Novelists From The United States

"“And we know that Burnouts are prone to fighting; it’s just a matter of time before they attack us.” Channing had heard these reports a hundred times. He had tried to explain that they were inventing imaginary dangers because no real ones threatened."

"“Over most of human history science did a vastly better job of locating the truth—by burning down the alternatives—than did religion’s wild stabs in the dark. And eventually, thanks to science, there wasn’t much darkness left. And—to no great surprise—in the small patch of darkness where science had cornered truth, there wasn’t a single traditional religion left. “Yes, most religions claimed they fit in with modern science, but it was usually science that they were warping to fit their religion.”"

"“No, no, no,” Paul said, shaking his head “Occam’s razor. This is getting far too complicated. The simplest explanation is that”—he waved his hand up at the moon—“that God doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”"

"The truth is so simple, and yet I tremble as I put it into words. On a cosmological scale, the universe is symmetric in time. What we know as God is simply the collective consciousness traveling opposite to our temporal orientation. God’s realm is our unknowable future; everything that is real to Him remains only possibility to us. Ironically, the reverse is also true: The reality of our past remains unknown to God."

"I’m just saying it’s a possibility. Just because it’s complicated doesn’t mean it’s not true."

"In the face of crisis, I will choose unauthorized action over disastrous inaction."

"“It is in the nature of social creatures to crave approval and approbation, to build a temple out of what they have told themselves they are and must be.” Oduosslun stared at Riordan. “Reject that reflex. Reject the simplistic narrative. Reject the opiating allure of presuming you know your own destiny. Rather, embrace the ineluctable truth that you are not preordained saviors in the midst of a mythic cycle, any more than we were the guardians and guarantors of civilization. Like us, you are simply another species living out the consequences of what came before.”"

"“Whatever destiny we assign to ourselves also defines our doom. It is there, lurking, waiting, from the instantiation of sentience. It is the antipodal defect of the virtue we call ‘foresight.’”"

"Human, do you derive some strange pleasure by using different words to reiterate the same misperceptions?"

"When such leaders act in opposition to their sworn duties, they compound injustice with disgrace."

"“Aren’t you even going to wish me luck?” “We do not believe in luck, Caine Riordan. However, I wish enlightenment unto you. In every passing second.”"

"Whose tutelage led you into those fishless waters?"

"It was the oldest, most primal fear of humankind, inculcated by eons of brutal lessons which, titrated down into their purest form, became age’s invariable advice to youth: beware the things and places you do not know.Because out there, beyond the flickering ring of the tribal fire, on the unlit streets of concrete cities, in the unending depths of space—there lay an unquantifiable, unbounded potential for death."

"Worse yet, he still had to remind himself that sensations—such as tonight’s skin-cooling sea breeze—were just a blizzard of electric impulses, tricking his brain, his nerves. Which, he had begun to fear, might not just be the endgame for Dornaani civilization. It could be in humanity’s future as well. Conceivably, those seeds were latent in electricity itself. Given how it ultimately expanded each individual’s sphere of contact and control, its utility was inseparable from the allure of its power. We summon heat and light without having to create it ourselves. We communicate across continents and oceans. We operate machines that labor in our stead. We keep opponents at a safe distance with remote sensors and drones. Is that how the long, subtle slide into speciate senescence began, that the more a species distanced itself from direct action, the more unfamiliar the natural environment became?"

"Riordan almost smiled. “You sound like another historian I know.” “Historian?” She stiffened. “I am an observer. I do not claim to convey a unified story, just the pieces for which I have data.”"

"Riordan surveyed the scene again. Knowing that it could not be other than perfect made it seem less remarkable, much in the way a constructed vista in a theme park could never quite compare with a less perfect one discovered in nature. This was merely a technological achievement, and the price of its perpetual perfection was its inability to inspire a sense of grandeur."

"“Is Glamqoozht just a place name or does it mean something?” “It translates imperfectly as Council Hub.” Riordan was guardedly hopeful. “Sounds like it’s a place to get questions answered and decisions made.” Unless, of course, it was like human capitals."

"I guess that, living in a sanitized world, you’ve forgotten this basic lesson: if you want to stay free or stay alive, never play by your opponent’s rules. Particularly when your opponent is more powerful than you are. Do the unexpected. Turn on your pursuer. Attack the attacker."

"“I could offer considerable inducements. I can arrange for a new mate who is, in all meaningful measures, superior to the one you are currently pursuing. You look unimpressed. Ah, multiple mates, then? Within reason, I am quite certain I can procure—” Riordan was careful to keep his interruption calm. “I am not interested in other mates.” “Ah. Well. I am also able to provide you with material riches. I believe your species persists in its obsession with gold? To use your idiom, I would pay you handsomely for any successful breeding activity. Even if you do not wish to stay afterward.” Riordan forced his molars to unclench. Uinzleej moved on to his next offer. “What else—ah! Many of your species enjoy hunting. This world is full of creatures you may kill for your gratification.”"

