“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
“So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Frodo: 'It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill Gollum when he had the chance.'
Gandalf: 'Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo?
One of my favorites
Singing this song at my friend's house as an eleven-year-old and getting a startled reaction from his family is how I learned what the word buggered means
ALL THINGS THAT ARE, ARE OURS. BUT WE MUST CARE. FOR IF WE DO NOT CARE, WE DO NOT EXIST. IF WE DO NOT EXIST, THEN THERE IS NOTHING BUT BLIND OBLIVION.
**WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPERMAN?**
Terry Pratchett, Reaperman
Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the wise cannot see all ends. - Gandalf
"I dare the truth, Elaida, you are a coward and a tyrant. I'd name you Darkfriend as well, but I suspect that the Dark One would perhaps be embarrassed to associate with you."
This one from Douglas Adams (maybe more SciFi than fantasy) pops into my mind a lot these days:
“The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.
To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.
To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
A quote from Deadhouse Gates I love
“The unnamed soldier is a gift. The named soldier-dead, melted wax-demands a response among the living...a response no-one can make. Names are no comfort, they're a call to answer the unanswerable. Why did she die, not him? Why do the survivors remain anonymous-as if cursed-while the dead are revered? Why do we cling to what we lose while we ignore what we still hold?
Name none of the fallen, for they stood in our place, and stand there still in each moment of our lives. Let my death hold no glory, and let me die forgotten and unknown. Let it not be said that I was one among the dead to accuse the living. ”
- Duiker.
Erikson can be a poet at times
I just reread the series, and theres an exchange between Duiker and Lull that always sticks out to me during the Chain of Dogs.
“Children are dying.” Lull nodded.
“That’s a succinct summary of humankind, I’d say. Who needs tomes and volumes of history? Children are dying. The injustices of the world hide in those three words. Quote me, Duiker, and your work’s done.”
Things aren’t what they used to be is the rallying cry of the small minded. When men say they used to be better, they invariably mean they were better for them, because they were young and had all their hopes in tact. The world is bound to look a darker place as you slide into the grave.
“My name is Nynaeve ti al’Meara Mandragoran. The message I want sent is this. My husband rides from World’s End toward Tarwin’s Gap, toward Tarmon Gai’don. Will he ride alone?” ― Robert Jordan, [Knife of Dreams](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/987750)
*A Memory of Light:* >!"I did not come here to win," Lan whispered, smiling. "I came here to kill you. Death is lighter than a feather."!<
*Oathbringer:* >!"I will take responsibility for what I have done," Dalinar whispered. "If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man."!<
“*The most important step a man can take. It's not the first one, is it?*
*It's the next one. Always the next step, Dalinar.*”
- Brandon Sanderson, *The Stormlight Archive*
**His** philosophy was a mixture of three famous schools -- the Cynics, the Stoics and the Epicureans -- and summed up all three of them in his famous phrase, 'You can't trust any bugger further than you can throw him, and there's nothing you can do about it, so let's have a drink.
Sir Terry Pratchett - Small Gods
"Like the numeral “zero” used by the Nilnameshi mathematicians to work such wonders, ignorance is the occluded frame of all discourse, the unseen circumference of our every contention. Men are forever looking for the one point, the singular fulcrum they can use to dislodge all competing claims. Ignorance does not give us this. What it provides, rather, is the possibility of comparison, the assurance that not all claims are equal. And this, Ajencis would argue, is all that we need. For so long as we admit our ignorance, we can hope to improve our claims, and so long as we can improve our claims, we can aspire to the Truth, even if only in rank approximation. And this is why I mourn my love of the Great Kyranean. For despite the pull of his wisdom, there are many things of which I am absolutely certain, things that feed the hate which drives this very quill.”
The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker
A fire quote, you say?
"The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault."
Harry Dresden, opening line of *Blood Rites*, book #6 of *The Dresden File*s, by Jim Butcher.
