James Nicoll Quotes (69 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

[b38svt$o0u$1@panix1.panix.com, 2003]
To which Ian York replied, in [b38tv9$5eh$1@reader1.panix.com, 2003]:
Don't get the wrong idea here, people. Even for James that was a busy day.
2000s

“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.”

James Nicoll

Review of One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/tick, 2018 2010s

“All gone. Zelazny was one of the first times I looked at something I had had familiarity with to find the spot where the memory should have been empty, replaced by a scrawled "Moved South for the Fishing" sign. Calculus was another loss. It was quite upsetting to reach for a skill and find nothing.”

James Nicoll

[c2nsoc$aqk$1@panix3.panix.com, 2004]
2000s

“In point of fact, the meteor was something like 30 km when it exploded. It was over north Waterloo and I was north of St Agatha. Two spherical clouds, and two explosions. Unfortunately, I was dealing with a goat that was trying to eat an oil truck's fuel line, goats having this optimistic 'Well, maybe it has become edible since they last time I tried this' worldview, and I missed seeing the explosions.”

James Nicoll

[cbp39u$gbq$1@panix1.panix.com, 2004]
2000s

“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.”

James Nicoll

review of The Flying Sorcerers by David Gerrold and Larry Niven http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/exhibit-a, 2016 2010s

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

James Nicoll

[e2s3p4$ofd$1@reader1.panix.com, 2006]
2000s

James Nicoll Quotes about reading

“I have hated every Kress I read, especially this one, but the Bear is a standard Bear and if you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you'll like.”

James Nicoll

[at2mut$at9$1@panix1.panix.com, 2002]
Compare "People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like." (attributed to w:Abraham Lincoln).
2000s

“[H]umans hate to admit error even as they stand there, black and smoldering, with the stub of a cigarette in one hand, in the middle of a wide crater containing them and the remains of a sign that once read 'DANGER: VOLATILE EXPLOSIVES”

James Nicoll

[d8ceo5$gng$1@reader1.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“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.”

James Nicoll

[dh3na8$a1u$1@reader1.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“As I've often said, I'm a fan of hard SF. No, it's more like I am addicted to it, even the stepped-on 20 times and cut with pow[d]ered milk and rat-poison sort of hard SF. This gets us to Stephen Baxter's Mayflower II, published last year in a limited edition from PS Publishing. In one of the great tragedies of publishing, it was not a limited enough edition and so I have read it.”

James Nicoll

[cvneu0$29s$1@reader2.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“There’s a rule I used to call The Niven Rule but which I just now have decided to call the Rusting Bridges rule. It came to me after reading Niven’s “All The Bridges Rusting.””

James Nicoll

In this story, humans have by the early 21st century explored the Solar System and sent not just one but two crewed ships to Alpha Centauri … despite which the characters moan endlessly about the dire state of the space program. “Eyes of Amber” would be another example of the Rusting Bridges [Rule]: No matter how much the space program you actually have has achieved, whether it’s first contact with aliens or trips to nearby stars, it can never have achieved as much as the space programs you can imagine would have achieved in its place, given that imaginary programs aren’t limited by issues of politics, funding, or engineering. Review of “Eyes of Amber”, by Joan D. Vinge (as anthologized in New Women of Wonder, edited by Pamela Sargent http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/yet-more-sf-about-women-by-women, 2015 2010s

James Nicoll: Trending quotes

“At some point when I wasn’t paying attention, comedic genocide just stopped working for me.”

James Nicoll

Review of T. Kingfisher's Nine Goblins http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/basically-i-have-no-sense-of-humour, 2013 2010s Context: At some point when I wasn’t paying attention, comedic genocide just stopped working for me. This is a shame because so much fantasy and SF depends on genocide as positive plot element. This trifling oddity of taste must have robbed me of hours of morally equivocal entertainment.

“No matter how much the space program you actually have has achieved, whether it’s first contact with aliens or trips to nearby stars, it can never have achieved as much as the space programs you can imagine would have achieved in its place, given that imaginary programs aren’t limited by issues of politics, funding, or engineering.”

James Nicoll

Review of “Eyes of Amber”, by Joan D. Vinge (as anthologized in New Women of Wonder, edited by Pamela Sargent http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/yet-more-sf-about-women-by-women, 2015 2010s Context: There’s a rule I used to call The Niven Rule but which I just now have decided to call the Rusting Bridges rule. It came to me after reading Niven’s “All The Bridges Rusting.” In this story, humans have by the early 21st century explored the Solar System and sent not just one but two crewed ships to Alpha Centauri … despite which the characters moan endlessly about the dire state of the space program. “Eyes of Amber” would be another example of the Rusting Bridges [Rule]: No matter how much the space program you actually have has achieved, whether it’s first contact with aliens or trips to nearby stars, it can never have achieved as much as the space programs you can imagine would have achieved in its place, given that imaginary programs aren’t limited by issues of politics, funding, or engineering.

