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Alastair Reynolds: 396 quotes2 likes

“Afterwards, when Clavain tried to imaging how he might describe it, he found that words were never going to be adequate for the task. And that was no surprise: evolution had shaped language to convey many concepts, but going from a single to a networked topology of self was not amongst them.”

Alastair Reynolds

The Great Wall of Mars (p. 37)
Short fiction, Galactic North (2006)

““How are the internal complications, anyway? Aren’t the other branches of government getting a little suspicious about all these machinations?”
“Let’s just say that one or two discreet assassinations may still have to be performed,” Khouri said.”

Alastair Reynolds book Redemption Ark

Source: Redemption Ark (2002), Chapter 27 (p. 490)

“Auger could not help marvelling at the experience of being inside the ALS sphere and seeing her world as it should have been. This was an earth that had never known nuclear war, or runaway climatic catastrophe, or smart weather, or a Nanocaust. The sight of it made her want to weep. No image had ever come close to the heartbreaking beauty of this small blue world, a beauty all the more acute now that she knew how exquisitely fragile it was. It was the beauty of a butterfly’s wing.”

Alastair Reynolds book Century Rain

Source: Century Rain (2004), Chapter 40 (pp. 596-597)

“The church-sponsored archaeologists were the only ones who had any kind of overview of the entire haul of relics, and they were under intense pressure to ignore any evidence that conflicted with Quaicheist scripture. That was why Rashmika wrote them so many letters, and why their infrequent replies were always so evasive. She wanted an argument; she wanted to question the entire accepted view of the scuttlers. They wanted her to go away.”

Alastair Reynolds book Absolution Gap

Source: Absolution Gap (2003), Chapter 11 (p. 166)

““Are you sharpness personified?”
Khouri poured herself a few final sips of coffee and then left the rest of it on the stove for when she got back. Coffee was her only vice, one acquired in her soldiering days on the Edge. The trick was to reach a knife-edge of alertness, but not be so buzzing that she could not point the weapon without shaking.
“I think I’ve reduced the amount of blood in my caffeine system to an acceptable level, if that’s what you mean.””

Alastair Reynolds book Revelation Space

Source: Revelation Space (2000), Chapter 2 (p. 27).

““Don’t you agree with me?”
“On some distant theoretical level, just possibly.””

Alastair Reynolds book Chasm City

Source: Chasm City (2001), Chapter 12 (p. 177).

“Don’t tell me you aren’t the slightest bit curious, Norquinco.”
“I hope you burn in hell, Sky Haussmann.”

Alastair Reynolds book Chasm City

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Chapter 35 (p. 562).
Chasm City (2001)

“Anxiety is a useful tool: it forces us to make plans. But when too much anxiety freezes us into indecision, it needs checking.”

Alastair Reynolds book Century Rain

Source: Century Rain (2004), Chapter 33 (p. 506)

““You look older, son.”
“Yes, well, some of us have to get on with the business of being alive in the entropic universe.””

Alastair Reynolds book Revelation Space

Source: Revelation Space (2000), Chapter 16 (p. 332).

“And even if what they showed you is true, that doesn’t begin to make it right. The cause might be just, Felka, but history’s littered with atrocities committed in the name of righteousness.”

Alastair Reynolds book Redemption Ark

Source: Redemption Ark (2002), Chapter 38 (p. 662)

“Naqi suspected that the ability to turn drunkenness on and off like a switch must be one of the most hallowed of diplomatic skills.”

Alastair Reynolds book Diamond Dogs

Turquoise Days, Chapter 2 (p. 237)
Short fiction, Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days (2003)

“But make no mistake. My counterpart is capable of a great deal of ruthlessness in pursuit of a just cause. He believes he has right on his side. And men who think they have right on their side are always the most dangerous sort.”

Alastair Reynolds book Redemption Ark

Source: Redemption Ark (2002), Chapter 32 (p. 600)

“Who was it who said that a wise man speaks when he has something to say, but a fool speaks because he must?”

Alastair Reynolds book Chasm City

Source: Chasm City (2001), Chapter 12 (p. 197).

“Clavain felt little in the way of regret; more a sense of quiet relief that they were past the negotiating stage and into the infinitely more honest arena of actual battle.”

Alastair Reynolds book Redemption Ark

Source: Redemption Ark (2002), Chapter 35 (p. 634)

“Nothing he said indicated that he was that angry. I mean, there’s a difference between angry and murderous. Isn’t there?
Less than you’d think.”

Alastair Reynolds book The Prefect

Source: The Prefect (2007), Chapter 5 (p. 52)

“A single data point—even a single clutch of measurements—could not usually prove or disprove anything, but it might later turn out to play a vital role in a chain of argument, even if it was only in the biasing of some statistical distribution closer to one hypothesis than another. Science, as Naqi had long since realised, was as much a swarming, social process as it was something driven by ecstatic moments of personal discovery.
It was something she was proud to be part of.”

Alastair Reynolds book Diamond Dogs

Turquoise Days, Chapter 1 (p. 188)
Short fiction, Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days (2003)

“She would worry, just as you worry. It’s the people who don’t worry—those who never have any doubts that what they’re doing is good and right—they’re the ones that cause the problems.”

Alastair Reynolds book Redemption Ark

Source: Redemption Ark (2002), Chapter 34 (p. 628)

“I thought debate was supposed to be healthy,” she countered.
“It is,” Auger replied, “so long as you don’t disagree with me.”

Alastair Reynolds book Century Rain

Source: Century Rain (2004), Chapter 2 (p. 17)

“This gets better, it really does. The odd thing is, I actually think you might be telling the truth. If you were going to lie, you’d at least come up with something that made sense.”

Alastair Reynolds book Redemption Ark

Source: Redemption Ark (2002), Chapter 21 (p. 367)

““But at least you cared. At least you were ready to do something.”
“This little mess,” Auger said, “is all because of people who were ready to do something. People like me, who always know when they’re right and everyone else is wrong. Maybe what we need is a few less of us.””

Alastair Reynolds book Century Rain

Source: Century Rain (2004), Chapter 36 (pp. 565-566)