"Stupid creatures tend to be stubborn creatures."

"Weiner-Kutkh waved airily. “I seem to have been born lucky.” “Said every cheater who’s ever lived,” Caine retorted."

"The reality, both now and historically, was that whatever the future held, change was always uneven in distribution and irregular in timing."

"And over the many months that followed, as Caine crept through both terrestrial and alien undergrowth on missions to reclaim some of the autonomy humanity had lost, he learned and relearned the prime lesson in common to all the shocks: That all assumptions, like all plans, or never more than a second away from a catastrophic collision with reality."

"“Damn it, Dad. You make me crazy.” “That’s part of my job as a parent. If I read the manual correctly.”"

"Your conjecture is reasonable but inaccurate."

"“Stosh, you are insane.” “I am inspired. They are frequently confused.”"

"And here are the wages you must pay in order to climb the political ladder, you foolish sod. You’ve got to do the dirty work that others have ordered. I’ve done it out of dubious patriotism. Let’s see if you’ll do it out of blind ambition."

"You are impetuous. But then again, you are human."

"No matter which images of battle and carnage came to haunt him, no matter which specific terror rose up through them, the lessons they rehearsed were always the same: There’s no such thing as certainty. Control is an illusion. Death and destruction descend the moment you forget to watch for them. That was what two years of intermittent war had taught him. And once you learned those lessons, you didn’t just remember them: you lived them, moment to moment."

"You gotta remember that in war, you’re not deciding between the bad thing to and the good thing. You’re choosing between the bad and the worse. And you can’t control the shit that happens after you choose."

"The total lack of information is a kind of information in itself."

"Sometimes, thinking just didn’t do any good, didn’t provide any answers. Because for some questions—such as the arbitrariness of life and death during wartime—there weren’t any answers."

"“You must remind yourself—hourly—that Caine Riordan is but one human. He is an aberration among them, a flicker of conscience that his own megacorporate kin would have extinguished if he had not run far and fast. Do not let his noble deed seduce you into thinking the rest of his race are capable of something similar….” “And Riordan himself. What do I tell him?” “Hu’urs Khraam looked at Darzhee Kut closely. “Tell him that his deed was noble and we are grateful for it. And, if you think he is ready to hear it, you should also tell him that we can already measure how much his deed will change the outcome of this war.” “Really? How much?” “Not at all.”"

"That means we have nothing to shoot at, no efficacious response. So we do something pointless. And we feel better."

"“Caine, neither of us has a choice in this matter. The orders must be obeyed. The full truth of what you found, of what your troops know and can testify to, is too destabilizing. It’s a delicate time, Caine. You, more than anyone else, should understand that.” “I do understand. I understand that the time has come to stop managing information and concealing the truth.”"

"“You are a traitor to your own race, servitor.” “No. I am its true servant, because the prerequisite of success is a ruthlessly clear understanding of reality, of the facts with which we must contend. Without that, all plans begin in error, and so, they must end in disaster.”"

"Zkhee’ah Drur the Elder had once observed that while one is yet alive to complain of misfortune, the greatest of all misfortunes has not yet occurred. But this turn of affairs seemed very close to disproving that ancient axiom."

"The only proper course of action regarding humanity was to leave it alone, and, if possible, isolate it. Just as one would handle any other sophont that was quite irremediably and dangerously insane."

"“You mean, control my instincts?” “No, most of your species can learn to do that. The true challenge is whether you can control your predisposition to assume moral equivalencies where none exist.”"

"It’s bad enough that you’re plying a trade for which you haven’t the aptitude or integrity, but you could at least check your conclusion against the facts."

"Besides being grossly unprofessional and misinformed, just why is that a relevant inquiry?"

"If there are any competent journalists here, I’m ready for their inquiries."

"“Caine has a serious flaw when it comes to working for the government.” “Which is?” “Well, he has this real bad habit of telling the truth.”"

"What gives with him? Does he take jerk pills?"

"I find it interesting how many of you, when watching a plan go awry, are so blinded by your frustration that you are unable to learn from what you have witnessed."

"“Damn,” muttered Opal, staring after him, “guess he flunked charm school.”"

"You are to be congratulated on your talent for deception."

"These matters should incite more urgent investigation than the technology you arrogated from your attackers. But like most primitive cultures, your reflex is one of stimulus and response: to focus entirely on the issues and actions of the moment."

"Richard, we have fallen into the common trap of seeing ourselves at the center of the universe: all that goes on around us somehow has us as its subject and raison d’etre. But in reality, all the events, all the plans, all the acts we interpret as intentionally malign—or benign—to us may, in fact, have almost nothing to do with our species."

"“And saying that doesn’t get you in trouble, does it?” His smile broadened. “Nope. Not a bit.” He straightened up, stuck out his hand. “I’m glad I was able to come and give you the inside scoop on—absolutely nothing. And on the people who have absolutely nothing to do with it.” Caine smiled. “Your failure to impart any information has been very illuminating.”"