A review by skittles0313
Empire of Bones by N.D. Wilson

5.0

feb 2021 - mildly regretting rereading this because i cannot get closure < / 3

p. 60 (paperback)
"Cyrus Smith," Rupert said, "you and I were raised in a world where good men feared only the darkness of other men-and that is enough-where children could laugh at nonsense dragons in nonsense books, where monsters and giants had long ago been chained and hidden away in the deep places, devouring no one, so thoroughly defeated that even wise men and women believed magical to mean the same thing as imaginary. But the dark truths that lie beneath the myths and legends and storybooks are now erupting. We and the world will see the beginning of such... magical times. And, please God and all His angels, may we see them end.

p. 277
Rupert Greeves, Blood Avenger of the Order of Brendon, Ashtown Estate, was a protector, a guard, a shepherd. Rupert Greeves was no general. Generals spend men. Generals expect sacrifice from those who stand with them. Shepherds do not lead their sheep into battle with wolves. They fight alone . . . The only life Rupert Greeves would gladly spend was his own. Only that path offered him peace of soul.

p. 317
"Cowards live for the sake of living, but for heroes, life is a weapon, a thing to be spent, a gift to be given to the weak and the lost and the weary, even to the foolish and the cowardly . . . love burns hotter than justice, and its roar is thunder. Beside love, even wrath whispers. Not one of us snatching breach with mortal lungs deserves such a gift, and yet every day such a gift is given . . . To love is to be selfless. To be selfless is to be fearless. To be fearless is to strip your enemies of their greatest weapon. Even if they break out bodies and drain our blood, we are unvanquished. Our goal was never to life, our goal is to love. It is the goal of all truly noble men and women. Give even your life itself.

p. 431
"What," he asked the world, "can you do to erase my laughter?"

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october 18th, 2020: i didn't get the flipping newspaper thing for silent bells bc i'm broke and i'm forever gonna regret it bc like. BRO SILENT BELLS I'M GOING CRAZY- (why did this thought just randomly come into my head it's been literal months)

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oh my gosh i love love absolutely love this series—a friend got me to read this after i had finished 100 Cupboards and well i'm glad he did bc this is EPIC
i can't wait for #4 to come out now!
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Feb 2019 - Oh, I've definitely read this more than twice, but I already forgot all the dates so I guess I'm not bothering with filling them in hmm
THEORIES! The longer Silent Bells takes to come out, the more absolute theories I'll find, and so far I've found a lot.

Wilson's writing is sheer beauty and glory and oh GOD the ending T_T

also I put "Leon" & "FuzzyMoldyCheese" into the Yggdrasil ship bot on discord and got a 95% I'm highly pleased with myself

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"Rupert?" Niffy snorted. "Rupert's dead, mate. The Abbot's dead. My brothers are dead. We're all dead. Now tell me why your pocket's glowing.