Tim Lebbon Quotes & Sayings

There's no denying that the way horror has been packaged in the past has done it no favours. Lurid black covers adorned with skulls, corpses crawling with insects and scantily clad maidens being chewed into by vampires
all good clean fun, but it doesn't do much to give the genre an air of respectability or seriousness to the casual browser. — Tim Lebbon

seen Sitterson knew what was happening: in the mechanism older than Man, a small metal hammer struck a glass vial, cracking it from top to bottom and releasing the blood retained inside. The blood ran into a brass funnel that extended into a long, long pipe, running even deeper through rock and dark spaces, emerging eventually into a place deeper still. Here, the — Tim Lebbon

It wasn't a case of me sitting down and thinking, right then, what shall I do with my life? Airline pilot? Plumber? Guitar manufacturer? Writer ... yeah, writer. I've always loved writing, from a very early age
I guess I was writing my first stories when I was still in single digits. It progressed, and the love of writing grew in my mind and is still growing. Doing it full-time, there are different stresses and tensions, and the business side of it comes to the fore sometimes. But I still love it, and I'm always thankful that I can do what I do and make a living from it. — Tim Lebbon

I realised that everyone and everything out there had a story, and that most stories would never be told. — Tim Lebbon

Growing up closes so many doors. The modern world doesn't allow for miracles, so we don't see them. It's a very precious gift, an open mind, but it's not passive. You've got to nurture it like a bed of roses; otherwise it will wither and die. Make sure you don't close off your mind to things you find strange. Sometimes they may be the only truth. — Tim Lebbon

Oh, so slimy bastard shithead had been a lecturer? — Tim Lebbon

Yautja are weird. — Tim Lebbon

Oh God, oh God..." Dana chanted, — Tim Lebbon

Get an agent. Seriously, submitting stuff unagented means it will end up on the slush pile. An agent is the first quality filter, and a good agent is worth his or her weight in gold, as they'll often know the editors on a personal level and will be able to talk to them directly about the project. — Tim Lebbon

I like to think I'm positive and optimistic about things generally, but what I write does tend towards the darker end of the spectrum. — Tim Lebbon

Antibiotics, viral tabs, painkillers, sterilisation spray," Kasyanov said. "Other stuff. Bandages, medicines, contraceptives.
Hoop raised an eyebrow.
"Hey. Forever is a long time. — Tim Lebbon

Hate misleads, fear distorts and love blinds. — Tim Lebbon

At the heart of any poor soul not at one with the Force, there is only void. — Tim Lebbon

Most humans she knew were badly damaged individuals. — Tim Lebbon

She fell, rolled, kicked out with one boot. The alien tripped over her leg and went sprawling, spilling one queen's egg onto its side. Ripley screamed in pain as her wounded leg was jarred, but then she was standing again, aiming the charge thumper and firing her last shot into the monster's face. — Tim Lebbon

Real fear is like intense pain. It's there to warn you something's truly wrong. — Tim Lebbon

Do you have to feel something for it to be real or mean anything? Can you touch your dreams, taste your imagination. — Tim Lebbon

Music, and moonlight, and love and ro...mance." he sang softly to himself, tapping some computer — Tim Lebbon

A Je'daii needs darkness and light, shadow and illumination, because without the two there can be no balance. Veer to Bogan, and Ashla feels too constraining, too pure; edge toward Ashla, and Bogan becomes a monstrous myth. A Je'daii without balance between both is no Je'daii at all. He, or she, is simply lost. — Tim Lebbon

The reaction to death is sometimes as violent as death itself. Shock throws a cautious coolness over your senses, but your stomach still has knots, your skin stings as if the Reaper is glaring at you as well. — Tim Lebbon

I am the Reverend, the note said in a spidery scrawl. Would you like to join my flock of the Hushed? — Tim Lebbon

Hoop nodded. "Everything's good."
"For now," Ripley said. "Only for now. Nothing stays good for long. Not ever. — Tim Lebbon

Androids were never meant to dream. — Tim Lebbon

Love is a warm brain, not a leaping heart. — Tim Lebbon

I tend to believe that computers are drawing kids
and adults
away from reading purely because they provide an alternative, vast source of spare-time amusement and entertainment. I recently heard a frightening statistic: there are less than one million true readers in this country (those who read every day instead of one book per year on a beach). Terrifying. — Tim Lebbon

Maybes. Possibles. Don't knows. — Tim Lebbon

Right then, the future was barely an hour long. — Tim Lebbon

To the discovered, the discoverer can be a god. — Tim Lebbon

Pride is a dangerous indulgence. — Tim Lebbon

The Force is neither light nor dark, master nor slave, but a balance between extremes. — Tim Lebbon

