It was also time to elect the president and VP of the OASIS User Council, but that was a no-brainer. Like most gunters, I voted to reelect Cory Doctorow and Wil Wheaton (again). There were...

I knew that feeling, the sense of panic that stretched time, turning seconds into years, and the deep pain that came from being hurt by not one person but many, a gang of bullies that...

Issib wasn’t thrilled to see him. I’m busy and don’t need interruptions.” “This is the household library,” said Nafai. “This is where we always come to do research.” “See? You’re interrupting already.” “Look, I didn’t...

Three lights should be fine.” – Zachary”Aye, well if it wis me, I’d want a bloody lighthoose beacon comin’ oot o’ my arse.” – True MacDonald

Gaia giveth even as she taketh away.The warming of the global climate over the past century had melted permafrost and glaciers, shifted rainfall patterns, altered animal migratory routes, disrupted agriculture, drowned cities, and similarly necessitated...

He grumbles incoherently, opens the window a fraction and continues to smoke away. It’s like every time Sidney Drake enters a new location he has to readjust the atmosphere, akin to one of those sci-fi...

May the scribes record it.

From the first she showed a curious sensitivity to what, I suppose, may be called the ‘influences’ of the place. She said it ‘smelled’ of ghosts and warlocks.

There are more riddles in a stone than in a philosopher’s head

Mírame, princesa – pidió Ravn, sin dejar de mirarla-. Mira cómo te tomo por completo.Ella obedeció sin rechistar. Clavó sus zafiros ojos en él y sonrió. Sonrió como nunca antes lo había hecho, y Ravn...

What song would lull a snake into submission? “John Mayer?””Over my dead body.””Could be, Tim, could be.

The way you blunder from one catastrophe to the next, it’s a wonder the whole galaxy doesn’t hate you.The galaxy is a big place, General. You provincial military types don’t get far enough out to...

Just my luck: My bloodthirsty killing machine was better with both kids and women than I was.

We have a hostage to pay ransom for in the morning so we can use him as ransom when we meet other kidnappers in the afternoon.

Thing is, I am not a big fan of hovers. I firmly believe that if man was meant to fly we’d have feathers, rubber bones, or better insurance coverage.

Tiago had heard of what some called the ‘human database’ or ‘omnilogos’, but nothing could have prepared him for this.

Life involves a lot of unknowns.

Forever…” The last syllable stretches, just like my grandfather’s dying breath.And the beady, black orbs are no longer eyes but deep, obsidian pits…

We take off into the cosmos, ready for anything: for solitude, for hardship, for exhaustion, death. Modesty forbids us to say so, but there are times when we think pretty well of ourselves. And yet,...

The day I die, I’ll be too busy thinking to notice” he waved his hand as he left the ship. – Nelson Moon, shipwright and designer of the Altered Moon. Current location: Cantankerous Base, Planet...

Everything was so much sharper without the Link fogging me–sights, sounds, smells. It was exhilarating and shocking and terrifying. I knew my emotions had grown too strong. They were dangerous to the Community. They were...

Jaren found that, in doing balancing exercises, he could shut out not only the anxiety he felt but also the whisperings of the magic. The more he practiced, the better he could insulate himself from...

Thus, we must realize that October 21, 2011 will be the final day of this earth’s existence.

My fingers find his. They are warm, pulsing with genetically altered blue blood, powered by mirror matter.

An old adage warns: If you don’t know your history, you will be forever condemned to repeat it. Likewise, if you don’t know your science fiction, and heed its warnings, you could condemn the Earth...

Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.

No, that is meant to inform you. I am your computer not your nanny.

Our universe might have slid into equilibrium emitting nothing more than a quiet hiss. The fact that it spawned such plenitude is a miracle, one that is matched only by your universe giving rise to...

How did I get where I am.” If your answer is anything but dumb luck then you are sadly deluding yourself.

I see you have returned, my love; and your mood is as dark as ever. Did your soldiers not adore you to your complete satisfaction?

Brother, when you’ve been here as long as I have, you’ll come to discover there are only one or two essential things worth living for. Unique to you and you alone. My honor is one...

The sea in all its vastness is its own, real world. Man is nature’s sci-fi.

A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam.

Why do I feel like this is our destiny. There must be a reason why we have become our characters.

Just like life, reality shifted and twisted out of her grasp [Elena’s view on Gran Sasso]

Falling apart wasn’t an option.

My mind, my logical, practical, reasoning mind, is peeing in his mind pants.

An older, inebriated Scot who looked like he’d been sitting on his barstool all day looked me up and down, then smelled the air. “Heh, neebr, goat a deid an’mal in yer bac’pac, or iz...

A science fiction story is a story built around human beings, with a human problem and a human solution, which would not have happened at all without its scientific content.

The light is the left hand of darkness

May it be written. May it be done.

In accordance with the terms of the Clarke-Asimov treaty, the second-bestscience writer dedicates this book to the second-best science-fictionwriter.[dedication to Isaac Asimov from Arthur C. Clarke in his book Report on Planet Three]

A leader doesn’t make pawns – he makes people.

The lights were off so that his heads could avoid looking at each other because neither of them was currently a particular engaging sight, nor had they been since he had made the error of...

You ever flown something before?” (Christopher)”I hold the highest score at A.S.U. for Star Wars: Starfighter.” (Kitty)”I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I’m going to regret this.” (Christopher)

Kevyn, I’m promoting you from Tech Sergeant to Munitions Commander. I want you to take responsibility for all Company weapons.Munitions Commander? Why me?I don’t know. Call it “suspicion of extreme competence” on my part.-Captain Tagon...

The dentist swiveled on his heels and disappeared, leaving me there to massage my jaw back into feeling after its brief, masochistic marriage to the top of my wooden desk.

These guys we’re meeting? They’re dead. Saji has had things done to people who crossed him or whom he has perceived as crossing him. Ugly things. These guys we’re meeting? They think they’re tough. They...

So, what you’re basically telling me is death is boring but no worse than hanging out with family.

I don’t really know who I am , and I don’t know when to stop, so if I see a great big threatening button that should never ever be touched I just want to do...