James Nicoll Quotes

Creating stars in laboratories on the very planets you inhabit turns out to be a bad idea.

Just as people in zombie apocalypses seem never to have seen a zombie apocalypse movie, so people in novels about the pioneering days of time travel never seem to have read novels on the subject.

I believe that I have now experienced the lifetime maximum exposure to bottom spanking in fantasy novels.

A common issue with SF settings is that causally disconnected civilizations nevertheless are close enough in technological development that conflict is possible, rather than it being a matter of laser cannons against a thin film of single celled organisms.

I wonder if he's planning a book called SRS? Or F'lu?

It's a sad thing that the march of time and evolution of mores can rob one of the ability to laugh at simple domestic abuse.

Most of my scars are not fire-related and I no longer say "I know what I am doing" at critical moments.

This I (still) believe:
Fire is not necessarily your friend. Neither are dogs. Things with lit fuses should not be held onto. Beware the savage croquet ball. If it is -30 out, put on a coat before you leave the house. Just because the snow keeps you from seeing other objects the objects do not cease to exist. Clotheslines are the enemy of the bicyclist. If you don't remember how you got on the ground or where the blood came from, don't get up right away. Gym teachers think it's funny to commit assault with a baseball so don't day-dream during PE even if they have you so far in the outfield there are DEW line posts on either side of you. All guns are loaded. So are many bows. Trebuchets are for outside use only...

If there's a stack [of novels to review], the unpromising stuff goes at the top and the promising stuff goes at the bottom. That way, I am eager to finish Overwrought Romantic Mary Sue Fantasy because I know that will let me read Niche Product That Only the Author, James and Some Guy at JPL Likes.

My grandfather for example only died twice, once during the war and once in the 1980s.

Deadly nightshade is the only plant I have ever been able to get to grow for me.

Let's step back and think about the likely outcome of a scenario that involves the words "James Nicoll", "a box of sharp needles" and "possibly without ever having achieved full consciousness" for a moment, shall we?

Never bring a gun to a fight where the other guy has a time-machine and tomorrow's newspapers.

I find this varies considerably from near-death experience to near-death experience. For example, having a wandering loonie break down the door of my game store to look for women was so funny the entire concussion and pools of blood thing was a minor footnote. Being sucked out into the Atlantic by an undertow was deeply irritating. Having a snowba[n]k collapse on me was alarming because of the claustrophobia issue. The car wreck was over almost before I had time to realise what was happening.

A lot of my stories end with "And when I regained consciousness, there was a crowd standing around looking at me."