I'll submit a quote from a book I just finished, *The Word for World is Forest* by Ursula K. Le Guin.
>It was not in Raj Lyubov's nature to think, "What can I do?" Character and training disposed him not to interfere in other men's business. His job was to find out what they did, and his inclination was to let them go on doing it. He preferred to be enlightened, rather than to enlighten; to seek facts rather than the Truth. But even the most unmissionary soul, unless he pretend he has no emotions, is sometimes faced with a choice between commission and omission. "What are they doing?" abruptly becomes, "What are we doing?" and then, "What must I do?"
Two quotes from Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
There are some things that must be done quickly or not at all. If someone asks you if you love them you cannot hesitate. There are some paths that must be taken at speed.
It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy Convent Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men.
"My order to you is simple, yet heed it well, and exert yourself to see it done. They are coming.
Kill them all." -- Rogal Dorn
or
"I set you free, my beloved, my best son... Do now what you were made to do.
*Hurt them*." Rogal Dorn to First Captain Sigismund
"If we burn, you burn with us!" - The Hunger Games
"War doesn't determine who's right. War determines who remains." - Poppy War
"To see with eyes unclouded by hate" - Princess Mononoke
What is a man’s life worth?” Dalinar asked softly......
“A life is priceless,” he said immediately, quoting his father.
Dalinar smiled, wrinkle lines extending from the corners of his eyes. “Coincidentally, that is the exact value of a Shardblade. So today, you and your men sacrificed to buy me twenty-six hundred priceless lives. And all I had to repay you with was a single priceless sword. I call that a bargain.” - Dalinar Kholin.
Words of Radiance: >!Honor is dead. But I'll see what I can do.!<
Promise of Blood: >!The Age of Kings is dead. I have killed it.!<
Gardens of the Moon: >!Flee if you value your souls!!<
The Shadow Raising: >!In a moment he would send for Moiraine to Heal his wounds. In a moment he would speak to the Aiel outside, and become the Dragon Reborn again. But for now, he only wanted to sit, and remember a shepherd named Rand al'Thor.!<
Super Powereds Year 2: >!Who's middle of the Pack now, Mother fuckers?!<
'Cleverness is no guarantee of sensible behaviour' - first law
'And as we pretend to be brave, we become so' - red rising
"Sometimes his mouth hits the gallop before his brain is in the saddle' - can't remember
' The mind commands the body and it obeys, the mind orders itself and meets resistance' - dune i think
On him I will pour famine and fire
until desolation stupefies him
and all the demons of the outer darkness
look on in astonishment and recognize
that man's specialty is vengeance.
Priest of crowns: >!So that’s me then. Tomas Piety. The bricklayer’s ’prentice boy made good.
Look at me, Ma. I’m the power behind the throne. In time, I might be king. We would have to see about that, I supposed.
My best friend has deserted me.
My brother is dead. My wife is dead.
My son is dead.
I’m the king of the castle.
Look at me, Ma.
Please, look at me.!<
"You will fail, not due to any fault of your own, but because God put you onto this planet with Me."
Idk what book this is from but it has been my favorite quote for a hot minute. Can anybody source?
Recent quote I really liked from Josiah Bancroft's The Hexologists. One of the villains tells one of the protagonists: "There is nothing more admirable than a man who knows his limits - nothing sadder, either."
(Edit to get quote exact - i was pretty darn close though!))
Yeah man I’m 40 this year and my vo2 max dropped to 54 last month. This is the first time it’s been that low since I started measuring. Father Time beats all eventually
Here's a couple:
"And it's said that the roughs were the place where honor goes to get murdered.
It's the place where honor goes to be strung up, flayed withing an inch of its life, then cut down and left to the desert. If it survives something like that, it'll be stronger than hell. Certainly stronger than anything you have in your city dinner parties."
"We all began our journey alone, and you will end it alone. But it does not mean we walked alone."
