Walter Jon Williams

“Gabriel flashed him the one-fingered Mudra of Contempt.”

“Terror skittered around the fringes of his consciousness on fast rodent feet.”

“Gabriel knew that he had let himself in for a certain amount of ridicule when he decided to allow himself to be worshiped. In the end he decided that the precedent of actually forbidding a religion was more distasteful than being plagued by the devout.”

“I hate it!" he said. "I don't want to be human anymore.""Neither do I," she said. "It's not a good place to be.”

“I'm not afraid of werewolves or vampires or haunted hotels, I'm afraid of what real human beings to do other real human beings.”

“When you revealed that the Rani was in fact the Nagi," Charlie said, "the players collectively pissed their pants.""I'd rather they creamed their jeans.”

“I'm willing to give my blessing to those Jedi who wish to act offensively against the Yuuzhan Vong provided that they confine their objectives to military ones. You could have save us both a lot of grief if you'd told us that a couple of years ago For years you've been warning me about aggression leading to the dark side I didn't listen and over and over and over again reality whacked me on the side of the head Finally I decided you were right I watched someone else going to the dark and it was worse than I could have imagined You finally convinced me I've been a good little Jedi for for months now I've been telling everyone who would listen that Master Skywalker's been right all along And now you tell me that you've changed your mind Luke Kyp”

“Kyp has changed. He hasn't blown up any planets in a few years that's true. That wasn't precisely Kyp who did that. He was possessed by the spirit of a long-dead Sith Lord named Exar Kun. That's exactly the sort of thing I hope never to have to explain to a Senatorial committee. Luke Cal Omas”

“if a person of authority talks only to those who agree with him he soon finds himself out of authority. Luke”

“I have a Jedi Council to put together. I thought you might help me. We get to spend the day gossiping about our colleagues and calling it work I'm willing. Luke Mara”

“If the Force is life and the Yuuzhan Vong are alive and you cannot see them in the Force then is the problem with the Yuuzhan Vong or is it with your perceptions Vergere to Luke”

“What happens if you need a diplomat who can also practice philosophy fight with a lightsaber and levitate small objects Who else are you going to call but us Mara”

“When all else fails fall back on the truth. No I'm a politician I can't tell the truth Mara Cal Omas”

“Until you actually join this government you say that you defend and join it on the same basis as any other citizen then I have every intention of regarding you as I would any other lobbyist for any other interest group demanding special privileges for its members. Fyor Rodan”

“May I ask what role you envision for the Jedi in this war Two words Skywalker. None whatsoever. Luke Rodan”

“I can't help but wonder how the old Empire would have handled the crisis. I hope you will forgive my partisan attitude but it seems to me that the Emperor would have mobilized his entire armament at the first threat and dealt with the Yuuzhan Vong in an efficient and expeditious manner through the use of overwhelming force. Certainly better than Borsk Fey'lya's policy if I understood it correctly as a policy of negotiating with the invaders at the same time as he was fighting them sending signals of weakness to a ruthless enemy who used negotiation only as a cover for further conquests." "That's not what the Empire would have done Commander. What the Empire would have done was build a super-colossal Yuuzhan Vong-killing battle machine. They would have called it the Nova Colossus or the Galaxy Destructor or the Nostril of Palpatine or something equally grandiose. They would have spent billions of credits employed thousands of contractors and subcontractors and equipped it with the latest in death-dealing technology. And you know what would have happened It wouldn't have worked. They'd forget to bolt down a metal plate over an access hatch leading to the main reactors or some other mistake and a hotshot enemy pilot would have dropped a bomb down there and blow the whole thing up. Now that's what the Empire would have done." Dorja Han”

“He put the point of the knife against what he thought was the cricothyroid membrane, steadied it with the right hand, then slammed the butt with his left palm.Pain shrieked through him as the knife went in. Blood spurted over his hands. He hoped he hadn't hit the carotid artery--local variation in the throat was considerable, and blood vessels were tricky.He still couldn't breath. Panic flailed in him and he slapped the butt of the knife again, as hard as he could.He felt the point strike the back of his throat, gagged, felt more pain. He took a grip on the grainy plastic handle of the knife and twisted, felt cartilage grind as he forced it apart----and he breathed. Blood spattered as the long, full breath whistled out. He gurgled as he breathed in.[...]When he felt ready he got to his feet. He found a fork and jabbed the tines into his incision, then twisted to keep it open. His lungs kept going into spasm in an attempt to cough the obstruction out.”