“Whatever you do, dont make it worse by trying to come up with some flimsy excuse for why you were in the ventilation shaft, Lina told herself.”

“She wanted to make sure she studied all the manuals thoroughly, but she had to admit that part of her hesitation was the unsettling length of the list of things that could go wrong if she mishandle...”

“Normally, she would never wish a head injury on anyone, but it might make her days in Archival Studies a bit easier.”

“Torque was the greatest thing in the world, as far as Lina was concerned.”

“Trust me, there are things in this mountain that will make your jaw bounce off the floor.”

“Junk?” Lina repeated, incredulous. Oh, she wasn’t about to let that pass.”

“To die will be an awfully big adventure.”

“Go outside. Dont tell anyone and dont bring your phone. Start walking and keep walking until you no longer know the road like the palm of your hand, because we walk the same roads day in and day ou...”

“To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.”

“Sibyl, what do you want?I want to live, the Sibyl said, and her voice rang rich and full. I want to keep on living forever and watching heroes and fools and knights go up and down, into the world a...”

“When God is driven to the periphery of the public square, the human spiritual capacity longs for exercise, and it often finds it in the suspension of disbelief and activity of the imagination that ...”

“When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it.”

“Strength is taking charge of your own destiny and not waiting on others to do so. You dont have to swear and drink and beat people up and slay monsters. Youre allowed to cry and take care of childr...”

“In that moment, she hated his quiet patient tone, hated the stench of the incense, and hated the beauteous pity painted on the faces of the women on the walls. Their expressions contained serene un...”

“I closed the door and sank into my desk chair. My heart was pounding even harder. I felt like someone who had just staggered out of her car after an accident on a freeway. This was different from t...”