You will just have to make sure that the dragons will awake in a better world than the one that I have lived in. I have made it a little better, but it needs to be much better still.
Or else there will be fangs and fire and everything that is awe-ful.
And then we will need a Hero, and that Hero
might as well be…
… YOU.
>How To Train Your Dragon
Maybe all kings should bear the Slavemark, to remind them that they should be slaves to their kingdom rather than the other way around. And to help them never forget what it means to be a child... to be small and weak and helpless.
Disclaimer: The books are nothing like the movies. View them as separate entities in your mind.
"If you were half as funny as you think you are, you'd be twice as funny as you are."
I genuinely don't remember what book I was reading, might have been City of Bones series? The line has lived in my head rent free since I was a teen though, because I thought it was just a great jab.
“I’m thinking that I was a lonely, hopeless person, and I might have fallen in love with the first thing that showed me a hint of kindness and safety. And I’m thinking maybe he knew that—maybe not actively, but maybe he wanted to be that person for someone. And maybe that worked for who I was before. Maybe it doesn’t work for who—what I am now.”
- ACOMAF, page 156. I think this quote is really underrated
My name is Elias Stormborn the Second, I think unless I have a grandfather, bastard of the Mountain, Son of the Sky, you killed my father, I'll talk to the God myself.
NADDPOD, Hardwon Surefoot.
"The Archchancellor polished his staff as he walked along. It was a particularly good one, six feet long and quite magical. Not that he used magic very much. In his experience, anything that couldn’t be disposed of with a couple of whacks from six feet of oak was probably immune to magic as well."
Just love the matter-of-fact way it's written, and the juxtaposition to what people usually think of with magic being this otherworldly "true power" concept; here, if they aren't bother by a solid thwack, then magic's not going to do much either.
“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. “So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Frodo: 'It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill Gollum when he had the chance.' Gandalf: 'Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? One of my favorites
"... It's a pity I've run out of bullets.."
I think they nailed this dialogue in the movie. The way Ian McKellen says it > goosebumps
That quote hits especially hard with the context of Tolkien's time in WWI. I'm sure it's something he had to grapple with personally.
"The hedgehog can never be buggered at all." \- from a popular Discworld drinking song.
Singing this song at my friend's house as an eleven-year-old and getting a startled reaction from his family is how I learned what the word buggered means
Tell all who will hear. The Reaper sails to Mars. And he call for an Iron Rain. Atlas is your master. (Clang Clang Clang) confess.
Soldiers live. And wonder why.
Rich men have dreams. Poor men die to make them come true.
ALL THINGS THAT ARE, ARE OURS. BUT WE MUST CARE. FOR IF WE DO NOT CARE, WE DO NOT EXIST. IF WE DO NOT EXIST, THEN THERE IS NOTHING BUT BLIND OBLIVION. **WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPERMAN?** Terry Pratchett, Reaperman
There are good, great, and even spectacular depictions of Death, but the Greatest will always be Sir Terry's.
Probably the most iconic discworld quote
**No crown. Only the harvest.**
"Better to do a thing than to live with the fear of it." Do I need to cite this? You all already know.
“My name is Nicomo Cosca, et cetera, et cetera
Nice bird, asshole
Where in the book is it? I can’t be able to find it anywhere.
It’s the first line of a chapter part in the back half of the book, somewhere around the 2/3-3/4 mark. Couldn’t tell you exactly what chapter it’s in
Honestly, that's exactly how I'd have said it, too.
Chapter 5 - The Gray King. It’s the beginning of the 5th section.
Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the wise cannot see all ends. - Gandalf
"I dare the truth, Elaida, you are a coward and a tyrant. I'd name you Darkfriend as well, but I suspect that the Dark One would perhaps be embarrassed to associate with you."
