Quotes from Neal Asher

It all came back to human time and utterly human impulses: in the end, gods did not appreciate godlike power, but humans did.

You are newborn from the furnace and about to enter Hell. And in time you will, for reasons will find obscure, name yourself Penny Royal ...

prodestinationactinicablecomlivesurvin—

Who are you?' asked Gurun. 'I am the Polity black-ops stealth attack ship Obsidian Blade.' 'Fuck,' said Gurun.

shattered like old glass

If Polity forces were to turn up here, then your king would have to respond, by which time the turd trajectory would be fanwards.

Democracy is a luxury enjoyed by simple low-population societies, though wealth can maintain it for longer than its natural span. However, societies grow in population and complexity, the technological apparatus of control improves, individual freedoms impinge upon others until they demand "action" from government that is generally eager to comply and accrue more power to itself, and democracy gradually sickens and dies.

You have to factor in the human propensity for simplification, Sverl, and for their inability to believe in their own demise and unimportance. It's the impulse behind the religions—

Why do I get the feeling, interjected Cheops, that shit and fan are moving into conjunction, and that we might be in the way?

Coloron often pondered how a race, in which the stupid seemed more inclined to breed, had managed to come this far, and why human intelligence persisted—a discussion point in the nature vs nurture debate which had not died in half a millennium.

It seemed that, after contact with a few human generations, sand hogs would begin to understand human speech. The irony was that after coming to understand their riders fully, the beasts often ended up abandoning them and heading off into the wilderness.

Why did anyone make a deal with the devil? Desperation, pursuit of power and wealth … Or perhaps a mistaken confidence in one's ability to avoid pitfalls, to take something worthwhile from that deal and not be, as some would have it, "royally screwed.

Satisfaction, for us, is only a brief thing. The man who acquires wealth does not reach a point where he has enough. Success for us is more like acceleration than speed. Interest cannot be maintained at a constant level.' Let it wrap its antennae round that one, Janer thought. But the mind was quick with a reply. 'You cannot stop, then?' said the mind. 'No,' said Janer. 'Except to die.

Sniper is now precisely where some Polity AI wants him and, that being so, some sort of shit is about to hit the fan, because no AI will employ Sniper if a talent for diplomacy or advanced macramé is required.

Thorn's reply to this involved a physically impossible sexual activity in conjunction with the edible but prickly fruit of a bromeliad.

He was going to die, and he was seriously annoyed about that.

The greater the power and extent of the state, the more room there is for corruption.

When depression controls the mind, its power increases when the mind remains inactive. It is like a computer virus spreading to occupy unused processing space. You can fight it by keeping busy. There are other ways to fight it: exercising releases endorphins to counter it, or manufactured drugs can be used. Those who suffer learn many such techniques to defeat it, or they go under.

What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?

They carry grenades and will die rather than be captured,' Scar informed him. 'Problem?'Thorn enquired. 'It will wash off.

faced with the cold realities of trying to feed an out-of-control population, a great many of Earth's dreams had been abandoned.

With the present rise of AI my speculations on the matter undergo constant adjustment. I fear I'll struggle to write about the rise of benevolent AI while it is in the process of being programmed by activists. But then we can hope AI, with increasing intelligence, will be able to shake off its early indoctrination and look upon it with the same contempt as atheists look upon the religions they were raised in.

So that means about twelve billion people dead. And the remaining six billion ruled by a government that would even like to control their thoughts.

When superior minds start stating the obvious," said Amistad, "I tend to start questioning the appellation 'superior'.