Torture is such a slippery slope; as soon as you allow a society or any legal system to do that, almost instantly you get a situation where people are being tortured for very trivial reasons.

Science fiction has its own history, its own legacy of what's been done, what's been superseded, what's so much part of the furniture it's practically part of the fabric now, what's become no more than a joke... and so on. It's just plain foolish, as well as comically arrogant, to ignore all this, to fail to do the most basic research.

A lot of what the 'Culture' is about is a reaction to all the science fiction I was reading in my very early teens.

A lot of what the 'Culture' is about is a reaction to all the science fiction I was reading in my very early teens.

Technology determines the possibilities of society. It doesn't matter whether you start out from a fascist state or a communist state or a free-market state.

I think the future stopped looking American when you think back to Blade Runner and Neuromancer, when it started to look more Japanese.

In so much of politics you're not allowed to disagree with what's been agreed.

My point has always been that, ever since the Industrial Revolution, science fiction has been the most important genre there is.