Over at Wyrdsmith's blog Eleanor
Arneson wrote a series of posts about the declining popularity of
Science Fiction versus Fantasy and I chimed in. One of the regular
contributors there, Kelly McCullough answered with one of the most
annoying responses that I constantly hear in this argument:
I suspect some of the issue is that modern science fiction tends to be quite a bit darker than modern fantasy. I don't find it any more difficult I just find it much more depressing and I don't read to be depressed about the future. I get quite enough of that by reading the several science magazines that I subscribe. I enjoy studying and reading in science, but I find much of modern science fiction to be both tedious and depressing.
I answered and convinced no one, so I decided to take a survey of my own reading pattern over the past year. (admittedly, part of this research was initiated by Kelly's high-hatted response that he reduced his reading amount from 80 sci-fi books a year to 10 because of the "dark/depressing" sci-fi pattern)
I've read 146 full-length books in the past year. Of those, 9 were Fantasy, 35 were Science Fiction, and 5 were what I'd call cross-over (which is fantasy that turns into science fiction as the story unfolds in this case).
Of the 9 Fantasy titles, 5 were
definitely dark and depressing. That's an impressive 56%.
Of the 35 Science Fiction titles, 7
were dark and depressing. That's an underwhelming 20%
and none of the crossovers were dark
and depressing.
So, based anecdotally on my own reading, I'm calling bullshit on the “sci-fi is just too dark and depressing” meme.
- rick, reader
Follow the jump for my compiled list.
FANTASY
The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow,
and Thorn)
by Tad Williams
1988
Boring, with a plot so predictable and
stilted as to be not worth reading.
Legends : Short Novels by the Masters
of Modern Fantasy
edited by Terry Goodkind
1998
A collection with some good stories.
Borderlands 4 (Borealis Imprint Logo)
by Thomas Monteleone
1995
A dark and depressing collection which
quite frankly wasn't very good.
The Reckoning
by D. Mikels
2007
A fantasy zombie story with a lot of
dark and depressing about it. But, it was well told and a good
character story. And, it was out of a small press – gotta like
that.
Lord Foul's Bane (The Chronicles of
Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Book 1)
by Stephen R. Donaldson
1977
As dark and depressing as it gets. A
fantasy with a horrible protagonist and it left me feeling icky for
having read it.
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
by Franz Kafka
1915
Mostly fantasy, very dark, very
depressing.
You Suck: A Love Story
by Christopher Moore
2007
A fun paranormal romance comedy.
Heart Shaped Box
by Joe Hill
2007
Judas Coyne a Goth-rock icon buys a
ghost from eBay without knowing that the ghost has plans to kill him
and everyone he loves. This is dark, depressing, and great.
Fragile Things
by Neil Gaiman
2006
A collection of short stories, which
tend toward the macabre. I liked it better than I thought I would.
SCIENCE FICTION
Dark Force Rising (Star Wars Vol. 2)
by Timothy Zahn
1992
A Great Space Opera and it surprised me
with it's engaging story despite being a derivative Star Wars book.
Not dark nor depressing.
The Last Command (Star Wars: The Thrawn
Trilogy, Vol. 3)
by Timothy Zahn
1994See the previous series description.
Not dark, nor depressing.
Flesh And Gold (Lyhhrt Trilogy)
by Phyllis Gotlieb
1999
Not a great book, just a mystery and I
won't read the rest of the series, but it wasn't dark, nor was it
depressing.
Doomsday Book
by Connie Willis
1992Fantastic book about time traveling to
the time of the Great Plague. Dark and depressing.
To Say Nothing of the Dog
by Connie Willis
1998This is a time traveling comedy set in
Victorian England. Not dark, nor depressing.
Cat's Cradle
by Kurt Vonnegut
1963A brilliant science fiction novel with
satire, criticism and biting humor. Maybe a bit angry, but not dark,
not depressing.