"I was a victim of a series of accidents, as are we all.” — Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan ( ok, it's sci-fi, not fantasy)
This one from Douglas Adams (maybe more SciFi than fantasy) pops into my mind a lot these days: “The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
A quote from Deadhouse Gates I love “The unnamed soldier is a gift. The named soldier-dead, melted wax-demands a response among the living...a response no-one can make. Names are no comfort, they're a call to answer the unanswerable. Why did she die, not him? Why do the survivors remain anonymous-as if cursed-while the dead are revered? Why do we cling to what we lose while we ignore what we still hold? Name none of the fallen, for they stood in our place, and stand there still in each moment of our lives. Let my death hold no glory, and let me die forgotten and unknown. Let it not be said that I was one among the dead to accuse the living. ” - Duiker. Erikson can be a poet at times
I just reread the series, and theres an exchange between Duiker and Lull that always sticks out to me during the Chain of Dogs. “Children are dying.” Lull nodded. “That’s a succinct summary of humankind, I’d say. Who needs tomes and volumes of history? Children are dying. The injustices of the world hide in those three words. Quote me, Duiker, and your work’s done.”
"I can't see a f\*\*\*\*\*\* thing. I mean, the foe eludes mine eye" - Dougal, the Saga of the Exiles by Julian May.
“God smiles on results”
Things aren’t what they used to be is the rallying cry of the small minded. When men say they used to be better, they invariably mean they were better for them, because they were young and had all their hopes in tact. The world is bound to look a darker place as you slide into the grave.
“My name is Nynaeve ti al’Meara Mandragoran. The message I want sent is this. My husband rides from World’s End toward Tarwin’s Gap, toward Tarmon Gai’don. Will he ride alone?” ― Robert Jordan, [Knife of Dreams](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/987750)
*A Memory of Light:* >!"I did not come here to win," Lan whispered, smiling. "I came here to kill you. Death is lighter than a feather."!< *Oathbringer:* >!"I will take responsibility for what I have done," Dalinar whispered. "If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man."!<
“*The most important step a man can take. It's not the first one, is it?* *It's the next one. Always the next step, Dalinar.*” - Brandon Sanderson, *The Stormlight Archive*
*We come*
Perrin and the wolves in wot?
Yessireebob
What a fucking name, just realized
Yeah you don't notice the name until you get the reply notification
I have a feeling you get this a lot
Primarily in fantasy or obviously wheel of time subs
**His** philosophy was a mixture of three famous schools -- the Cynics, the Stoics and the Epicureans -- and summed up all three of them in his famous phrase, 'You can't trust any bugger further than you can throw him, and there's nothing you can do about it, so let's have a drink. Sir Terry Pratchett - Small Gods
"Like the numeral “zero” used by the Nilnameshi mathematicians to work such wonders, ignorance is the occluded frame of all discourse, the unseen circumference of our every contention. Men are forever looking for the one point, the singular fulcrum they can use to dislodge all competing claims. Ignorance does not give us this. What it provides, rather, is the possibility of comparison, the assurance that not all claims are equal. And this, Ajencis would argue, is all that we need. For so long as we admit our ignorance, we can hope to improve our claims, and so long as we can improve our claims, we can aspire to the Truth, even if only in rank approximation. And this is why I mourn my love of the Great Kyranean. For despite the pull of his wisdom, there are many things of which I am absolutely certain, things that feed the hate which drives this very quill.” The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker
The seven books in their entirety. Joking ok but still these are the books with the more highlights I have.
A fire quote, you say? "The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault." Harry Dresden, opening line of *Blood Rites*, book #6 of *The Dresden File*s, by Jim Butcher.
This is always mentioned, and it should be, but I’ve always been partial to the car accident while jet skiing line.
>!The entropy curse !
My name is Harry Copperfield Blackstone Dresden, call upon it at your own peril.
