myself watching the way her hips shifted back and forth. Even on level ground, she had a bit of an involuntary sashay that was hard to turn away from, but watching her take the incline was almost hypnotic. I shook my head as I tripped over a root and forced myself to watch where I was going.”
― Jeff Salyards, Veil of the Deserters

“Rumor's the slut you bend over a chair and never see again. Truth's the lady you wed.”
― Jeff Salyards, Veil of the Deserters

“There always seems to be an 'until'. That is one of life's harsh lessons.”
― Jeff Salyards, Veil of the Deserters

“And then, suddenly, we broke free from the trees. The rolling plain beyond was almost overwhelming in its openness, especially lit by a brilliant, almost awful sunset, the sky never redder, every cloud seemingly blazing from within, suffused with fire and vengeance, roiling, churning, nothing but fury in every direction. Some poets spoke of red sunsets as things of sublime beauty, prefacing good fortune or romance, but they always seemed to be foretelling some bloodletting, murder, or tragedy writ large for all the world to see, and never more so than now.”
― Jeff Salyards, Veil of the Deserters

“One of the guards stepped forward, hand on the hilt of his sword. “I’ll be taking those weapons now, boys.” Braylar replied, “I’m afraid I can’t allow that. Assassinations are so very difficult as it is—unarmed, almost impossible.” It”
― Jeff Salyards, Scourge of the Betrayer

“I believe what the good sergeant is getting at is that it isn’t your affable demeanor or endless ribaldry that endear you to the men, but your absence of mercy for those who oppose you.”
― Jeff Salyards, Scourge of the Betrayer

“You might be a witch, bitch. But you still bleed, don’t you?” “With every moon. But seldom else, Syldoon. Seldom else.”
― Jeff Salyards, Veil of the Deserters: Bloodsounder?s Arc Book Two

“She regarded me as a seasoned drover might regard a cow.”
― Jeff Salyards, Scourge of the Betrayer

“Rumor’s the slut you bend over a chair and never see again. Truth’s the lady you wed.”
― Jeff Salyards, Veil of the Deserters: Bloodsounder?s Arc Book Two

“There are four basic elements to soldiering: training, logistics, strategy, and tactics. Of these, the first is the only one you can do— that is, with even moderate success— without the aid of intelligence. There’s more than one way to gather intelligence, but scouting is surely the most fundamental and immediate. Particularly in a foreign land.”
― Jeff Salyards, Scourge of the Betrayer

“Other times, more rarely, everything coalesces— image, sound, all the senses, and it becomes clear what I’m seeing is a memory, before it’s made, a memory from someone immersed in this violence. Me, someone else, someone who dies, someone who lives. And if this… advance memory is sharp enough, it sometimes serves as a warning. These flashes of violence I see before they occur, they’ve saved my life several times, and on occasion, my entire company as well.”
― Jeff Salyards, Scourge of the Betrayer

“I can give you something much grander than coin. Fame. Fame for having been the archivist of an amazing tale. I could’ve chosen any scribe to record this, but I chose you. Among many. And you’ll have the rarest of opportunities to record something exceptional firsthand. For now, I’ll tell you this much. All empires crumble. All borders change. All kingdoms die. Where I’m taking you, you’ll witness the death of a body politic, the expiration of a way of life, the redrawing of a map. Something singular and priceless.”
― Jeff Salyards, Scourge of the Betrayer

“Your mugs are weaker than your ale, innkeeper. I regret I have to pay for either.”
― Jeff Salyards, Scourge of the Betrayer