In AR, a falling tree makes no sound unless there is a witness to behold the event. Otherwise, it is only a changing pattern in a complex data-stream.

I knew at that point I was more than capable of loving Jack – I was meant to.

Colonel Graff: We won! That’s all that matters.Ender Wiggin: No. The way we win matters.

Science Fiction: Any scientific acclaim that omits God.

What?” The dread in her tone told Rob she knew what. “How much longer?””Thirty seconds.”She laughed with a panicked urgency. “I just tried to nod. I can’t feel my body, but I keep reaching for...

Well, it is generally considered— though not always true— that the wife of a man so honoured is likely also to be worthy of the honour, and so it is accorded her. In the event...

Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon – that’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth.Neo: What truth?Spoon boy: There is no spoon.

Despite centuries of English literature, the most famous split infinitive in all of history comes from Star Trek.

Of course, if we do find the Great Glom, we will see other gloms as well,” said Dottia. “I mean, he will not exist alone, will he? Mythic creatures like him are often spoken of...

Well, I hate to admit it, but it is possible that there is (one) such a thing as telepathy and (two) that the CETI project’s idea that we might communicate with extraterrestrial beings via telepathy...

Was he leaving home, or going home?

Verily, a man without fear is either dead or happy to die.

How typical of a machine to think it knows better.

Take a scientific fact or theory, add a futuristic or other-worldly setting, stir in an imaginative plot and fascinating characters, and a science fiction novel emerges from the cosmic mix.

How inappropriate to call this planet “Earth,” when it is clearly “Ocean.

I love him, and I love us together more than I love myself. I will do what you ask, but if,” Kara swallowed hard, “…if I lose him, I’ll join him in death.” Vena resisted...

They were more than partners, more than brothers; they were very nearly the same person.

Uh, what?

By focusing on the interior of a speaker’s larynx and using infrared, he was able to convert the visible vibrations of the vocal cords into sound of fair quality, but that did not satisfy him....

Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must be cantankerous and objectionable in order to be bright; that ego...

Reaching out, I grab his hand and intertwine my fingers with his. And I move into his space until we’re not even an inch from each other. Laying my forehead on his chest, I take...

It was just a colour out of space—a frightful messenger from unformed realms of infinity beyond all Nature as we know it; from realms whose mere existence stuns the brain and numbs us with the...

What you mons making all the racket about? You wake me again and I’ll put the voodoo hex on you. All you only call me Tuberculosis behind my back now. You want the real thing?”...

She felt a soft brush of lips against her forehead, heard the other woman murmur, “Sleep now, chére.”Chére, Hannah though. Cherished. It was a good thing to be. She wrapped the word around her and...

Don’t Panic

And like a good neighbor, Alpha Centauri is there.”Touched by an Alien

Truth is mighty and will prevail.

The mistakes we make when we are young are just as important to us as food or air. Without learning how to do things the wrong way, we can never learn how to do them...

God, she was beautiful. Hair a tangled mess, clothes torn, lips pale and swollen, skin streaked in dirt. And she was so damn beautiful and flawed and perfect.

Holy Jesus God, it’s the Gerps shootin’ us up!” the manager shouted. He hadn’t known whether to say Germans or Japs, and came out with both at once.

You’re a kid. I didn’t know we taught kids manners anymore.

The best sci-fi stories use the fantastical to remind us of the reality of who we are today, the hope of who we may become tomorrow, and the shame of who we were yesterday.

Bellamy had come down from scanning the heavens only to find himself in the depths of hell.

As far as I know, there’s nothing more dangerous than a man who doesn’t care if he lives or dies.

I was attracted to science fiction because it was so wide open. I was able to do anything and there were no walls to hem you in and there was no human condition that you...

Seconds ebb and wane. She’s not afraid of her voice anymore, but she’s not entirely sure she trusts it. She’s seen the damage caused with a single word. Right now, each one is a weapon,...

Sometimes it’s hard for me to understand that people can believe in me, that they can trust that I’ll be anything more than the sum of the skeletons in my closet. But I can be....

Rosewater was twice as smart as Billy, but he and Billy were dealing with similar crises in similar ways. They had both found life meaningless, partly because of what they had seen in war. Rosewater,...

When they would spar, Calic held nothing back, as if he possessed a deep rage clawing for release. He demonstrated a ferocity Sebastian had never seen the likes of. Sebastian had the same rage bubbling...

Humans would never tell the simple truth when a lie was available….

You hunt and catch your own food. Am I correct?””We are fierce predators of the night,” DeChevue said proudly.Edwin tried again, “You hunt and gather your own food?”DeChevue still didn’t get it. “Yes, M’sieur. We...

Survival is insufficient

Souls, Ms. Ellis, are for people who blame devils for their illness and praise angels for the cure. I do neither.

When I look back now, I realize what a trial I must have been to my friends and relatives. It was one frenzy after one elation after one enthusiasm after one hysteria after another. I...

Never own more than you can carry in both hands at a dead run.

And the Flatline aligned the nose of Kuang’s sting with the center of the dark below. And dove. Case’s sensory input warped with their velocity. His mouth filled with an aching taste of blue. His...

Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. We can’t talk about science, because our knowledge of it is limited and unofficial, and usually our fiction is dreadful.

I am Ubik. Before the universe was, I am. I made the suns. I made the worlds. I created the lives and the places they inhabit; I move them here, I put them there. They...

The difference between virtuality and life is very simple. In a construct you know everything is being run by an all-powerful machine.Reality doesn’t offer this assurance, so it’s very easy to develop the mistaken impression...

To the brave crew and passengers of the Kobayshi Maru…sucks to be you.