N. K. Jemisin Quotes

"Fantasy is fantasy. It's fiction. It's not meant to be a textbook. I don't believe in letting research overwhelm the fiction. That's a danger of science fiction in particular, as opposed to fantasy. A lot of writers forget that what they're doing is supposed to be art."

"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 make. Sense. In fact, I think it's coolest when it doesn't."

"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 seeing something truly different from our own."

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

"Reactionary movements can't sustain themselves unless they find something new to catch and burn on."

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

"If you can imagine something, it will be."

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

"It takes practice to do anything unique within this field, period, in writing, practice doing anything unique in writing."

"It's human nature that we come in our own flavours, and it doesn't make any sense to write a monochromatic or monocultural story unless you're doing something extremely small - a locked room-style story."

"I think the people who believe that works can and always should be divorced from the context are people who have the privilege to do so."

"I've always believed that as an artist, as a writer, you need a lot of contact with other people to make your art good."

"As a black woman, I have no particular interest in maintaining the status quo. Why would I? The status quo is harmful; the status quo is significantly racist and sexist and a whole bunch of other things that I think need to change."

"With epic fantasy, there is a tendency for it to be quintessentially conservative in that its job is to restore what is perceived to be out of whack."

"I don't really understand why so many fantasy writers choose to focus on worlds that just seem strangely denuded. But to them, I guess it doesn't seem strange. And I guess that's their privilege. It isn't mine."

"I think most fiction focuses on uncomfortable settings because that's interesting."

"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 politics; a large cast of characters to love and hate."

"Reconciliations are for after the violence has ended."

"Within the sphere of steampunk, there seems to be a rapidly growing subsphere of gadgetless 'neo-Victorian' novels, most of which attempt to recapture the romance of the era without all the sociopolitical ugliness."

"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 people was de rigueur."

"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."

"To some degree, as I move outside of the exclusive genre audience, the exclusive genre issues don't bother me as much. Maybe that's just speculation."

"I write what feels real. I write things that are informed both by my own experience and by actual history."

"I read a lot of history for fun."

"I tend to like writing characters that are not typical heroes."

"I am a linear thinker in a lot of ways."

"I tend to write society as I see and understand it."

"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 ideas."

"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."

"I write for myself - but it is nice when other people like it, too!"