Pandemonium Quotes

“Maybe everyone in the world was this inconsistent, this fragmented. All we could see of each other -- all we could see of ourselves -- was a ragged person-shaped outline, a game of connect-the-dots without enough dots.”
― Daryl Gregory, Pandemonium

“The question, then, was how long could a human being stay awake? Keith Richards could party for three days straight, but I wasn't sure if he counted as a human being.”
― Daryl Gregory, Pandemonium

“Divine essence?' I said. 'Hey, I'm Fat Boy, I'll possess a guy and make him eat ten pounds of chocolate in one sitting! Yeah, that's divine, that's fucking deep, that's like ...' I couldn't think what that was like. It was like something, though.”
― Daryl Gregory, Pandemonium

“Fantasy involves that which general opinion regards as impossible; science fiction involves that which general opinion regards as possible under the right circumstances. This is in essence a judgment call, since what is possible and what is not cannot be objectively known but is, rather, a subjective belief on the part of the reader.”
― Daryl Gregory, Pandemonium

“We'd understood from high school on that it was Lew's job to make good grades, find a high-paying career, buy a two-story house in the suburbs, and generally become Dad. It was my job to fuck up. Occasionally this annoyed me, but most of the time I was comfortable with the division of labor. Lew's job was nearly impossible, and mine came naturally.”
― Daryl Gregory, Pandemonium

“The coffee was terrible and the bacon was ordinary, but the pancakes were avatars of some perfect Ur-cake whose existence until now could only be deduced from the statistical variations in other, lesser pancakes.”
― Daryl Gregory, Pandemonium

“I met him in the hospital.' I saw the eyebrow raise in my peripheral vision. 'Yeah, that hospital. He believes that powerful telepaths are secretly in charge of the planet, and that they're possessing people for their own entertainment.' 'Powerful telepaths...' Lew said. 'Slan,' I said. Lew burst out laughing. 'You mean you didn't know that Slan was nonfiction?' I said. 'Bertrum belongs to an organization that believes that Van Vogt intentionally--' 'What did you say--Van Vaht? It's Van Voh.' 'No, it's not. You've gotta pronounce the T at least.' 'What, Van Vote? Don't be an idiot. I bet you still say Submareener.' 'My point--,' I said. 'And Mag-net-o.' '--is that Bertrum thinks Van Voggatuh used fiction to cloak the truth.' 'As opposed to say, your friend, P.K. Dick, and Whitley Strieber, and--' 'Streeber.' 'And L. Ron Hubbard, who just made shit up and said it was the truth.' 'Exactly.' Lew nodded. 'I find your ideas intriguing and I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter. What's the name of this fine organization?' 'It gets better,' I said. "The Human League." 'No way.' 'I'm not sure they realized the name was taken.' 'My god, Lew said. 'It's the perfect cover for an elite fighting force -- an eighties New Wave band! This is so Buckaroo Banzai.”
― Daryl Gregory, Pandemonium

“I need your help," I said. "When I was five years old I was possessed by a demon. And ever since then, it's stayed with me. Inside me. And when I read about Dr. Ram, I got an idea for a surgical technique - "

"We wrestle not with flesh and blood," she said. Not looking at me. "But against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness in this world."

I waited, but she didn't say more.

"See, that doesn't really help," I said.”
― Daryl Gregory, Pandemonium

“Dinner had been waiting since 1985.”
― Daryl Gregory, Pandemonium

“I got him out of the room by telling him I was tired. If you're in a hospital bed, you're entitled to a range of efficient social tactics.”
― Daryl Gregory, Pandemonium

“At the bottom of Harmonia Lake I'd relearned the secret of jumping. All you have to do is break this habit of breath and blood. Take everything and everyone you love, and throw them away. All you have to do is die.”
― Daryl Gregory, Pandemonium

“Hope wasn’t a thing with feathers, it was a hundred-pound ball and chain.”
― Daryl Gregory, Pandemonium