Quotes from Karen Traviss

I'm a visual person - when I write, my input is always visual. I worked in television for several years.

People lose it when I say this, but I'm a novelist who doesn't read novels. There are lots of good reasons for not reading novels! I'm also a game writer who doesn't play games - I keep everything very separate. The only crossover with me is comics. I write them, and I read them passionately.

Games are getting more interesting. I mean, when we talk about books, they can be anything from a summer blockbuster to 'War and Peace' - well, games are the same. I think the creative side is catching up with the technology.

That's how tyranny succeeds. When folks think it won't affect them until eventually it does.

If you can't beat them, divide them.

Why should I cooperate with you now?" "Because you're stuck in a ship with four creatively sadistic people who hate your grey guts, and maybe the Jedi and the strill aren't that fond of you either, and all you've got are the clothes you stand in. See how long you last…

Hatred can be pushed aside, but it will always whisper in your ear.

That's the worst thing about having chakaare like us around. We just wander off, find someplace you don't know about, and hole up in it and get into all sorts of mischief that you know nothing about. And then we bill you for it. Dreadful." "Dreadful. Is this the kind of thing that CSF might notice?" "Were we to get out of hand, I imagine very senior officers in CSF might need to be reassured, but not by you." "Dreadful. Hypothetically, anyway.

Touch me again, chakaar, and I'll ram this into your carotid artery." "I haven't got one." "Then I'll have to keep stabbing you until I find somewhere else that bleeds copiously.

The ambition of most beings is just to stay alive, overeat, spend too much, and avoid hard work. I'm happy that I can achieve much more than that…and we all die sooner or later. A death in service of a great ideal is a fine thing.

I shall remain vigilant and unyielding in my pursuit of the enemies of the Coalition. I will defend and maintain the Order of Life as it was proclaim by the Allfathers of the Coalition in the Octus Canon. I will forsake the life I had before so I may perform my duty as long as I am needed. Steadfast, I shall hold my place in the machine and acknowledge my place in the Coalition. I am a Gear.

Oh, you are a little ray of sunshine today, aren't you? Now, look at your progesterone levels. Still higher than normal. Are you pregnant? Have you been throwing up?" "No. But I get cravings. Will I get stretch marks?" said Fi. Gilamar kept a straight face. "Yeah, say goodbye to your figure. Everything sags from now on.

Is it better to not get to know them?' 'No. It's not. It's sharking your responsibility, and it's disrespectful. Get to know them, and then you fully understand the price you're asking them to pay.

I wish you'd get one thing straight - I'm not a traitor. I was never on your side. I'm called the enemy.

Maze: "I'm alerting HQ. Stand by." *on the private comlink* Corr: "How are you Omega? Can we help? We're really concerned that you're stranded on a shabla rock surrounded by an infinite number of natives who'll cut your gett'se off when they haul you screaming from the summit.

The trouble with taking away the certainty of evil was that its vacuum was filled by all kinds of more nebulous threats, rivalries, and feuds. It became increasingly difficult to judge where the threat was coming from.

Good grief, Rex, doesn't Skywalker tell his underlings to put clothes on? What does he think this is, a cruise liner? It was at times like this that Rex savoured the true value of his bucket. He silenced his helmet audio for a moment with a quick eye movement, roared with laughter, and then switched the speaker back on. Would you like me to ask him, sir? Rex, you're enjoying this... Me, sir? Never, sir.

You think she's got a personality disorder? No, she's just a nasty bitch. An unpleasant personality isn't a medical condition. Just a symptom of not being slapped around the head enough.

Family took a lot more than genes to hold it together

Revenge might give you a warm feeling, but unless it delivers some lasting results you might as well have a nice cup of mocha instead.

Every miracle's got a mundane explanation. [...] and you can choose - you can look at the wonderous surface or you can look at the crud beneath. I want to see the wondrous, believe me. I just know it isn't going to be there when I've finished looking.

Humans believed they thought things consciously when most of the time they were simply rationalizing instinctive reactions as basic as the amoeba's, and after those reactions had already taken place.

Humans have too many rights and not enough responsibilities. -Aras

Regular people said they couldn't tell the difference between one clone and another, did they? That was what came of spending too much time looking at faces and not enough wondering what shaped people and went on inside their heads.