Electricity,” Purva said, rolling the strange new word around in her mouth, giving it at once an Australian and a French inflection.”Sir William was playing around with it when we met, do you remember?” Jack...

We [artists] aren’t people, not the way most people are. We’re just…carriers. Little boats bringing goods from foreign lands.

You say great artists sell their souls for their art?””Maybe,” she ventured.”That’s true, I suppose. If you’re doing it right, anyway. I’ve probably sold mine. Jack’s certainly sold his. And you, I imagine.””I have not!”...

Do Engineers have stories, Jack?” he asked. “What?” Jack said, without moving.”Stories. Myths. Things to keep the boredom out on a long shift.””I think they play cards, mostly,” Jack answered. It was a lie, but...

Trains are beautiful. They take people to places they’ve never been, faster than they could ever go themselves. Everyone who works on trains knows they have personalities, they’re like people. They have their own mysteries.

You must live a very free life.””Me?” she laughed. “I am not who swoops out of the sky to rain fire on pirates!””Yeah, but before this I never did much. I mean I did a...

Life,” Graveworthy said, when he saw Jack was awake and staring at him, “is a series of desperate gambles and boxing matches for the wits, bookended on the one side by events in which one...

Do you always try to upset the world as much as possible?” Clare asked.He gave her a surprised look. “Of course. Otherwise how does anything change?

I mean it. Aside from the old coastal cities, which in Australia are still very young themselves, what you have is a vast stretch of wilderness, wholly natural, with all the horror that nature brings...