Jonathan Stroud Quotes

64 Sourced Quotes

"Too much hate is bad for you," I ventured.
"Why?"
"Um..."

Jonathan Stroud
The bristling eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. Mesmerized, the boy watched them disappear under the hanging thatch of white hair. There, almost coyly, they remained just out of sight for a moment, before suddenly descending with a terrible finality and weight.

Jonathan Stroud
As part of my current charge I have been instructed to provide an occasional journal of my recent activities.

Jonathan Stroud
The boy did the preliminaries, sealing the circles, erecting the bonds. Now we were all subject to the rules of the summoning. But then he stopped. He did not progress. The woman looked at him furiously. "I've forgotten it," he said.

Jonathan Stroud
The Amulet of Samarkand. It was Simon Lovelace's. Now it is yours. Soon it will be Simon Lovelace's again. Take it and enjoy the consequences.

Jonathan Stroud
Perhaps he'd want me to conjure up an illusion. That might be fun: there was bound to be a way of misinterpreting his request and upsetting him†.

Jonathan Stroud
Hey, we've all got problems, chum. I'm overly talkative. You look like a field of buttercups in a suit.

Jonathan Stroud
In recent weeks it has come to my attention that many caravans have met with disaster; they have not gotten through." I grunted wisely. "Probably ran out of water. That's the thing about deserts. Dry." "Indeed. A fascinating analysis. But survivors reaching Hebron report differently: monsters fell upon them in the wastes." "What, fell upon them in a squashed-them kind of way?" "More the leaped-out-and-slew-them kind. (...)

Jonathan Stroud
Long ago I dreamed of being a hero in your company" Halli said Huskily "I'm sorry to say your reality disappoints me

Jonathan Stroud
I wanted to wake you straightaway, but I knew I had to wait several hours to ensure you were safely recovered." "What! How long has it been?" "Five minutes. I got bored.

Jonathan Stroud
There was a loud cough from the man on the stand. I replaced My Magic Mirror carefully on his tray, gave him a cheesy smile, and went my way.

Jonathan Stroud
I warn you," the boy went on. "I am a magician of great power. I control many terrifying entities. This being you see before you" - here I rolled my shoulders back and puffed my chest up menacingly - "is but the meanest and least impressive of my slaves." (Here I slumped my shoulders and stuck my stomach out.)

Jonathan Stroud
Spy three suspicious butterflies flitting over hedge. Check the planes. Yep, small foliots, arms flapping wildly. Wasp rises up behind them, shoots down out of sun, zaps them with Infernos, one, two, three. Burning butterflies crash-land in pond. Alert master to my triumph. She inspects charred fragments. Her scowl deepens; turns out they were her slaves, returning with valuable information.

Jonathan Stroud
Listen, a goad's anything that provokes or incites an enemy — let me have a go: cursed deamon! you have met your end! the shivering fire awaits you! i shall spread your vile essance across this hall like... um, like margarine, a very think layer of it... — ye-es... im not sure he'll pick up on that analogy. never mind, keep going.

Jonathan Stroud
Today summoned painfully to earth by a short fat English magician with a dangerous stammer.

Jonathan Stroud
I'm only introducing it because of a small sub-clause in an Official Charge that escaped my notice a year or two back. Unfortunately the author didn't forget. Like elephants, authors are – nothing contractual escapes them.

Jonathan Stroud
The boy shrugged. "I've forgotten it," was all he said. And then, "I guess I wasn't taught well enough."

Jonathan Stroud
When I landed on the top of a lamppost in the London dusk it was peeing with rain.

Jonathan Stroud
So I departed, leaving behind a pungent smell of brimstone. Just something to remember me by.

Jonathan Stroud
Despite his crimped shirts and flowing mane (or perhaps because of them) I had seen no evidence as yet that Nathaniel even knew what a girl was. If he'd ever met one, chances are they'd both have run screaming in opposite directions.

Jonathan Stroud
We communicated with pithy, rather monosyllabic thoughts: viz. Run, Jump, Where? Left, Up, Duck, ect. (This latter was an observation I made on the edge of a lake. Nathaniel unfortunately took it as a command, which resulted in our temporary immersion.) We didn't ever quite say Ug, but it was a close-run thing.

Jonathan Stroud
The column hung above the middle of the pentacle, bubbling ever upward against the ceiling like the cloud of an erupting volcanoe. There was a barely perceptible pause. Then two yellow staring eyes materialized in the heart of the smoke. Hey, it was his first time. I wanted to scare him. And it did, too.

Jonathan Stroud
Her clarity gave her purpose and her purpose gave her clarity.

Jonathan Stroud
Burned and squashed to death in a silver vat of soup. There must be worst ways to go. But not many.

Jonathan Stroud
A better plan would be to head straight for Bart's Guide to London, since that's hugely entertaining and witty, i. e. written by me.

Jonathan Stroud
Did Lovelace's forces find you? Did Jabor break in?" He spoke slowly through clenched teeth. "I went to get a newspaper" This is getting better and better! I shook my head regretfully. "You should leave such a dangerous assignment to people better qualified: next time ask an old granny, or a toddler-

Jonathan Stroud
Watch where you leave your victims! I stubbed my toe on that.

Jonathan Stroud
I had a chance at him now. Things were a bit more even. He knew my name, I knew his. He had six years' experience, I had five thousand and ten. That was the kind of odds that you could do something with.

Jonathan Stroud
In the middle of the lawn was a lake adorned with an ornamental fountain, depicting an amorous Greek god trying to kiss a dolphin.†

Jonathan Stroud
Wednesday
Yep, same again. Saw a few nice whirling colours and things. That's it. Easy, this journal lark, isn't it?

Jonathan Stroud