39 quotes
There was no amount of double-checking that would ever prove that nothing had been missed.
Nemesis Games (2015)
History’s made of surprises that seem obvious in retrospect.
Nemesis Games (2015)
We’re still humans after all. Some percentage of us are always going to be assholes.
Nemesis Games (2015)
She knew intellectually that he was beautiful, the way the iridescent wings of a carrion fly would be.
Nemesis Games (2015)
“Seriously?”
“Yep.”
“That’s a really stupid way to go through life.”
“It’s how most people do.”
“Then most people are really stupid.”
Nemesis Games (2015)
Secrecy is the potting soil in which all this conspiracy shit grows. Trust me. The roaches don’t like it when you start shining a light on them.
Nemesis Games (2015)
Something in the back of her head shifted. The serpent of learned helplessness long asleep starting to wake. She pretended it wasn’t there, in hopes that if she denied it enough, it wouldn’t exist.
Nemesis Games (2015)
Holden couldn’t tell if she was melancholy or solving a complex engineering problem in her head. Those looks were confusingly similar.
Nemesis Games (2015)
She grinned to herself. Safe. That sounded like a good plan. She should try that for a change.
Nemesis Games (2015)
She felt like her soul was a handful of dice that were still rolling, and what came up would decide the shape that the rest of her life took.
Nemesis Games (2015)
Alex’s experience of real family—of blood relations—was more like having a lot of people who had all wound up on the same mailing list without knowing quite why they signed up for it.
Nemesis Games (2015)
“I never thought I’d feel wind again. I never thought I’d be outside. It’s so beautiful.”
Amos glanced around the ruins and shrugged. “That’s got a lot to do with context, I guess.”
Nemesis Games (2015)
“So you’re trying to get me prepared for one of my crew dying?”
“Historically speaking, humans are pretty much at a hundred percent on that.”
Nemesis Games (2015)
His head hurt. His back hurt. He couldn’t feel his legs. It was all distressing until his mind came back enough for him to realize it meant he hadn’t died.
Nemesis Games (2015)
In order to be heard by the oppressing class, one must speak as a member of it. Not only the language, but the diction. The accusation of tyranny, however well-founded in fact, is dismissed unless it is delivered in the manner that power recognizes as powerful.
Nemesis Games (2015)
He told himself that, but he was getting less and less persuasive. Not knowing was the worst thing. The second-worst thing as being chased by a bunch of top-of-the-line warships that really wanted to kill you.
Nemesis Games (2015)
Thing is, we’re humans. We’re tribal. More settled things are, the bigger your tribe is. All the people in your gang, or all the people in your country. All the ones on your planet. Then the churn comes, and the tribe gets small again.
Nemesis Games (2015)
Humanity was so flawed. Not just her, but everyone. Half the population was below average intelligence. Half below average dedication. Average adherence to duty. The cruel law of statistics. It was astounding that as a race they’d managed as much as they had.
Nemesis Games (2015)
Militia motherfucker. NO TRESPASSING signs and everything. Took a potshot at me when I went to ask for some water. Kind of asshole that’s probably pissing himself with glee that the world went to shit and made his stashed guns and paranoia pay off.
Nemesis Games (2015)