Skyward (The Skyward Series Book 1)

It turned out that strange little girls grow up to be strange young women.

I wasn’t sure what Sun Tzu or Beowulf would say about flirting with cute guys. Maybe share the skulls of your enemies with them, as a gesture of affection?

the answers we need don’t match the questions we’re asking.” He looked up at me. “And sometimes, the coward makes fools of wiser men.”

When heritage becomes a box instead of an inspiration, it has gone too far.”

“You’re saying that by the end of our training, you expect us to be able to use grappling hooks made of energy to smash our enemies with flaming chunks of space debris?” “Yes.” “That…,” I whispered, “that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Hello?” M-Bot said. “Spensa? Are you dead?” “Maybe.” “Oooh. Like the cat!” “…What?” “I’m not sure, honestly,” M-Bot said. “But logically, if you’re speaking to me then possibility has collapsed in our favor. Hurray!”

“Humans don’t have programming.” “Yes you do. You have too much of it. Conflicting programs, none of it interfacing properly, all calling different functions at the same time—or the same function for contradictory reasons. Yet you ignore it sometimes. That is not a flaw. It is what makes you you.”

Their heads are heads of rock, their hearts set upon rock. Set your sights on something higher. Something more grand.”

“The most wonderful sound ever is the lamentations of my enemies, screaming my name toward the heavens with ragged, dying voices.”