“I realised that the moon was not a safe place. It knew a thousand ways to kill you if you were stupid, if you were careless, if you were lazy, but the real danger was the people around you. The moon was not a world, it was a submarine. Outside was death. I would be sealed in with these people. There was no law, no justice: there was only management. The moon was the frontier, but it was the frontier to nothing. There was nowhere to run.”
Ian McDonald“I realised that the moon was not a safe place. It knew a thousand ways to kill you if you were stupid, if you were careless, if you were lazy, but the real danger was the people around you. The moon was not a world, it was a submarine. Outside was death. I would be sealed in with these people. There was no law, no justice: there was only management. The moon was the frontier, but it was the frontier to nothing. There was nowhere to run.”
Ian McDonald“The geek of the Earth are a tribe and they are mighty.”
Ian McDonald, Planesrunner“Fake it may be, lies and deceptions, but this is the world in which we find ourselves, and here we must make our little lives.”
Ian McDonald, Brasyl“The time is short and the hills is dark and I's got miles to go before I sleeps. Is is no easy road.”
Ian McDonald, Planesrunner“The exoneration of the mass. No one voice is to blame. But his voice was there.”
Ian McDonald, The Dervish House“It's the superhero problem . . . .Superpowers make everything personal. Batman versus Joker. Fantastic Four versus Galactus. The Big G might be the Devourer of Worlds, but in the end he's just a dude. Beat him and the problem goes away. But the real problems aren't like that. You can't solve them by hitting them. The real supervillains. . . . were people in suits who met in rooms and decided things. Destroy one and another would take her place”
Ian McDonald, Empress of the Sun“Humans are not made for endless light. Humans need their darknesses.”
Ian McDonald, New Moon“You collect art: you must know that the miniature artists, at the end of careers spent painting the tiniest, most exacting details that no one would ever look at, would often put their eyes out with needles. Too much beauty, yes, but also too much seeing. They were tired of seeing. The dark was safe and warm and comfortable. Blindness was a gift. I still have seeing to do.”
Ian McDonald, The Dervish House“He's never fought with religion; what is the point of railing against such beauty, such intimate theatre, such chime of eternity? He can treasure it without believing in it.”
Ian McDonald, The Dervish House