In Liam’s Wake: The Makeshift Soldier
(Toys & Soldiers Series) By Ashlyn Forge
For eight
years, Liam has been trapped underground in The Colony—a sanctuary so
determined to stay hidden it forbids anyone from leaving once they’ve entered.
His only hope of returning home rests on his best friend Riley who, on the eve
of their escape, slipped into a coma.
Despite
staggering debt, vengeful mutants and bounty hunters, Liam continues a
seemingly never-ending quest for a cure to end Riley’s unnatural five-year
sleep. Every night, Liam stares at the listless man who not only holds his
escape, but his heart. The suffering can end, however; Liam must only forsake
all hope of ever returning home again, abandon Riley to his fate, and
wholeheartedly serve as a soldier for The Colony—the very people he’s trying to
escape.
Live the
life within his reach, or continue chasing the one just beyond his grasp? He
need only submit.
In Liam’s Wake by
Ashlyn Forge – Selected Quotes
In the large
hall crowded with people in black, Liam stood out in gray. That’s how he felt:
like a phony among genuine hopefuls. He was anxious to get this charade over
with.
“I…I ain’t trying to kill myself.” Liam swallowed hard, his throat tightening.
“If—if you’re here for that.”
“All gambling is a secret wish for destruction. Every day you step into the
ring, knowing you might not get out. You take a risk.”
“Life is a struggle. It’s just as hard as, if not harder than, the blood sports
you participate in. If you really want to tempt fate, you should try actually
playing the cards you’ve been dealt for once.”
“He’s the worst one. He wants to get outta here so badly he’d roll anyone under
the bus to do it. And he’s never the one who gets hurt—it’s just everybody else
around him. And he tells me he’s not into guys, and I believed him, but that
was a fucking lie too.” (Riley about Liam)
“Liam? Normal and rational aren’t two words I’d use for him, ever.”
“From the very beginning, you’ve been trying to undo something you can’t. It’s
what you always do. It’s what you always did. You’d walk around with your head
in the clouds, dreaming of something more than what you’ve got in your hands,
when what you have is so fucking good already. This isn’t what I want for you.
What I feel for you is so strong, but I can’t waste any more time, and you
shouldn’t either. “ – Riley.
“Every read from [Liam] says he doesn’t want to hurt anyone; his emotions say
it, his thoughts say it.”
“So why did you find yourself at knifepoint...? Because that’s the thing about
people like him—they really believe that what they’re doing is good and right.
They never set out to hurt anyone.”
“I think it
must be luck. You should be in the grave ten times over. You live on the edge
in hopes of one day falling off, yet you continue to thrive. Rather than faith,
isn’t that just dumb luck?”
“Lissten Outssider, we imps love prey that’ss riddled with pain. And you are
that. You are one who doesn’t ssttand sstill and wait for the reeaper to take
your head. You beckon deatthh, you tauntt it to come. That tthinking is a
ssicknesss, and it hass brought you to the doorsstep of an imp...”
Ashlyn Forge Bio
Ashlyn Forge spends most of her days self-editing, writing,
and editing. Her love of storytelling, and the imagination in general, has put
her in an on-and-off relationship with Writing for a number of years. She is particularly
drawn to anything resulting in blurred lines between magic and science, as is
evident in the surreal world of her Toys and Soldiers series. Her literary
ambition in life is to see one, if not all, volumes of the Toys and Soldiers
Series tucked neatly under everyone’s pillow. If it were not for the discordant
jumble of ideas clamoring for attention in her head, she would also take up
crocheting.
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