A science fiction writer should try to combine the intimately human with the grandly cosmic.

It is either coincidence piled on top of coincidence," said Hollus, "or it is deliberate design.

Honor does not have to be defended.

There is no indisputable proof for the big bang," said Hollus. "And there is none for evolution. And yet you accept those. Why hold the question of whether there is a creator to a higher standard?

That natural selection can produce changes within a type is disputed by no one, not even the staunchest creationist. But that it can transform one species into another — that, in fact, has never been observed.

How do you define God? Like this. A God I could understand, at least potentially, was infinitely more interesting and relevant than one that defied comprehension.

The right things to do are those that keep our violence in abeyance; the wrong things are those that bring it to the fore.