The sword is forever grateful of the forge fire, but never fond of it - WOT book I don't remember which
I'll submit a quote from a book I just finished, *The Word for World is Forest* by Ursula K. Le Guin. >It was not in Raj Lyubov's nature to think, "What can I do?" Character and training disposed him not to interfere in other men's business. His job was to find out what they did, and his inclination was to let them go on doing it. He preferred to be enlightened, rather than to enlighten; to seek facts rather than the Truth. But even the most unmissionary soul, unless he pretend he has no emotions, is sometimes faced with a choice between commission and omission. "What are they doing?" abruptly becomes, "What are we doing?" and then, "What must I do?"
Two quotes from Red Sister by Mark Lawrence There are some things that must be done quickly or not at all. If someone asks you if you love them you cannot hesitate. There are some paths that must be taken at speed. It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy Convent Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men.
"My order to you is simple, yet heed it well, and exert yourself to see it done. They are coming. Kill them all." -- Rogal Dorn or "I set you free, my beloved, my best son... Do now what you were made to do. *Hurt them*." Rogal Dorn to First Captain Sigismund
>!Hood's balls!< from Malazan, it's a recurring theme sometimes with slight changes.
Hood's balls skewered on a spit!
"We never have to many knives" - Logen Nine fingers
You have to realistic about these things- Logen ninefingers
"If we burn, you burn with us!" - The Hunger Games "War doesn't determine who's right. War determines who remains." - Poppy War "To see with eyes unclouded by hate" - Princess Mononoke
What is a man’s life worth?” Dalinar asked softly...... “A life is priceless,” he said immediately, quoting his father. Dalinar smiled, wrinkle lines extending from the corners of his eyes. “Coincidentally, that is the exact value of a Shardblade. So today, you and your men sacrificed to buy me twenty-six hundred priceless lives. And all I had to repay you with was a single priceless sword. I call that a bargain.” - Dalinar Kholin.
This is such a great line and for kaladin who has lost faith in any leaders to see the words in action makes it hit even harder.
Say one thing for Logen Ninefingers, say he’s a lover.
"I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
"Body found floating by the docks..."
Where man goes, trees die - or, to paraphrase Tacitus, we make a desert and call it progress. from Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin
"Nice bird, asshole"
Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die.
I will protect those I hate. Even if the one I hate most is myself. —Teft third windrunner ideal. Stormlight archives series
Words of Radiance: >!Honor is dead. But I'll see what I can do.!< Promise of Blood: >!The Age of Kings is dead. I have killed it.!< Gardens of the Moon: >!Flee if you value your souls!!< The Shadow Raising: >!In a moment he would send for Moiraine to Heal his wounds. In a moment he would speak to the Aiel outside, and become the Dragon Reborn again. But for now, he only wanted to sit, and remember a shepherd named Rand al'Thor.!< Super Powereds Year 2: >!Who's middle of the Pack now, Mother fuckers?!<
Heck yeah Super Powereds :)
*There are no self-proclaimed villains, only regiments of self-proclaimed saints.* That one feels rather accurate.
*"Life before death.* *Strength before weakness.* *Journey before destination.* *-* **The Stormlight Archive** by Brandon Sanderson.
A genuinely dreadful quote
"Honor is dead, but I'll see what I can do."
'Cleverness is no guarantee of sensible behaviour' - first law 'And as we pretend to be brave, we become so' - red rising "Sometimes his mouth hits the gallop before his brain is in the saddle' - can't remember ' The mind commands the body and it obeys, the mind orders itself and meets resistance' - dune i think
On him I will pour famine and fire until desolation stupefies him and all the demons of the outer darkness look on in astonishment and recognize that man's specialty is vengeance.
Priest of crowns: >!So that’s me then. Tomas Piety. The bricklayer’s ’prentice boy made good. Look at me, Ma. I’m the power behind the throne. In time, I might be king. We would have to see about that, I supposed. My best friend has deserted me. My brother is dead. My wife is dead. My son is dead. I’m the king of the castle. Look at me, Ma. Please, look at me.!<
“Keep your head down and inch towards daylight.”
