With the Black Company series Glen Cook single-handedly changed the face of fantasyโsomething a lot of people didnโt notice and maybe still donโt. He brought the story down to a human level, dispensing with the clichรฉ archetypes of princes, kings, and evil sorcerers. Reading his stuff was like reading Vietnam War fiction on peyote.
Steven EriksonI warn you all, hatred is finding fertile soil within me. And in your compassion, in your every good intention, you nurture it.
Steven EriksonEvil is nothing but a word, an objectification where no objectification is necessary. Cast aside this notion of some external agency as the source of inconceivable inhumanity - the sad truth is our possession of an innate proclivity towards indifference, towards deliberate denial of mercy, towards disengaging all that is moral within us. But if that is too dire , let's call it evil. And paint it with fire and venom.
Steven EriksonNone could guess my confusion, my host of deluded illusions and elusive delusions! A mantle of marble hiding a crumbling core of sandstone. See how they stare at me, wondering, all wondering, at my secret wellspring of wisdom...' Let's kill him,' Crokus muttered, 'if only to put him out of our misery.
Steven EriksonI mean the only thing us dead soldiers got in common is that none of us was good enough or lucky enough to survive the fight. We're a host of failures.
Steven EriksonParadise belonged to the innocent. Which was why it was and would ever remain empty. And that is what makes it a paradise.
Steven EriksonNot even the lichen of the tundra is at peace. All is struggle, all is war for dominance. Those who lose, vanish. -And weโre no different youโre saying- We are, soldier. We possess the privilege of choice. The gift of foresight. Though often we come too late in acknowledging responsibilitiesโฆ.
Steven Erikson