N. K. Jemisin

“For all those that have to fight for the respect that everyone else is given without question.”

“You are what your creators and experiences have made you, like every other being in this universe. Accept that and be done; I tire of your whining.”

“I remembered Nahadoth's lips on my throat and fought to suppress a shudder, only half succeeding. Death as a consequence of lying with a god wasn't something I had considered, but it did not...”

“In the future, as in the present, as in the past, black people will build many new worlds. This is true. I will make it so. And you will help me.”

“So here is why I write what I do: We all have futures. We all have pasts. We all have stories. And we all, every single one of us, no matter who we are and no matter what’s been taken from u...”

“The shake that passes will echo. The wave that recedes will come back. The mountain that rumbles will roar.”

“In the 'Dreamblood' books, I'm focusing more on what I like about epic fantasy: the layering and depth of tension; the chance to really delve into the minutia of an alternate society and its...”

“All people who grew up with science fiction and fantasy and horror went through the whole acculturation process of the genre. We were all told to read the golden age writers. We were all tol...”

“When I start a new novel, I often write 'test chapters' in different tenses and from different points of view in order to figure out which is best to tell the tale.”

“There's a tendency in American thought - maybe elsewhere, but that's the culture I know best - to default to social Darwinism, even though even Darwin noted that's a misapplication of his id...”

“Actual Victorian mores and politics were a reaction to a specific series of historical events, technological and scientific developments, and ethical trends in which the commodification of p...”

“Knowing about authors' beliefs helps you understand how those beliefs influence their writing, and things you thought meant one thing, once you've got enough information about that writer, y...”

“This is magic we're talking about. It's supposed to go places science can't, defy logic, wink at technology, fill us all with the sensawunda that comes of gazing upon a fictional world and s...”

“Reconciliation is a part of the healing process, but how can there be healing when the wounds are still being inflicted?”

“It's the way the human brain works: when enough events occur in a pattern, we stop thinking and go into macro mode.”

“My first series, the 'Inheritance' trilogy, in the first book, you were dealing with a woman of color from an impoverished culture, being brought up among wealthy, privileged white people an...”

“Magic is the mysteries into which not everyone is so lucky, or unlucky, as to be initiated. It can be affected by belief, the whims of the unseen, harsh language. And it is not. Supposed. To...”

“A fantasy novel set in something other than medieval Europe, featuring an almost entirely black cast, is considered risky.”

“It's hard out here for a fantasy writer, after all; there's all these 'rules' I'm supposed to follow, or the Fantasy Police might come and make me do hard labor in the Cold Iron Mines.”

“I've been very happy with Orbit and am thrilled that they're giving me more chances to explore my creative visions.”