#0063: Return from Luna, by D. S. Halacy, Jr.

[orbitaldiamonds]

Return from Luna
by D. S. Halacy, Jr.

p.6 There was bitter irony in thanking a man for kicking the props out from under him!

p.13 He was a lean, crew-cut flier turned scientist who must have starred on the football field in college, Rob thought. You could spot an athlete from his stride and movements.

p.14 But wouldn't it be wonderful if all our efforts could be directed towards benefits and not destruction?

p.29 "Door coming open!" said the voice in the speaker, and slowly the entryway slid back, revealing the surface of the moon. Rob caught his breath at the sight--like silvery beach sand in the illumination of the moon low in the horizon, he thought, and then caught himself. Not the moon, the Earth! He gaped like an infant at a sight he was seeing for the first time in his eighteen years--Mother Earth riding in the lunar sky, a huge blue-green ball swathed in filmy white.

p.30-31 Jumping on the moon, Rob knew, was the mark of the newcomer. But he didn't let that stop him. With a mighty vertical push-off, he vaulted higher than Munson's head in a leap that brought a cry of pleased surprise from him. So what if you couldn't walk easily? You could leap as if you were wearing seven-league boots! He came down with jolt that surprised him until he remembered something Carpenter had told him. Although weight is slow, inertia is still with you on the moon. If you jump with all your might you land as hard as you would when jumping with all your might on Earth. So it wasn't as dreamy as he had expected, at least not the landing part of it. But that didn't stop him from leaping again like an intoxicated pogo stick. And when he looked back, there was Professor Munson right behind him!
     The two of them met the welcoming committee halfway between the base and the newly arrived craft. The man in the lead stuck out a hand in greeting and his smile was broad.
     "You must be Professor Munson," he said. "And don't feel apologetic, we're all frustrated ballet dancers at heart, I believe."

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#0064: Meredith Gentry Series #1: A Kiss of Shadows, by Laurell K. Hamilton

[orbitaldiamonds]

Meredith Gentry Series #1: A Kiss of Shadows
by Laurell K. Hamilton
p.6 I stared at him, and finally understood. "You know we should walk away from this one, but you can't bring yourself to pass judgment on them. You can't bring yourself to condemn them to death."
     He nodded. "Yes."
     "What makes you think that I can do it, if you can't?"
     "I'm hoping one of us is sane enough not to be this stupid."
     "I won't get you all killed for the sake of strangers, Jeremy, so be prepared to walk away from this one." Even to me, my voice sounded thin, hard, cold.
     He smiled again. "That's my little cold-hearted bitch."

p.9-10 Some days I was better at it than this. Some days I was worse. I could have tried to get the measure of her psychically, to see if she had more than bone structure going for her, but it was impolite to read another person's magical ability at first introduction. Among the sidhe it's considered an open challenge, an insult that you don't believe that the other person can shield himself from your most casual magic. Naomi probably wouldn't have taken it as an insult, but her ignorance was no reason for me to be rude.

p.20 "If you're powerful enough, you can put a spell on an ad so that the ad brings you what you truly desire, not necessarily what the ad says you want. It's why I ran the ad that Ms. Gentry answered. Only people with magical ability would have noticed the spell on the ad, and only people with exceptional gifts would have been able to see through to the true writing underneath. The true writing listed a different phone number than the ad. I know that anyone who called that number was capable of the job."

p.26 For a building to be warded, not just an apartment, but a whole building, meant that the protective spells had to be put into the foundation of a building. The wards had to be poured with the concrete, riveted into place with steel beams. It took a coven of witches, or several covens. No single practitioner could do it. It was not a cheap process. Only the most expensive high-rises or homes could boast of it.

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