--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Strip away the morphing landscapes and…" description: "\"Strip away the morphing landscapes and rips in the space-time continuum, and my stories are about things that novels have always been about: love and s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/949/steve-erickson-9119_books_strip-away-the-morphing-landscapes-and-r_1722150.png" --- # Strip away the morphing landscapes and rips in the… ![“Strip away the morphing landscapes and rips in the space-time continuum, and my stories are about things that novels have always been about: love and sex and identity and memory and history and redemption.” quote by Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/949/steve-erickson-9119_books_strip-away-the-morphing-landscapes-and-r_1722150.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/949/steve-erickson-9119_books_strip-away-the-morphing-landscapes-and-r_1722150.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/949/steve-erickson-9119_books_strip-away-the-morphing-landscapes-and-r_1722150.png) > “Strip away the morphing landscapes and rips in the space-time continuum, and my stories are about things that novels have always been about: love and sex and identity and memory and history and redemption.” [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author says that beneath speculative settings, stories still explore timeless human concerns such as love, identity, memory, and redemption. **In simple terms:** Stories use sci‑fi backdrops but focus on core human themes. Key Takeaway Remember that genre is a vehicle, not a distraction. Themes love identity memory redemption fiction Mood reflective introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing novels - film scripts - personal essays Key Concepts postmodernism narrative layering humanism Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance world‑building with character depth? - What universal truths can you extract from fantastical settings? A Different Perspective Genre can obscure emotional depth if over‑emphasized. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Continuum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continuum/) [Continuum Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continuum-stories-1348540/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landscape/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love and sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-and-sex/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Morphing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morphing/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels/) [Novels Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels-love-482025/) [Redemption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/redemption/) [Rip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rip/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Space time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space-time/) [Space time continuum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space-time-continuum-174994/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Stories Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories-things-292433/) [Things Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-novels-1348541/) ## Related quotes > [One of the things that novels have tended not to concentrate on over the centuries is the fact that people read books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/one-of-the-things-that-novels-have-tended-not-to-concentrate-on-over/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I also live in the present, due to the constraints of the space-time continuum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hank-green/i-also-live-in-the-present-due-to-the-constraints-of-the-space-time/) [Hank Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hank-green/) > [Christopher Nolan’s 168-minute odyssey through the space-time continuum is stuffed with stuff of bewildering wrongness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-morgenstern/christopher-nolan-s-168-minute-odyssey-through-the-space-time/) [Joe Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-morgenstern/) > [“Beyond the corridor of our space-time there are infinite numbers of universes, each of them is governed by its own set of laws and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-ray/beyond-the-corridor-of-our-space-time-there-are-infinite-numbers-of/) [Amit Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-ray/) > [“My fingers scrabbled at the smooth leather interior of Ryu’s BMW as he missed the exit we needed. 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The hair is black from her part to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-halse-anderson/my-english-teacher-has-no-face-she-has-uncombed-stringy-hair-that/) [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-halse-anderson/) > [I think my family's watched me over the years in my career, in my pursuit of my career, and they've seen the challenges and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-schroder/i-think-my-family-s-watched-me-over-the-years-in-my-career-in-my/) [Ricky Schroder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-schroder/) > [We are morphing as we go through things, and then we're presented with the notion of a soul. 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I tell the stories in the way that feels natural to tell them. Certainly the last thing I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/the-material-dictates-the-approach-i-tell-the-stories-in-the-way-that/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [“Everyone, she says, is his own age of meaning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/everyone-she-says-is-his-own-age-of-meaning/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [“When the thing that emerged from the collision of sex and freedom, called love, collided with the thing that emerged from the collision of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/when-the-thing-that-emerged-from-the-collision-of-sex-and-freedom/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [While I do believe I become a technically better writer over time, in others ways writing gets harder because inspiration is finite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/while-i-do-believe-i-become-a-technically-better-writer-over-time-in/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [Obviously cheap sentimentality isn't something any good novelist wants to traffic in, but I think it's a problem if you consider it to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/obviously-cheap-sentimentality-isn-t-something-any-good-novelist/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [“The human heart commits its greatest treachery by healing. It commits its greatest treachery by surviving the love that was supposed to last forever,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/the-human-heart-commits-its-greatest-treachery-by-healing-it-commits/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [While a particularly deft sense of irony may be one of the tools of great storytellers, I think it's also true that if irony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/while-a-particularly-deft-sense-of-irony-may-be-one-of-the-tools-of/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [I believe novels can have secrets from their author, a notion I imagine would appall Nabokov.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/i-believe-novels-can-have-secrets-from-their-author-a-notion-i/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [“The Movies have always been here. The Movies were here before God. Time is round like a reel of film. God hates the Movies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/the-movies-have-always-been-here-the-movies-were-here-before-god-time/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [When L.A.’s schizophrenia between Dreamland and Utopia was becoming socially manifest, the United States, which was always a place, went to war with America,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/when-l-a-s-schizophrenia-between-dreamland-and-utopia-was-becoming/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) [Explore all 74 Steve Erickson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. 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There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Strip away the morphing landscapes and rips in the space-time continuum, and my stories are about things that novels have always been about: love and sex and identity and memory and history and redemption.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Steve Erickson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/strip-away-the-morphing-landscapes-and-rips-in-the-space-time/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/strip-away-the-morphing-landscapes-and-rips-in-the-space-time/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/949/steve-erickson-9119_books_strip-away-the-morphing-landscapes-and-r_1722150.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/949/steve-erickson-9119_books_strip-away-the-morphing-landscapes-and-r_1722150.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/949/steve-erickson-9119_books_strip-away-the-morphing-landscapes-and-r_1722150.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Strip away the morphing landscapes and rips in the space-time continuum, and my stories are about things…” — Steve Erickson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Steve Erickson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Strip away the morphing landscapes and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/strip-away-the-morphing-landscapes-and-rips-in-the-space-time/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/strip-away-the-morphing-landscapes-and-rips-in-the-space-time/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```