“Never underestimate the persuasive power of somehow.”

James Nicoll

2010s
Context: Although no credible evidence exists that the speed of light can be exceeded, writers are willing to embrace the possibility that light might be outpaced somehow. Never underestimate the persuasive power of somehow.

James Nicoll Quotes

“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.”

James Nicoll

[loquls$32v$1@reader1.panix.com, 2014]
2010s

“You may have trouble getting permission to aero or lithobrake asteroids on Earth.”

James Nicoll

[8k830g$f20$1@watserv3.uwaterloo.ca, 2000]
2000s

“Until recently baby production was largely dependent on slave labour; as soon as women are allowed to answer the question "Would you like to squeeze as many objects the size of a watermelon out of your body as it takes to kill you?" they generally answer "No, thank you." This leads to falling birthrates everywhere women are not kept enslaved and ignorant of the alternatives.”

James Nicoll

2000s

“It would let me protect the Earth from asteroids. In fact, for a small fee I would protect the Earth on a monthly basis, locating rocks that could be steered into the Earth and then not doing it if the cheque didn't bounce.
We could finally commodify sunlight. A large solar collector at the Earth Sun L1 would block all the light that otherwise falls on the unworthy and could be sold to those that deserve it (Litmus test is the same as with Operation Nice Planet You Have, Shame If Anything Were To Happen To It).”

James Nicoll

Livejournal comment http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/226271.html?thread=2139359#t2139359 2000s

“I don't mind hidden depths but I insist that there be a surface.”

James Nicoll

Livejournal post http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/176181.html (2005) 2000s

“After enough concussions the head injuries blur together.”

James Nicoll

aqrko2$8hi$1@panix1.panix.com, 2002
2000s

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

James Nicoll

[ddvioe$rao$1@reader2.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“I can't help but notice that everytime I fly somewhere, other people's planes fall out of the sky.”

James Nicoll

[7vq0fu$mob$1@watserv3.uwaterloo.ca, 1999]
1990s

“Romeo and Juliet *died*. I always liked that in a teen romance story.”

James Nicoll

[Dn5px1.6Fs@novice.uwaterloo.ca, 1996]
1990s

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

James Nicoll

Almost-Classics: SF Concepts and Settings That Deserve Better Execution https://www.tor.com/2018/01/29/almost-classics-sf-concepts-and-settings-that-deserve-better-execution/ on Tor.com, January 29, 2018 2010s

“I didn't skip the smut. The author went to the trouble of writing it, after all. I did not feel to make notes for possible application later on but I also never wondered if the author was a virgin raised in an abandoned hentai warehouse, which is always a possibility for modern pornographers and erotica writers.”

James Nicoll

LiveJournal post (review of 'The Russians Came Knocking' by K.B. Spangler), 2014) http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/5086498.html?thread=95347746#t95347746 2010s

“Goodkind is noted for subtle allegories the same way Mt Kilimanjaro is known for floating weightlessly.”

James Nicoll

[d1kr2s$m90$1@reader1.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“Tor is the hard one. They employ a lot of editors, whose tastes vary. They don't always indicate who has edited what (on the choice of the editor, I think) so editor stalking can be more difficult with Tor. Ear-tagging works but is rather surprisingly illegal.”

James Nicoll

[ddd4ej$hiv$1@reader2.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“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?”

James Nicoll

LiveJournal comment http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/228255.html?thread=2188959#t2188959 2000s

“Call me an extremist but killing a few hundred million people seems like the sort of method that might have unintended consequences.”

James Nicoll

[d45qug$pc5$1@reader1.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“Yes, I was suprised how easy it was to cut the door off my cat.”

James Nicoll

[cbav4b$qqa$1@panix2.panix.com, 2004]
2000s

“It's bad to wake up and see a large cat in mid-leap from the rough vicinity of the ceiling.”

James Nicoll

[b2jl1a$e39$1@panix2.panix.com, 2003]
2000s

“I also do not recommend shopping with Cordelia Naismith—but I would watch that reality show.”

