Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: What's the Most Depressing Sci-fi You've Ever Read?
50000BTU_barbecue writes "Usually sci-fi provides adventure with happy endings for everyone. But what story have you read that resonates years later because of some insight about human nature or society that's basically cynical or pessimistic? For me it's Fred Pohl's Jem, with its sharply divided resource-constrained future world driven by politics, and its conclusion that humans are just too destructive to handle contacting alien life, especially if humans have the technological upper hand. I'm wondering what other stories have stuck in people's minds. It can be a short story, a novel or an entire series of books."
Though the most depressing part is the people who think she had good ideas.
I don't know if I'd call it depressing. I found it outrageous, myself. Truly outrageous.
"Usually sci-fi provides adventure with happy endings for everyone."
Depends on which side your on.
Yes, him. The magnificent awesome Martin. The guy who writes books where everyone you care about dies, nothing good every happens to anyone, no good deed goes unpunished (the few good deeds that happen), its everyone for themselves or their families - most times, and most importantly, its not even winter yet but its coming! Want a downer? Read A Song of Fire and Ice.
Just saying'
Mass Effect 3. I was depressed for about a week after playing the original ending. (Hey, you never said it had to be good, just depressing.)
"Running MS DOS 3.3" by Van Wolverton.
I had to re-read Peter Norton's massive, "Programmer's guide to the IBM PC & PS/2" two times after that, just to feel better.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
I'll second this. Anything by L. Ron Hubbard. Mine ended up in the recycling bin since I couldn't bring myself to give them to a used book store to put anyone else through that agony.
This post is encrypted twice with ROT-13. Documenting or attempting to crack this encryption is illegal.
Also, it turns out there should be a lot of orgies - it tends to turn out that way in Heinleins books, particularly the books he wrote as a older guy - in those books it turns out the world would be a better place if hot young women would have more orgies with old guys.
it turns out the world would be a better place if hot young women would have more orgies with old guys.
I don't agree that would make the world a better place, but ask me again in a few years and I might have changed my mind...