Hell, and the post-apocalyptic world in Alan Dean Foster's To the Vanishing Point.
The worlds of Hal Duncan's Vellum.
The worlds of Hal Duncan's Vellum.
Most morbid AH
- Thread starter Wolf
- Start date
Riain
Banned
I find the Turtledove 'Gun of the South' Series morbid. IOTL prior to WW1 Europeans could emmigrate to America, Canada and Australia to get away from the Eurpean rivalry bullshit. But in this series everyone is an armed camp, which sucks. As dreadful as the actual event is, I don't think the Striling emberverse itself in later years is morbid. I find the idea of a world stripped of the sophistry which clutters our lives somewhat appealing.
Alcuin
Banned
How about Nuber's Italy in Orson Scott Card's "The Worthing Saga". Yes, I know it's only a game but the rules of the game were complex enough to allow it to be considered AH. Italy unites the world in the course of the 20th century with the Catholic Church at the centre of everything, the single thing that unites the world. Then, as utopia is becoming purpose, the corruption at the heart of the Church is suddenly revealed and the world is left worse off than before.
Here, here. In dystopias like the Drakaverse, any Naziworld, or, hell, 1984 at least somebody comes off well, if only the villainous. SBP is like a Wagnerian opera: everyone dies and there is no hope. (Kudos to whatever wackjob is posting it. Using mostly newspaper headlines, s/he captures more gloom in fewer words than I've ever seen.)
I Am Legend.
When you are the only normal human left in a world of Vampires and it kill or be killed, that's pretty bad.
When you find out that a lot of the "Vampires" you killed WEREN'T really vampires
, but humans living with the disease with the result that the remnants of the Human Race are scared shitless of you, that's worse.
The Emberverse.
When 90%+ of the Human race is dead from starvation, and a decent percentage of the survivors made it on a diet heavy in "long pig" that is not a happy place. When you add in the fact that it seems to have happened because an ASB is just screwing around with humanity, that is pretty damned bad.
When you are the only normal human left in a world of Vampires and it kill or be killed, that's pretty bad.
When you find out that a lot of the "Vampires" you killed WEREN'T really vampires
, but humans living with the disease with the result that the remnants of the Human Race are scared shitless of you, that's worse.The Emberverse.
When 90%+ of the Human race is dead from starvation, and a decent percentage of the survivors made it on a diet heavy in "long pig"
that is not a happy place. When you add in the fact that it seems to have happened because an ASB is just screwing around with humanity, that is pretty damned bad.
Harry Turtledove's The Gladiator is pretty depressing...
So is red dawn. China get's nuked, most of USSR's population starves, and the midwest is scarred for ever.
So is red dawn. China get's nuked, most of USSR's population starves, and the midwest is scarred for ever.
I haven't read it, but wikipedia presents a rather disturbing overview of The Ultimate Solution.
Personally, Tutledove's T-191 isn't much worse than OTL: it's just what happened in Europe has been brought to America. In that regard it seems worse to Americans, but in some ways I could invision actually living there. Guns of the South, too, wasn't as bad as all that: Lee kinda kicks racist butt. Fatherland was just depressing, though, and the man in high castle wasn't much better. Turtledove's worst that I've read is In the Presence, but even there, it's basically revealed that the government has been "infiltrated" by Jews, in which case, the world will go through much the same process as the Eastern block did post USSR.
OOH OOH, I KNOW! In the collection of shorts edited by HT, there was one...forget the author...called "Moon Of Ice." IMO, it was the best written in the collection ( there was some ASB crap in that book...)...but talk about morbid. Seriously, the one Nazi...his name escapes me...not Himmler or Goering, but someone else...was the GOOD GUY. The Nazis run the world, and the SS, having gone completely unhinged, are planning on unleashing a virus on the earth that will kill everyone not of TOTAL aryan descent, aka everyone, including themselves, than nuking the planet in order to better commune with Thor and Odin in Valhalla. I ended up rereading it to figure some of it out, and felt like I needed prozac afterwards.
)...but talk about morbid. Seriously, the one Nazi...his name escapes me...not Himmler or Goering, but someone else...was the GOOD GUY. The Nazis run the world, and the SS, having gone completely unhinged, are planning on unleashing a virus on the earth that will kill everyone not of TOTAL aryan descent, aka everyone, including themselves, than nuking the planet in order to better commune with Thor and Odin in Valhalla. I ended up rereading it to figure some of it out, and felt like I needed prozac afterwards.Faeelin
Banned
OOH OOH, I KNOW! In the collection of shorts edited by HT, there was one...forget the author...called "Moon Of Ice." IMO, it was the best written in the collection ( there was some ASB crap in that book...
I believe it was the minister of propaganda for the Nazis. I wanna say Goebbels.
I think the Turner Diaries are the most morbid AH I've ever read. Imagine a totalitarian world where all non-whites have been exterminated and there are no Jews, hiding or otherwise.
The scary part is the author, Something Pierce, wanted this to happen!
You're thinking of Wiliam Luther Pierce (he died only in 2002 BTW). Yeah, that bloody bastard hoped his novel would serve as the blueprint for a future history
...and it became the bible of Tim McVeigh eventually.I've only read summaries of the book on Wikipedia and John Reilly's site...I don't think I'd be able to make it through the book.
Chris
Banned
You're thinking of Wiliam Luther Pierce (he died only in 2002 BTW). Yeah, that bloody bastard hoped his novel would serve as the blueprint for a future history
I've only read summaries of the book on Wikipedia and John Reilly's site...I don't think I'd be able to make it through the book.
It's scary. Read it with an open mind and who knows what might come crawling in...
Heh - I'm surprised no one has mentioned WW3 yet.
Chris
I've read the Turner diaries, and its far more horrifying than one can imagine. The "freedom fighters" are exceedingly ruthless, pointlessly sadistic, and rule through naked fear. They have no compunction with using terror to cowl an unwilling populace to go along with their ideals. It is quite simply a neo-nazi's utopia: an intensely autocratic, paranoid, genocidal society devoted to the destruction of the Other, for no real good reason. And worst of all it is presented as an admirable goal.
WW3?
That's not even the most morbid WW 3 Story I've read! It just stirred up a bunch O'$%#^ 'round here.