James Nicoll

"Six Characters with Whom You Should Never Ever Go Camping" https://www.tor.com/2018/08/20/six-characters-with-whom-you-should-never-ever-go-camping/ on Tor.com, August 20, 2018 2010s

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

James Nicoll

ibid. : About Antrax by Terry Brooks:
2000s

“It's true that the average human in the Xeelee universe can't eat Jell-O with a straw without accident[al]ly removing an eye but these particular humans start off no stupider than than any other human of their era and proceed to breed themselves into imbecility. Well, farther into imbecility.”

James Nicoll

[cvo12q$oii$1@reader2.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“We discovered at one point that the brick wall of the pillar would hold up a sock pretty well. This led to sorting socks by putting them on the wall, which in turn led to mosaics built entirely of socks. Mission drift is a hazard in all pursuits, including doing the laundry.”

James Nicoll

[d6qu65$cm6$1@reader1.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“Gun-wielding recluse gunned down by local police" isn't the epitaph I want. I am hoping for "Witnesses reported the sound up to two hundred kilometers away" or "Last body part finally located.”

James Nicoll

[dj13l1$hqa$1@reader2.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“Engineers and certified pilots may be expensive but talented young men with a teenager's grasp of risk are surprisingly affordable.”

James Nicoll

[lsllrn$2m3$1@reader1.panix.com, 2014-08-15]
Reviewing Robert Heinlein's Rocket Ship Galileo
2010s

“This is the sort of book that justifies fatwahs. If WWIII occurred right now, we could die happy knowing Baxter would never write again. If a dinosaur killing asteroid was headed for Earth and I knew Baxter had another book coming up, I would campaign for letting the rock hit, since it is obviously the work of a benevolent deity trying to save us from another Titan.”

James Nicoll

[914171029.329464@watserv4.uwaterloo.ca, 1998]
1990s

“I wonder if every near-future SF series in which the US is not a brutal theocratic police state ruled by doctrinaire bigoted oligarchs and their boot-licking enablers became obsolete on November 9? Won’t it be fun to find out together?”

James Nicoll

review of Brute Force, by K. B. Spangler http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/my-brain-ibm, 2016 2010s

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

James Nicoll

[846uk2$kk$1@watserv3.uwaterloo.ca, 1999]
1990s

“Ben Bova seems to work very hard at working in new discoveries into his Glum Future but alas, his future is glum and not that well written.”

James Nicoll

[dfsgau$rel$1@reader1.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“Thoughtful consideration has led me to decide that romance, involving as it does the highly complex interaction of human neurochemisty{sic} with cultural and technological factors, is hard SF. Very hard SF because romance is especially difficult to mentally simulate accurately, not easy-peasy like rocket science. Romance as hard SF may seem counterintuitive, but it’s the counterintuitive results of modeling that are often the most interesting outcomes.”

James Nicoll

review of Don't Fear the Reaper, by Zen Cho http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/dont-fear-the-reaper, 2016 2010s

“Hell, Chuck Yeager could do it in his sleep while on fire, I'm sure.”

James Nicoll

[b1rcb7$83k$1@panix1.panix.com, 2003]
2000s

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

James Nicoll

[dgpfn2$h61$1@reader1.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“[The cat] and I have an agreement: I leave her alone and don't make sudden moves when I wake up to find her perched on my chest, staring with an unblinking hostile gaze at my face and in return she rarely mutilates me.”

James Nicoll

[dl571e$11k$1@reader2.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“[Elizabeth Moon's] antagonists are always evil moustache-twirlers. She could write a book about a golf open and the main rival to the hero would turn out to have clubs made from compressed kittens.”

James Nicoll

[efprv2$bpa$1@reader1.panix.com, 2006]
2000s

“(James) White seems from all reports to have been a very pleasant fellow but he did have one huge blind spot, which is that he was as sexist as a giant ball of sexists wrapped in a dense layer of yet more sexists.”

James Nicoll

(review of 'The Lights Outside the Windows' by James White (collected in "Deadly Litter") https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/the-universe-is-antagonist-enough, 2014 2010s

“The number of times I have been declared dead is statistically insignificant, although admittedly non-zero.”

James Nicoll

[d5oimc$32d$1@reader1.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“It takes a courageous Mormon to turn to archaeology to support their argument”

James Nicoll

LiveJournal post title http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/622558.html (2006) 2010s

“Alas, time and head injuries are stealing all my memories.”

James Nicoll

Review of Women of Wonder, anthology edited by Pamela Sargent https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/by-women-about-women, 2015 2010s

“Manitoba… Not sure what to do about them. Restock the province with megafauna and encourage tourism, I think. How quickly can we breed back the saber-toothed cats?”

James Nicoll

[deq4re$ki7$1@reader2.panix.com, 2005]
2000s