Jay Knioum

“I pushed aside tins of salt and sugar to spread my form on a counter. He read it aloud for me, stumbling on the longer words. I filled out the form with a borrowed quill, leaving black smudges, asking Airedain how to spell things.”
― Jae Waller, Veil

“Kitay’s Sinegard was full of wonders, completely accessible, and crammed with things that belonged to him. Kitay’s Sinegard wasn’t terrifying, because Kitay had money. If he tripped, half the shop owners on the street would help him up, hoping for a handsome tip. If his pocket were cut, he’d go home and get another purse. Kitay could afford to be victimized by the city because he had room to fail.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“You are hierarchical. That’s the older and more entrenched characteristic. We saw it in your closest animal relatives and in your most distant ones. It’s a terrestrial characteristic. When human intelligence served it instead of guiding it, when human intelligence did not even acknowledge it as a problem, but took pride in it or did not notice it at all …” The rattling sounded again. “That was like ignoring cancer. I think your people did not realize what a dangerous thing they were doing.”
― Octavia E. Butler, Dawn

“You have to trust her before she will trust you,” Tiernan said. “Do not think about her previous rider. Horses have histories of their own.”
― Jae Waller, Flight