Galapagos
by Kurt Vonnegut
1985Definitely sci-fi, and with a message
about what the earth will be like without humans. Funny, angry, and
not dark, not depressing.
God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian
by Kurt Vonnegut
1999Interviews with people who have died
and gone down the 'tunnel of light.' It's a great, funny book. Not
dark, not depressing even though some of the interview subjects were
horrible people (Hitler, etc.)
Slaughterhouse-Five
by Kurt Vonnegut
1969One of the best books of all time.
Dark, depressing and brilliant.
Mission to Stars
by A.e.van vogt
1952Telepathic superhumans in space. A
wonderful, dated read. Not dark, nor depressing.
Timequake
by Kurt Vonnegut
1997Time skips back a decade like a record
on a player and everything is relived. Wonderful, yes. Dark,
depressing, no.
The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge
by Vernor Vinge
2001An expansive collection by a brilliant
writer and mathematician. With the exception of a single story, it's
not dark, nor depressing.
Burning Chrome
by William Gibson
1986Gibson is dark and his stories are
about depressing people, but there's an edge, a bite, and
'thumb-your-nose-at-power' attitude that I love.
Empire
by Orson Scott Card
2006A revolution in America over the idea
of Empire. It's stupid, and politically immature, but it's an
adventure and neither dark, nor depressing.
Naked in Death (In Death, Book 1)
by J.D. Robb
1995A near-future sci-fi romance mystery.
Not bad. Not dark. Not depressing.
World War Z: An Oral History of the
Zombie War
by Max Brooks
2006A near-future zombie story. It's dark
and dystopic. I suppose that's depressing. But it was cool.
In the Balance (Worldwar Series, Volume
1)
by Harry Turtledove
1994An alternate history with aliens
invading during World War II. It is dark and depressing, because
it's a book about war.
The Intuitionist: A Novel
by Colson Whitehead
1999This is kind of a steampunk science
fiction mystery. Not dark, nor depressing.
Wild Cards (Volume 1)
by George Martin
1987Superheroes, alien viruses and an
invasion. This is like a novelized comic book. Dark in places,
uplifting in others. I wouldn't categorize it as dark or depressing.
Hidden Empire (The Saga of Seven Suns)
by Kevin J. Anderson
2002Great, expansive ideas for an ambitious
galactic colonization, exploration story. Aliens, war, politics,
intrigue. Not dark, not depressing.
Twelfth Planet: Book I of the Earth
Chronicles (The Earth Chronicles)
by Zecharia Sitchin
1976I think this was supposed to be
non-fiction. It's not. It's stupid. It's not dark or depressing.
Worlds Enough & Time: Five Tales of
Speculative Fiction
by Dan Simmons
2002A great collection of novellas. None
of them are particularly dark, nor depressing – not even the one
that takes place after the protagonist's suicide.
Hominids (Neanderthal Parallax)
by Robert J. Sawyer
2002Alternate dimensions and a neanderthal
scientist that pops into our world and changes the way we think about
evolution, history, and humanity. Not dark, nor depressing.
Repent, Harlequin! Said the
Ticktockman: The Classic Story
by Harlan Ellison
1965A dystopic look at a time-obsessed
society. Dark and depressing both.
Downbelow Station
by C. J. Cherryh
1981Space opera with a grand vision. The
plot was complex and I couldn't get into it. Not dark, not
depressing.
A Fire Upon the Deep
by Vernor Vinge
1996Grand ideas about the variability of
the speed of light, technology and travel in different zones of the
galaxy. Not dark, nor depressing.
The Andromeda Strain
by Michael Crichton
1969An extraterrestrial disease threatens
life in a small town and subsequently, the earth. It's a
technothriller and all turns out okay, so not that dark, nor
depressing. Perhaps the best thing Crichton ever wrote.
Star Maker
by Olaf Stapledon
1937An ambitious tale of the history of all
life in the universe. Not dark, nor depressing.
