If Elmore Leonard met Jim Thompson down a dark alley at midnight they might emerge a week later with thick beards, bloodshot eyes and the manuscript for THE BIG O.

Me," Artemis blurted. "I'm the nut." Artemis could have sworn the squid winked at him before bringing the five-ton chunk of spacecraft swinging down toward the morsel of meat in its blue shell. "I'm the nut!" Artemis shouted again, a little hysterically, it must be said.

The sarcasm made a slight whistling noise as it flew over Loafers' head.

Holly is alive,' thought Foaly 'My princess lives,'exulted Orion. 'And we're chasing a dragon

Anything can be real. Every imaginable thing is happening somewhere along the dimensional axis. These things happen a billion times over with exactly the same outcome and no one learns anything. Whatever a person can think, imagine, wish for, or believe has already come to pass. Dreams come true all the time, just not for the dreamers.

Hilarious, dude. You should, like, have your own show.

Argh? Pathetic and inarticulate. Nice combination. Your mothers must be so proud.