Occam’s razor theory of combat: The simplest way of kicking someone’s ass was usually the correct one.
It’s not a bad idea. It’s a terrible idea, Oi said. It just has the advantage of being better than the other option.
In other words, crew deaths are a feature, not a bug, Cassaway said, dryly.
I have to tell him that the sheep we’re looking for is a woman who runs a pet store, Creek said. I think telling him his younger brother’s been resurrected as a computer program might be a little much...
I don’t know Mr. Wilson to any degree—I am one of those who knew him best for creating the source material for Life Force, which was a terrible movie—but my wish for him was that he lived the sort of...
I didn’t mind getting old when I was young, either, I said. It’s the being old now that’s getting to me.
Hey, you know what, basing an entire system of social, political and economic control on the vague, all-too-easily misinterpreted words of a single person claiming divine inspiration is probably not a...
Did she tell you I set puppies on fire, too? Vann asked. She did not, I said. It may have been implied.
What was your job back on Earth? I’ve always been curious. I taught eighth-grade math in Tallahassee. Huh, I said. That’s not what I expected. Are you kidding? Powell said back. You try teaching algeb...
What if I told you that that which makes you fundamentally human is something that you share with another people, a people so different from you that they might appear strange or frightening at first...
Well, that's science fiction television for you, though, Abnett said. Someone's got to be the red shirt.
Well, I’m sorry you might possibly be out a bit of money, Jack, Isabel said. Jesus, Isabel, Holloway said. He opened the door. A bit of money? Try at least a couple billion credits. That’s billion, wi...
This is the last time I would ever visit the cemetery or my wife's grave, but I didn't want to expend too much effort in trying to remember it. As I said, this is the place where she's never been anyt...
The supply transport’s on autopilot most of the way down anyway. I’m just on board so that if it crashes, they can say someone died.
Some planets evolved genetic structures roughly similar to Earth’s, incorporating some if not all the nucleotides involved in terrestrial genetics (perhaps not coincidentally, the intelligent species...
Okay, that's interesting, Duvall said. So you're a priest of the Forshan religion? Which schism?The leftward schism, and no, not a priest.Couldn't handle the celibacy?Leftward priests aren't required...
Now, you may think that this is some sort of generalized hatred that I will carry for the lot of you. Let me assure you that this is not the case. Each of you will fail, but you will fail in your own...
Look, he said. We’d like you to return the salary. Oh, is that all? I said. Heck. That’s easy. The answer is no. What? No. No? What part of that two-letter word don’t you understand, Brad? I asked. Wa...
It’s hard to sell the official story to people who can see things for themselves.
Because every time I think of starships skipping across the galaxy, I imagine Albert Einstein in a policeman’s uniform, writing up a ticket.