My first encounter with James was when I was seventeen. My brother brought home from the public library a science fiction anthology, which included 'The Beast in the Jungle.' It swept me away. I had a strange, somewhat uncanny feeling that it was the story of my life.

My first memory of the public library is of lugging home a volume of Norse myths as heavy as a thunder-god's hammer.

I just had a crazy, wild imagination all my life, and science fiction is the greatest outlet for me.

Since at least the Sixth Century all librarians have received extensive combat training and are lethal with even the common toothpick.

You have to think if we've been visited by extraterrestrial life, it was like a zookeeper walking into the chimp enclosure: He looks around, takes some pictures, then leaves without interacting significantly with the environment. Meanwhile the chimps have no idea what the fuck just happened.

Science fiction is the WikiLeaks of science, getting word to the public about what cutting-edge research really means.