Pablo > Pablo's Quotes

“You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
― Ray Bradbury

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”
― Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You

“If we listened to our intellect we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go in business because we'd be cynical: "It's gonna go wrong." Or "She's going to hurt me." Or,"I've had a couple of bad love affairs, so therefore . . ." Well, that's nonsense. You're going to miss life. You've got to jump off the cliff all the time and build your wings on the way down.”
― Ray Bradbury

“Every Night and every Morn
Some to Misery are born.
Every Morn and every Night
Some are born to Sweet Delight,
Some are born to Endless Night.”
― William Blake

“When people dis fantasy—mainstream readers and SF readers alike—they are almost always talking about one sub-genre of fantastic literature. They are talking about Tolkien, and Tolkien's innumerable heirs. Call it 'epic', or 'high', or 'genre' fantasy, this is what fantasy has come to mean. Which is misleading as well as unfortunate.

Tolkien is the wen on the arse of fantasy literature. His oeuvre is massive and contagious—you can't ignore it, so don't even try. The best you can do is consciously try to lance the boil. And there's a lot to dislike—his cod-Wagnerian pomposity, his boys-own-adventure glorying in war, his small-minded and reactionary love for hierarchical status-quos, his belief in absolute morality that blurs moral and political complexity. Tolkien's clichés—elves 'n' dwarfs 'n' magic rings—have spread like viruses. He wrote that the function of fantasy was 'consolation', thereby making it an article of policy that a fantasy writer should mollycoddle the reader.

That is a revolting idea, and one, thankfully, that plenty of fantasists have ignored. From the Surrealists through the pulps—via Mervyn Peake and Mikhael Bulgakov and Stefan Grabiński and Bruno Schulz and Michael Moorcock and M. John Harrison and I could go on—the best writers have used the fantastic aesthetic precisely to challenge, to alienate, to subvert and undermine expectations.

Of course I'm not saying that any fan of Tolkien is no friend of mine—that would cut my social circle considerably. Nor would I claim that it's impossible to write a good fantasy book with elves and dwarfs in it—Michael Swanwick's superb Iron Dragon's Daughter gives the lie to that. But given that the pleasure of fantasy is supposed to be in its limitless creativity, why not try to come up with some different themes, as well as unconventional monsters? Why not use fantasy to challenge social and aesthetic lies?

Thankfully, the alternative tradition of fantasy has never died. And it's getting stronger. Chris Wooding, Michael Swanwick, Mary Gentle, Paul di Filippo, Jeff VanderMeer, and many others, are all producing works based on fantasy's radicalism. Where traditional fantasy has been rural and bucolic, this is often urban, and frequently brutal. Characters are more than cardboard cutouts, and they're not defined by race or sex. Things are gritty and tricky, just as in real life. This is fantasy not as comfort-food, but as challenge.

The critic Gabe Chouinard has said that we're entering a new period, a renaissance in the creative radicalism of fantasy that hasn't been seen since the New Wave of the sixties and seventies, and in echo of which he has christened the Next Wave. I don't know if he's right, but I'm excited. This is a radical literature. It's the literature we most deserve.”
― China Miéville

“The second reminder is this: while technological advancements can carry humankind to impossible heights, power must be exercised responsibly. After all, people tend to forget that Daedalus’s wings for his son did work; it was Icarus who used them incorrectly.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The First Sister

“For the Asters, who have suffered. For Hemlock, who died without seeing his dreams come true. For my brother, who might have been reborn among the Synthetics. For Ofiera, who counseled me to hold on to my rage when all else failed. For Dire and the Alliance, who lost their home but not their purpose. And for Castor—” Who I once loved.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“In her arms, in this place surrounded by my sisters, I am home.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“My dearest husband, if you are reading this, I am dead. When I bade you farewell this afternoon, I knew it was the last time I ever would. I should have told you then what our escape from the surface of Venus meant for me, but I couldn’t bring myself to, because I knew you would try to dissuade me from what I must do next. Please do not hold it against me. This is my death, and I choose to do something with it. My darling, I know you will be tempted to fall apart, but you cannot. Not for the Black Hive, not for the Asters, and not for the shining future we dreamed of, almost in reach. Now, more than ever, you must be strong. Go to the Elders and convince them of the necessity of our plans, no holding back. There is only you now. I wait for you in the next life.
Message from Ofiera fon Bain, sent through Black Hive operatives”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Last Hero

“Ofiera nods as if she expected my answer. “One last piece of advice, then,” she says, and leans toward me in order to whisper. “When the pain becomes too much, remember why you’re fighting. You’re angry. I can hear it in your voice. And that’s good. Sometimes anger is all you have. “This is a battle in a war of a different type. I’m sure you’ve been told not to show your anger. Not to feel it. Women often are.” Her predator eyes gleam. “But when death comes for you, Lucinia sol Lucius, when it grasps you with cold fingers, that anger can burn through it. That anger can save you. Better to be alive and angry than dead and peaceful.”
― Linden A. Lewis, The Second Rebel