The internet was supposed to liberate knowledge, but in fact it buried it, first under a vast sewer of ignorance, laziness, bigotry, superstition and filth and then beneath the cloak of political surveillance. Now...cyberspace exists exclusively to promote commerce, gossip and pornography. And of course to hunt down sedition. Only paper is safe. Books are the key. A book cannot be accessed from afar, you have to hold it, you have to read it.

My advice to anyone adapting a novel is that once they've read it and learnt to understand it, then they must throw it away and never look at it again!

Sympathy for victims is always counter-balanced by an equal and opposite feeling of resentment towards them.

There are lots of things I could have done for the money, but I've made a great living doing the things I want to do.

And roast beef and Yorkshire pudding is my personal signature dish.

The worst thing about being a great power is when you're not one any more. It takes centuries to get over it.

I try hard not to preach, but I get carried away, which is a mistake, but it's a risk worth running.