He claimed that nearby gun thunder cleared the mind - but most everybody else agreed it made you daft.

Peregrine Wickwrackscar was flying. A pilgrim with legends that went back almost a thousand years-and not one of them could come near to this!

Even the largest avalanche is triggered by small things.

Another symptom of progress toward the Singularity: ideas themselves should spread ever faster, and even the most radical will quickly become commonplace.

Sometimes terror and pain are not the best levers; deception, when it works, is the most elegant and the least expensive manipulation of all.

Once upon a time I was such a good liar; I could talk the fish right into my mouths.

The voice was gentle, like a scalpel petting the short hairs of your throat.