Quotes That Stick

[shelver506.livejournal.com]

QT is such a quotable series. It's insanely quotable. Not only is it funny, but it's also twisty and thought-provoking. 

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'm posting a top 10 list of my favorite romantic couples, and with each couple I put a swoony quote from their books. Gen and Irene made the list, of course, but I had such a hard time picking just one quote. I ended up going with the closing lines fro The Queen of Attolia, but I couldn't get the others out of my head.

For example, I ADORE the entire scene in KoA where Gen is injured by the assassins. One quote from there that pops into my head regularly is when they find out how deeply injured Gen actually was. It made Costis wonder for the first time just how much the stoic man really wants to hide when he unsuccessfully pretends not to be in pain.

I also like it when Irene watches him get stitches and faints. 'The queen!' someone shouted in alarm, and the king erupted like a wild animal caught in a snare.

And lastly, the best part of the scene, in my opinion: On the bed, Eugenides stirred restlessly. "Upset at the sight of blood?" he said. "Not my wife, Ornon."

"Your blood," the ambassador pointed out.

Eugenides glanced at the hook on his arm and conceded the point. "Yes," he said. He seemed lost in memory. The room was quiet.


That's just one scene! I could go on, but I'd rather give you all the chance instead. :)

Comments

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

So many good ones! One of my very favorites is the whole drunk-on-the-crenellations scene.

"Can I trust you?"
"You can trust me with your life, my king."
"But not with my wine, obviously. Give it back."
"Come down and make me."

and

"I don't think I've ever heard you say that many words in a row. You sounded almost articulate."

[shelver506.livejournal.com]

Haha, that's a great scene.

[shelver506.livejournal.com]

I don't think I remember that one. Someone help us out?

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

It's the scene in QoA when she and Helen come back to find Gen asleep in the room. P. 312 in the paperback.

[brandy-painter.livejournal.com]

In the scene where she faints I love how when Ornon tells Gen she's okay he quiets down and all he says, "Irene?". The tone I imagine goes with that-the question, fear, concern-melts me every time.

One of my favorite scenes between the two of them is at Ephrata after the Medes are gone and he wakes up. I love every word of that scene.

[shelver506.livejournal.com]

Yeeeeeees!!! Oh man, can't you just picture it on screen?

[booksrgood4u.livejournal.com]

"I'm not as dumb as you think I am, even if you are!" Oh, Philo, you don''t get enough love around here....

And also "I shall throw something at you!" I say that to Bookworm all the time when she's teasing me.

[shelver506.livejournal.com]

Hey, who knows, maybe he'll be the narrator for the next book...

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

I love this idea.

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

I adore Philo. Possibly because he channels my youngest-sibling sensibilities. ^_^ High hopes fer that young feller.

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

One of my favorite quote/scenes is one of the times, after the assination, when he wakes up from a nightmare, after he is sick, and Irene says, "What do you want me to say?" and he replies, "Tell me you won't blind me, or stick hot pokers through my ears, or _________ "[Something else I can't remember right now :( ] and she says: "I love your eyes, I love your ears, and I love every one of your ridiculous lies."

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

I think its "cut out my lying tongue" but I am also without books at the moment.

[shelver506.livejournal.com]

Yes yes yes. A million times yes.

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

I typed that one up, printed it out, framed it with some colored paper, and stuck it on my wall. Now I see it every time I walk into my room!

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

There are so many more, but for sheer swoonworthyness: “The king lifted a hand to her cheek and kissed her. It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife, and when it was over, the king closed his eyes and rested his forehead in the hollow of the queen's shoulder, like a man seeking respite, like a man reaching home at the end of the day.”

....may have raised the bar impossibly for kisses, is all I'm saying.

Also! Vote for a different romance: "We do not all of us need to be throwing inkpots."

[shelver506.livejournal.com]

YES!

[bookaddict88.livejournal.com]

The kiss one is SO my favorite romantic quote in the series so far.

Helen and Sophos are incredibly cute, though.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes! I mean I adore reading about Irene and Gen partly because they are just so epic in this cool, conflicted, way. With as many issues as they have, they still are good for each other in spite of and because of their issues. Even so, Gen and Irene are a great fantasy pairing but not one I could ever imagine without the other. I mean, it's not the type of romance that I sigh and say, oh if only I had someone like that with me. (Not that I do that, I tend to fall in love with fictional pairs not with the opportunity to self-insert.) But my point is that as awesome and as wonderful and beautiful as their love is on the page, this is not a comfortable couple to hang out with (unless you happen to be Helen and Sophis or Costis and his honor.)
a fan lurking on the boards who can't resist commenting

[bookishbabe.livejournal.com]

Why, hello, lovely. We Areglad you've come out of the woodwork, because you make a great point. They are Not a fun couple to hang out with, but mwt balances the tension and the swoon so well that we rummage around for any tiny hint of them. So maybe we are all just perverse reprobates.

Welcome to the club.

[(Anonymous)]

I love all of those quotes. But I also love the one with Gen and Relius, (even if they aren't a couple ). I don't know it exactly but it is the part where Gen kisses Irene, and then sees Relius look at him with wanting (so to say), and Gen asks jealous? Then he gives Relius a tender kiss, and Relius feels moved, (and his eyes tear?). I think it is such a sweet moment, I love it!!!

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

“She pulled the bedclothes up as far as they would go and suppressed a perverse wish... perverse because she didn't know if she wanted the shadows to be empty or not.”

Possibly my favorite moment in the entire series. Shivers every time.

[shelver506.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh, I forgot that scene. Shiiiiiiivers.

[bookishbabe.livejournal.com]

Let me just say that I think I'm going to go back through the series and flag every instance where something was communicated with just a look. Those moments may not be quoteable, but they are some powerful goodness, always speaking volumes more than than what would fit on a LJ icon.

[heatherzundel.livejournal.com]

Does anyone else feel as I do about how *powerful* the scene with Costis and Gen on the rooftop was in KoA? There is so much there that honestly would probably need a whole post for me to geek out about. But the culmination of at whole scene when Costis realizes the implications of him becoming detached from the guard in the morning and he knows he has one last chance to show everyone exactly the kind of king they have, and so he asks Eugenides to come to sword training in the morning. This results in two very powerful lines that are telling of both Costis in the first quote, and Gen in the second. One (when Gen is gone and Costis has turned to negotiate terms with the attendants)

"You know, when I said name your price, I was thinking of silver," Hilarion admitted.
"I wasn't."



And then even more powerfully, when Costis is speaking to Gen before he crosses the atrium and he is suspicious of Costis' motives, Costis says the thing finally convinces him.

"Because I am asking."


Does anyone else love this scene like I do? :D

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

I do. This is part of why I love KoA so much, as you see Gen and Costis grow to understand and respect each other and also grow individually. I love this whole episode.

[live-momma.livejournal.com]

Attolia & Relius on Attolia's wedding night:

"I had not pictured you for a fishwife."
"Lo, the transforming power of love."

[heatherzundel.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is a nice one.