Well, the traveling teachers do come through every few months," said the Baron. "Yes, sir, I know, sir, and they're useless, sir. They teach facts, not understanding. It's like teaching people about forests by showing them a saw. I want a proper school, sir, to teach reading and writing, and most of all thinking, sir, so people can find what they're good at, because someone doing what they really like is always an asset to any country, and too often people never find out until it's too late.

In Genua, someone set out to make dreams come true. Remember some of your dreams?

THERE'S NO JUSTICE, said Mort. JUST US.

Unseen University had never admitted women, muttering something about problems with the plumbing, but the real reason was an unspoken dread that if women were allowed to mess around with magic they would probably be embarrassingly good at it.

Progress just means bad things happen faster.

Magic never dies. It merely fades away.

Any fool could be a witch with a runic knife, but it took skill to be one with an apple corer.