BLINDSIGHT is fearless: a magnificent, darkly gleaming jewel of a book that hurdles the contradictions inherent in biochemistry, consciousness, and human hearts without breaking stride.

If you could disagree with kings, were gods so far above?

You know," he said, "every time a vampire says he doesn't believe in lycanthropes, a werewolf bursts into flames.

Like the minor poet who knows the meanness of his gift, I am doomed to a lifetime of frustration: to be able to comprehend beauty, but not create it.

Every one of us is a minor tragedy. Most of us learn to cope.

The end of the world was supposed to be gradual. There was supposed to be warning. A long, slow slide. What we got was punctuated equilibrium: a stately wobbling, then a sudden tipping point. There was plenty of warning, I suppose. We just weren’t paying attention.

The secret to getting away with lying, is believing with all your heart. That goes for lying to yourself even more so than lying to another.