In battle, you forgive a man anything except an unwillingness to take risks. Sometimes you have to put it on the line.

I do not over-intellectualise the production process. I try to keep it simple: Tell the damned story.

Sunday was the normal day for the political awareness session at sea. Ordinarily Putin would have officiated, reading some Pravada editorials, followed by selected quotations from the works of Lenin and a discussion of the lessons to be learned from the readings. It is very much like a church service.

That's the ultimate pornography. There's nothing more pornographic than glorifying war.

I think it's an intellectual duty for a person who lives in a free society to read material not only with which you agree, but with which you disagree. Because every so often somebody you think is wrong will actually turn out to be right.

Two questions form the foundation of all novels: "What if?" and "What next?" (A third question, "What now?", is one the author asks himself every 10 minutes or so; but it's more a cry than a question.) Every novel begins with the speculative question, What if "X" happened? That's how you start.

Giving your book to Hollywood is like turning your daughter over to a pimp.