Author: Lilith Saintcrow

Cites

• Mother Goose (1)
  • IN: Roadside Magic (2016) Young Adult Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Hark, hark, the dogs all bark, The beggars are coming to town, Some in rags, and some in jags And one in a velvet gown
    FROM: NULL, (None), Nursery Rhyme, NULL
• Anonymous (1)
  • IN: Night Shift (2008) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: The most terrible thing to face is one's own soul
    FROM: NULL, (None), [NA], NULL
• NULL (6)
  • IN: Hunter's Prayer (2008) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Thou Who hast given me to fight evil, protect me; keep me from harm. Grant me strength in battle, honor in living, and a swift clean death when my time comes. Cover me with Thy shield, and with my sword may Thy righteousness be brought to earth, to keep Thy children safe. Let me be the defender of the weak and the protector of the innocent, the righter of wrongs and the giver of charity. O my Lord God, do not forsake me when I face Hell’s legions. In Thy name and with Thy blessing, I go forth to cleanse the night.
    FROM: The Hunter’s Prayer, (None), Religious Text, NULL
  • IN: Dead Man Rising (2006) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Since before the Awakening, the world has been aware of the existence of psionics. And since the Parapsychic Act was signed into Hegemony law, the psionic Talents have been harnessed to provide valuable service to mankind. Who can imagine a world without Skinlin and sedayeen cooperating to find new cures for every gene-morphing virus, creating new techniques for alteration and augmentation of the human body? Who can imagine a time when the Magi did not probe the laws of magick and alternate realities, or when Ceremonials and Shamans didn't minister to the needs of believers and track criminals, not to mention provide protection for houses and corporations? Who can imagine a world without psions? The Necromance's place within this continuum is assured: The Necromance treads in that realm of mystery called Death. At hospital bedsides and in courtrooms, Necromances ease the passing of their fellow humans or provide testimony for the last wishes of the dead. An accredited Necromance's work touches the very mundane world of finance, wills, and bequests at the same time that they peer into the dry land of Death and return with absolute proof that there is an afterlife. Necromances also work in the Criminal Justice arm of the Hegemony, tracking criminals and murderers. A Necromance requires not only the talent for entering the realm of Death, but also the training and sorcerous Will to come back out of Death. This is why accreditation of Necromances is so expensive, and so harrowing for even the Academy-trained psionics whose Talent lies in Necromance. On the flap opposite you will see several careers where an accredited Necromance can make a difference…
    FROM: Brochure, What Can Death Do For You?, printed by the Amadeus Hegemony Academy of Psionic Arts, (2006), Article, NULL
  • IN: The Devil's Right Hand (2007) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: The last of the theories is the most intriguing: what if the Awakening itself was prompted by a collective evolution of the human race? Psionic talent before the Awakening was notoriously unreliable. The Parapsychic Act, by codifying and making it possible to train psionic ability, cannot alone account for the flowering of Talent and magickal ability just prior to its signing into law—no matter how loudly apologists for Adrien Ferrimen cry. A corollary to the theory of collective evolution is the persistent notion that another intelligence was responsible. The old saw about demonic meddling with the human genetic code has surfaced in this debate so many times as to be a cliché. But as any Magi will tell you, demonkind’s fascination with humans cannot be explained unless they somehow had a hand in our evolution, as they themselves claim. For if there is one law in dealing with demons, it is their possessive nature. A demon will destroy a beloved object rather than allow its escape; in this they are like humanity. A second law is just as important in dealing with demons: as with loa or etrigandi, their idea of truth is not at all the human legal definition. A demon’s idea of a truth might be whatever serves the purpose of a moment or achieves a particular end. This leads to the popular joke that lawyers make good Magi, which this author can believe. In fact, one might say that in jealousy and falsity either we learned from demonkind, or they caught these tendencies like a sickness from us—and the latter option is not at all likely, given how much older a race they are…
    FROM: Theory And Demonology: A Magi Primer, (2007), Book, NULL
• Seneca (1)
  • IN: Flesh Circus (2009) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Bonitas non est pessimis esse meliorem.
    FROM: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, (65), Book, Italy
• Dante Alighieri (1)
  • IN: Working for the Devil (2006) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, che la diritta via era smarrita
    FROM: Inferno, (1472), Poem, Italy
• Mephistopheles, by way of Marlowe (1)
  • IN: Working for the Devil (2006) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscribed In one self place, for where we are is hell, And where hell is must we ever be.
    FROM: Doctor Faustus, (1604), Play, UK
• Virgil (1)
  • IN: Dead Man Rising (2006) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Quis fallere possit amantem?
    FROM: Aeneid, (-19), Poem, Rome
• Propertius (1)
  • IN: The Devil's Right Hand (2007) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Non satis est ullo, tempore longus amor.
    FROM: Elegy 1.19, (-29), Poem, Italy
• Caitlin Sommers (1)
  • IN: Saint City Sinners (2007) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: The rate of success for female bounty hunters, once one takes into account the statistical weighting of the X chromosome carrying psionic markers more often than the Y, is still two and a half times that of their male compatriots. More male psions go into bounty hunting, but female psions are better at it, bringing in their bounties quicker and with less destruction of lives and property. This is balanced by the fact that male psions are embarrassingly better than their female counterparts at assassination. There are very few female psions operating in the assassination trade. Morley's quip that perhaps they are better at keeping their identities from authorities need not be mentioned more than once. However, when comparing female assassins to male, one fact stands out with crystal clarity: the psionic females who do deal in assassination are by far the most thorough, tending to engage far less in messy «personal» kills (Datridenton, On Criminal Justice, pp. 1184–1206) in favor of getting the job done efficiently with whatever tool is best. This very thoroughness necessarily means they are higher-priced and far less likely to be indicted. What conclusion can we draw from this? Morley, tongue-in-cheek as usual, concludes, "It may be well for men, especially men married to psions, to speak softly to their wives and girlfriends." This researcher would submit differently: that we are indeed lucky, given how good psionic women tend to be at coldly planned bloodshed, that most appear uninterested in it…
    FROM: from Ethics and Gender Differences in the Psionic World, by Caitlin Sommers, Amadeus Hegemony Academy of Psionic Arts, (2007), Book, NULL
• Molière (1)
  • IN: Saint City Sinners (2007) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: A woman always has her revenge ready.
    FROM: Tartuffe, (1664), Play, France
• Friedrich Nietzsche (1)
  • IN: Saint City Sinners (2007) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: In revenge and in love woman is more barbarous than man.
    FROM: Beyond Good and Evil, (1886), Book, Germany
• William Shakespeare (1)
  • IN: To Hell and Back (2008) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: empt not a desperate man
    FROM: Romeo and Juliet, (1597), Play, UK
• Mark Twain (1)
  • IN: To Hell and Back (2008) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: I was a-trembling because I'd got to decide forever betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied for a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself, "All right, then, I'll go to hell.
    FROM: Huckleberry Finn, (1884), Novel, US
• Herman Melville (1)
  • IN: Heaven's Spite (2010) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: What like a bullet can undeceive!
    FROM: Shiloh, A Requiem, (1862), Poem, US
• John Mosier (1)
  • IN: Angel Town (2011) Fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: An army that continues to fight on regardless of the outcome must be considered a well-trained army, whether it is well led or not.
    FROM: The Blitzkrieg Myth, (2003), Book, US