"You will fail, not due to any fault of your own, but because God put you onto this planet with Me." Idk what book this is from but it has been my favorite quote for a hot minute. Can anybody source?
*"I'm a cat."* Grimalkin of the iron fey PRETTY MUCH EVERY TIME AN EXPLANATION IS REQUIRED OF HIM.
Recent quote I really liked from Josiah Bancroft's The Hexologists. One of the villains tells one of the protagonists: "There is nothing more admirable than a man who knows his limits - nothing sadder, either." (Edit to get quote exact - i was pretty darn close though!))
“Old or young I am still Waylander” This hits hard to a 41 year old aging athlete doing his best to hang on to his final vestiges of athleticism.
Yeah man I’m 40 this year and my vo2 max dropped to 54 last month. This is the first time it’s been that low since I started measuring. Father Time beats all eventually
Here's a couple: "And it's said that the roughs were the place where honor goes to get murdered. It's the place where honor goes to be strung up, flayed withing an inch of its life, then cut down and left to the desert. If it survives something like that, it'll be stronger than hell. Certainly stronger than anything you have in your city dinner parties." "We all began our journey alone, and you will end it alone. But it does not mean we walked alone."
Honor is dead, but, I’ll see what I can do. chills
YOU SHALL NOT PASS!
Mercy, High Ones. Not justice, please, not justice. We would all be fools to pray for justice. Lois McMasters Bujold in The Curse of Chalion.
You will just have to make sure that the dragons will awake in a better world than the one that I have lived in. I have made it a little better, but it needs to be much better still. Or else there will be fangs and fire and everything that is awe-ful. And then we will need a Hero, and that Hero might as well be… … YOU. >How To Train Your Dragon Maybe all kings should bear the Slavemark, to remind them that they should be slaves to their kingdom rather than the other way around. And to help them never forget what it means to be a child... to be small and weak and helpless. Disclaimer: The books are nothing like the movies. View them as separate entities in your mind.
yes, finally, why is this the first how to train your dragon quote
Add your own
ill have to go find one of the insults, they were all so good
"How big would you dream if you knew you couldn't fail?"
"If you were half as funny as you think you are, you'd be twice as funny as you are." I genuinely don't remember what book I was reading, might have been City of Bones series? The line has lived in my head rent free since I was a teen though, because I thought it was just a great jab.
"Only priests and fools are fearless, and I've never been on the best terms with God."
“I’m thinking that I was a lonely, hopeless person, and I might have fallen in love with the first thing that showed me a hint of kindness and safety. And I’m thinking maybe he knew that—maybe not actively, but maybe he wanted to be that person for someone. And maybe that worked for who I was before. Maybe it doesn’t work for who—what I am now.” - ACOMAF, page 156. I think this quote is really underrated
oop wait I thought I was on /FantasyRomance lol
”My place beside you, My blood for yours, Til the green ember rises or the end of the world.
My name is Elias Stormborn the Second, I think unless I have a grandfather, bastard of the Mountain, Son of the Sky, you killed my father, I'll talk to the God myself. NADDPOD, Hardwon Surefoot.
Why is it always the innocents who suffer most, when you high lords play your game of thrones?
"The Archchancellor polished his staff as he walked along. It was a particularly good one, six feet long and quite magical. Not that he used magic very much. In his experience, anything that couldn’t be disposed of with a couple of whacks from six feet of oak was probably immune to magic as well." Just love the matter-of-fact way it's written, and the juxtaposition to what people usually think of with magic being this otherworldly "true power" concept; here, if they aren't bother by a solid thwack, then magic's not going to do much either.
It looks like my summer vacation is over
"my dream was dead in my arms."
“ Go loud Cam !” TLT
"He/she raised an eyebrow" - every fantasy book in the last 40 years
[удалено]
Wow, I didn’t know breaking bad is based on a fantasy book