Hey there! Today, I have another Loving the Lines for you! Loving the Lines is dedicated to books with stand-out quotes that need to be shared. I’m often moved by passages and lines from the books I read, and I thought this would be a great way to show the love!! Many thanks to all the wonderful writers who inspire, empower, entertain, and make people think.
Today, I’m sharing my favorite quotes from Long Live Evil, the first in the Time of Iron series by Sarah Rees Brennan. This was such a unique fantasy read, one that made me root for the villain! On top of the layered characters and unique storyline, there are also a bunch of stand-out quotes that I’m eager to share with you today. Let’s check them out!
When her whole life collapsed, Rae still had books. Dying, she seizes a second chance at living: a magical bargain that lets her enter the world of her favourite fantasy series.
She wakes in a castle on the edge of a hellish chasm, in a kingdom on the brink of war. Home to dangerous monsters, scheming courtiers and her favourite fictional character: the Once and Forever Emperor. He’s impossibly alluring, as only fiction can be. And in this fantasy world, she discovers she’s not the heroine, but the villainess in the Emperor’s tale.
So be it. The wicked are better dressed, with better one-liners, even if they’re doomed to bad ends. She assembles the wildly disparate villains of the story under her evil leadership, plotting to change their fate. But as the body count rises and the Emperor’s fury increases, it seems Rae and her allies may not survive to see the final page.
This adult epic fantasy debut from Sarah Rees Brennan puts the reader in the villain’s shoes, for an adventure that is both ‘brilliant’ (Holly Black) and ‘supremely satisfying’ (Leigh Bardugo). Expect a rogue’s gallery of villains including an axe wielding maid, a shining knight with dark moods, a homicidal bodyguard, and a playboy spymaster with a golden heart and a filthy reputation.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Bookshop.org
Reading a book was like meeting someone for the first time. You don’t know if you will love them or hate them enough to learn every detail, or skim the surface never to know their depths.
Villainous characters had epic highs, epic lows, and epic loves. The Emperor loved like an apocalypse. In real life, people let you go. That was why people longed for the love from stories, love that felt more real than real love.
“Everything is a story. What is evil? What is love? People decide upon them, each taking a jagged shard of belief and piecing the shards together.
“What gives a story meaning?” the woman pursued. “What gives your life meaning?” Nothing. That was the insulting truth of death. The worst thing that had ever happened to Rae didn’t really matter. Her desperate struggle made no difference. The world was moving on without her.
Finding a favourite character was discovering a soul made of words that spoke to your own.
“When the story takes and twists you, will you beg for mercy?”
Once she believed her future would be an epic. She hadn’t known she would only get a prologue.
A long-ago teacher had told Rae stories were created by villains. Their desires and evil deeds ignited the plot, while the hero only wanted to stop them. At least to begin with, villains were in charge.
It was uncomfortable to consider how much heroism was based on point of view.
That was how the gods had ordered the world. The powerful grew more powerful. Those born on their knees died crawling on their bellies.
Another book (and series) I need to read A.S.A.P.!