“'We all live in a kind of continuous dream,' I told him. 'When we wake, it is because something, some event, some pinprick even, disturbs the edges of what we’ve taken as reality.'”

Jeff Vandermeer, The Southern Reach Trilogy: Annihilation, 2014

“Every landscape is haunted by past ways of life. We see this clearly in the presence of plants whose animal seed-dispersers are no longer with us. Some plants have seeds so big that only big animals can carry them to new places to germinate. When these animals became extinct, their plants could continue without them, but they have been unable to disperse their seeds very well. Their distribution is curtailed; their population dwindles. This is an example of what we are calling haunting.”

Nils Bubandt & Anna Tsing, Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet: Ghosts and Monsters of the Anthropocene, 2017  

“Some believe that the human-caused extinction of a species carries a moral imperative that bolsters the case for de-extinction. Brand has said that we should de-extinct species for the same reason that we protect endangered ones: to undo harm that humans have caused.”

Britt Wray, Rise of the Necrofauna: The Science, Ethics, and Risks of De-Extinction, 2017

“"Every created animal," the magician said in a vague, disconnected voice. “Every created animal, every single piece of biotech, has a signature, or sometimes many signatures. Of their creators. Of their intent. And these signatures leave a message, intended or not. And if you can read these messages, you can… oh, what have we here?””

Jeff Vandermeer, The Strange Bird, 2017

“I don’t have much to say except a warning. Life reached an evolutionary milestone when it climbed onto land from the ocean, but those first fish that climbed onto land ceased to be fish. Similarly, when humans truly enter space and are freed from the Earth, they cease to be human. So, to all of you I say this: When you think about heading into outer space without looking back, please reconsider. The cost you must pay is far greater than you could imagine.”

Liu Cixin, The Remembrance of Earth’s Past: The Three-body Problem, 2008

“Natural places are no different than human cities. The old exists next to the new. Invasive species integrate with or push out native species. The landscape you see around you is the same as seeing an old cathedral next to a skyscraper.”

Jeff Vandermeer, Borne, 2017

“There is a curious, nearly ephemeral side to insects.They are probably furthest from the image of domesticated animals that have been contained and rationalized as part of the pet culture of modern society (...) they remain radically nonhuman: as often presented in science fiction, insects are from outer space; they remain alien to human life. They present a curious threat but perhaps also a possibility of a future nonhuman life.”


Jussi Parikka, Insect Media, 2010

“His eyes were eggs of unstable crystal, vibrating with a frequency whose name was rain and the sound of trains, suddenly sprouting a humming forest of hair-fine glass spines.”

William Gibson, Neuromancer, 1984