Look at history. It's not the account of a species at peace.

The history of life was not the bumbling progress - the very English, middle-class progress - Victorian thought had wanted it to be, but violent, a thing of dramatic, cumulative transformations: in the old formulation, more revolution than evolution.

If you actually want to change your world, there is a better way of doing it than blowing yourself up.

I admit it: above all things, I fear absurdity.

Actually, I don't even like parties. I would much prefer a room with four friends who sit around and have dinner. I detest nightclubs. And I don't like places where the noise is so loud you can't talk to people.

I don't like books that play to the gallery, but I've become more concerned with telling a story as clearly and engagingly as I can.

Science fiction is where I started out, really. When I was a kid, I was a complete addict of science fiction. It was one of my earliest interests as a writer, and I've just taken a long time to circle back around to it.