James Nicoll quotes

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)
Romeo and Juliet *died*. I always liked that in a teen romance story. View quote
James Nicoll
I can't help but notice that everytime I fly somewhere, other people's planes fall out of the sky. View quote
James Nicoll
Most of my scars are not fire-related and I no longer say "I know what I am doing" at critical moments. View quote
James Nicoll
[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. View quote
James Nicoll
Deadly nightshade is the only plant I have ever been able to get to grow for me. View quote
James Nicoll
It's bad to wake up and see a large cat in mid-leap from the rough vicinity of the ceiling. View quote
James Nicoll
I believe that I have now experienced the lifetime maximum exposure to bottom spanking in fantasy novels. View quote
James Nicoll
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. View quote
James Nicoll
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? View quote
James Nicoll
About Antrax by Terry Brooks: I wonder if he's planning a book called SRS? Or F'lu? (James Nicoll)
After enough concussions the head injuries blur together. View quote
James Nicoll
Call me an extremist but killing a few hundred million people seems like the sort of method that might have unintended consequences. View quote
James Nicoll
I think once you start eating people you should stop claiming to be a vegetarian, even if you only eat bad people. View quote
James Nicoll
My grandfather for example only died twice, once during the war and once in the 1980s. View quote
James Nicoll
About First Landing by Robert Zubrin: Someday I'd like to read a story about competent people on Mars. View quote
James Nicoll
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. View quote
James Nicoll
My father once discovered that one cannot "walk off" gangrene. View quote
James Nicoll
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. View quote
James Nicoll
I don't mind hidden depths but I insist that there be a surface. View quote
James Nicoll
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)
Never bring a gun to a fight where the other guy has a time-machine and tomorrow's newspapers. View quote
James Nicoll
Creating stars in laboratories on the very planets you inhabit turns out to be a bad idea. View quote
James Nicoll
Goodkind is noted for subtle allegories the same way Mt Kilimanjaro is known for floating weightlessly. View quote
James Nicoll
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. View quote
James Nicoll