The pain outlives the flesh. — Tim Lebbon

The future and the past are equally meaningless because they are nebulous entities, times that do not exist, containing events which have no echo because they are gone, or which hold no import because they are yet to happen. What is important is the here and now, and now, and now, and the spaces between the nows. — Tim Lebbon

She had already contacted her Peacemaker to ensure that everything there was as it should be. Ironholgs had spat and buzzed as if annoyed at being disturbed, but all was well. She yearned to be back in the ship, alone. — Tim Lebbon

Nature is a big influence on my work. That's where the cosmic element comes in, an awareness of the relevance of what we do as a species, why we do it, and its implications. — Tim Lebbon

If you do not fear God, then fear your dreams, because they're how He talks to you. — Tim Lebbon

Voyaging great distances
through forests, from island to island, across plains and into the mountains
is all about finding ourselves. — Tim Lebbon

Fate knows all about you, it knows your fears and your weaknesses and your confidences and strengths, and it can be ready for all of them when it decides that the time is right. It can move you like a pawn in a terrible game of chess, sacrifice you for the good of others, drop you from a building you should never have been inside, give you a disease that no one has ever heard of. Luck and chance are impartial. Fate is active. It picks on people. Almost as if it thinks about things too much ... — Tim Lebbon

Standing just behind them, pretending to be a part of their group and yet so obviously not, was a shape that did not belong. — Tim Lebbon

He had found his monsters, and now was the time to leave them behind. — Tim Lebbon

We'll start a whole new human race," Hoop quipped.
"With respect, Hoop, I believe Ripley would eat you alive. — Tim Lebbon

Oh man," Powell said, laughing in disbelief. "Do they fire lightning out of their asses, too? Do they cum nuclear jelly? What else, huh? — Tim Lebbon

She saw an alien bearing down and clasping her to its chest, that long curved head raising, mouth sprouting the silvery, deadly teeth that would smash through her skull and free her at last from her nightmares. — Tim Lebbon

Help me!" he screamed — Tim Lebbon

All her life she had known that books were living things, not just a convergence of concept and ink, intellect and paper. They did not breathe or think, but they grew and gave a sense of potential so much larger than whatever was written on their pages. — Tim Lebbon

Damn fine ship's cat you are. — Tim Lebbon

Alchemy should have no part in a Je'daii's experience. It is a dark force, arcane and dangerous. It has the power to upset balance. There are other ways. — Tim Lebbon

Dreams are life, real life, not simply reflections. Dreams are honest. — Tim Lebbon

Maybe somewhere on the Nostromo there had been a similar scene, with Dallas hanging there, stuck in place like the victim in a massive spider's dense webbing. — Tim Lebbon

Hold onto your dicks."
"We don't all have dicks, dickhead," Kasyanov muttered. — Tim Lebbon

Between a gasp and a sigh, a life can change forever. — Tim Lebbon

It's still a great time for adventurers. — Tim Lebbon

Marty coughed and spat a dark mass. Tears burned his eyes. The darkness grew darker. "No... help me!" And then — Tim Lebbon

Palant went to close the door, but she couldn't resist one last look. It was shocking, horrific, and magnificent. For so long she had studied these creatures, their body parts and belongings, trying to understand them through dead flesh, clotted blood, and disassociated tech and clothing. Now she was looking right at one. A living, alien creature, with mysterious thoughts, histories, and philosophies, and an outlook on the universe that she did not understand. However long she studied and theorised, she would never understand. — Tim Lebbon

Your life is a blank, and you're barely a shade across it. — Tim Lebbon

Level 4," Lachance said. "Lingerie, footwear, monsters, and beasties. — Tim Lebbon

How are things on the edge of space? — Tim Lebbon

Love is harsh, and it consumes. And more than anything, it demands sacrifice. — Tim Lebbon

Humans crave knowledge, and when that craving ends, we are no longer human. — Tim Lebbon

On the way there hoop had talked to him about pain, telling him that it was a fleeting thing, a physical reaction to damage that he knew would do him no harm, and that afterward he wouldn't actually be able to remember what the pain. Had felt like. — Tim Lebbon

Any writer takes inspiration from what they read and watch, and over their career works on forming their own voice. I think it was probably Stephen King who made me want to become a writer. — Tim Lebbon

Baby, this is why we came here," Curt breathed into her mouth. "It's romantic." He turned her, one hand on her — Tim Lebbon

Kasyanov, I think I've made it pretty clear," Lachance said. "Our attitude controls is damaged beyond repair, retro capability is down to thirty percent. Several containment bulkheads are cracked, and there's a good chance if we initiate thrust we'll just flash-fry ourselves with radiation." He paused briefly.
"We do still have coffee, though. That's one positive. — Tim Lebbon

Pain was a difficult concept to conjure in memory, Hoop had said. Like tasting the best cake ever. Such thoughts only really meant anything when the tasting-or the pain- was happening. — Tim Lebbon