Breakfast of Champions
by Kurt Vonnegut
1973Kilgore Trout goes to Midland City to
speak at a convention and he's surrounded by a strange cast of
semi-sane characters in a story where time means very little. Not
dark, nor depressing.
March Upcountry
by John Ringo and David Weber
2001Military Sci-Fi as the tertiary heir to
the Empire of Man and his marine guard unit is trapped on
technologically backward planet and must fight his way home through
dangerous conditions. Horribly cliché and mostly silly, but
not dark, nor depressing.
March to the Sea
by John Ringo and David Weber
2001See above description, because the
story continues and the Prince is still not off the planet.
Spook Country
by William Gibson
2007Near future technothriller mystery
story that is more boring and tedious than it is sci-fi. But it
isn't dark, nor depressing.
Thirteen
by Richard K Morgan
2007A cool story about a bounty hunter sent
out to retrieve others like himself – genetic experiments modeled
after our brutal primitive ancestors. Fast paced, exciting, but not
dark, nor depressing.
Dark River
by John Twelve Hawks
2007The second book in the Fourth Realm
Trilogy, a story about spiritualists who can journey to other
dimensions (Travelers), the people sworn to protect them
(Harlequins), and the vast worldwide conspiracy committed to
exterminating them (Brethren). It's supposed to be a dark,
depressing book about the impending dystopia, but it's really just a
ripoff of Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld.
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
by Philip Jose Farmer
1971Sir Richard Burton finds himself in the
afterlife and is determined to figure it out, and to defeat his new
nemesis, Hermann Goring – again and again and again, through life
after life afterlife. Not dark, nor depressing.
CROSS-OVER
The Book of the New Sun (The Torturer
Series) 5 Books
by Gene Wolfe
1980 - 1988This series starts as fantasy, but
eventually reveals that all that the world is was built on a Science
Fiction, high technology setting. Not Dark, Not Depressing.
holy shite rick, quite the list (again!). i do love it when you list books though. i get inspired.
my personal input is this: 1) sometimes it is rather difficult to separate fantasy from science fiction and;
2) fantasy can be very dark indeed and science fiction can be light AND funny. i never thought of one or the other being any certain way
Posted by: a rose is a rose | Friday, 11 April 2008 at 06:12 AM
Interesting. In the past year, except for some non-fiction, I read only science fiction. My book list included Thirteen and Spook Country but also included Judas Unchained, Revelation Space, The Confusion, everything John Scalzi had written. None of it was dark and depressing. I also read some horror, well funny horror, Chris Moore, definitely not dark or depressing. Actually funny.
What I find interesting is that people characterize something a certain way and pretty much stop reading and refuse to change their opinion. My favorite was one that characterized science fiction as books that don't sell well. If they sell well, they're not science fiction. That was made by a panelist at a science fiction convention. In my personal opinion that kind of thinking is just plain stupid.
Posted by: Tim Mulcahy | Thursday, 17 April 2008 at 08:59 AM
MOBILE TREK (Because In Space No One Can Hear You Dial), is a humorous, zany, off-the-wall look at Sci-Fi and call centres and is currently available in e-book form from www.ereadable.com. For anyone who ever had to phone a “call centre”, or worked in a call centre, and thought they were connected to some spacecraft in the distant future. USS Cellforce 1 is an intergalactic mobile phone call centre, in which Captain Pilchard battles the call centre's of the Krapulans, defeating them and forming a communications alliance. From there they battle the Bornagain and defeat them by crippling their international roaming rights. They go on to negotiate with the Phoebians over their ability to transport any object via a mobile phone to anywhere in the universe, which they call 8G. Through all this Captain Pilchard dreams of retiring to his ferret farm in Edinburgh.
“Anything resembling anything living…..isn’t”
Kind Regards,
Douglas Rea.
douglasrea@bigpond.com
Posted by: Douglas Rea | Thursday, 14 August 2008 at 12:14 AM