Dark science fiction for adults

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Dark science fiction for adults

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1Shaika-Dzari
jul 1, 2013, 9:07 pm

Hello,

A couple of month ago, I read Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan and I was blow away!

The book was dark, gory, action pack, got some sex, cyberpunk. Wow!
I loved Kovacs. He was disturbed; dead inside and alive at the same time.
He was not a traditional hero. He was not a good guy. He could punch you in the face, kick your ass.

After reading a lot of golden age and space opera, that was refreshing. A 5 stars for me...

I soon got all Morgan's books (excluding A Land Fit for Heroes series) and mostly enjoy all of them.

But since then, I was not able to find something similar.
Am I not searching correctly?
Am I alone to seek this kind of scifi? Scifi rated R ?

2stellarexplorer
Bewerkt: jul 2, 2013, 1:29 am

I assume you read Thirteen or Black Man, my personal Morgan favorite.

3Amtep
jul 2, 2013, 1:07 am

You could try Peter F. Hamilton's Reality Dysfunction series. Not as dark, but more gore and torture.

Stephen King straddles the line between scifi and fantasy, but you could try The Talisman and the Dark Tower series.

I think K.W. Jeter will also have what you're looking for. Especially Noir. I have some scenes in the back of my mind where I no longer remember if they were from Noir or from Altered Carbon.

4AHS-Wolfy
jul 2, 2013, 4:00 am

If you can find them, there's the Carlucci trilogy by Richard Paul Russo. There's an omnibus edition available called Carlucci 3-in1.

5Jarandel
jul 2, 2013, 4:02 am

Books you might want to take a look at :

The Wind-up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds

6ringman
Bewerkt: jul 2, 2013, 7:19 am

Anything by Neal Asher

7Shaika-Dzari
jul 2, 2013, 9:02 pm

A lot of good suggestions here. Thanks everyone.

>2 stellarexplorer:
Thirteen was really cool. And Market Force also. Both were very good

>3 Amtep:
Reality Dysfunction was a good series. Got some difficulties with so much characters but after a thousand page it was ok :D
Noir looks really interesting. I'm adding it to my To Read list. Thank you.

>4 AHS-Wolfy:
Thanks for the suggestion. I did not find it as ebook but I will keep looking.

>5 Jarandel:
Is Chasm City really dark? I love Reynolds and really enjoyed Revelation Space and House of Suns.

>6 ringman:
Gridlinked seems to fit the category. Adding it to my To Read list. Thank you.

8artturnerjr
jul 2, 2013, 11:25 pm

Harlan Ellison ought to float your boat. For the more science-fictional Stephen King, I highly recommend The Long Walk and The Running Man (which is vastly superior to the 80s Schwarzenegger flick which was loosely based upon it).

9rshart3
jul 3, 2013, 5:43 pm

Yes to Jeter and Asher.

I think the Rifter series by Peter Watts would be right on target. First book, Starfish. Paranoia, corporate treachery, doublecrossing; all on the way to the-end-of-the-world.

102Mas
Bewerkt: jul 10, 2013, 4:57 pm

I loved the Takeshi Kovacs trilogy too.

Stephen Donaldson The Gap series is very dark and very good imho.
Its not as actionpacked as Altered Carbon etc but probably even darker.

11dukedom_enough
jul 10, 2013, 5:18 pm

rshart3 > 9

Also by Peter Watts, Blindsight. Really, anything by Watts, but Blindsight was fabulous.

12RandyStafford
jul 10, 2013, 8:19 pm

Try William Barton's When Heaven Fell, a dark look at the psychology of a man who collaborates with alien overlords who have subjugated humanity.

13HoldenCarver
jul 10, 2013, 10:44 pm

To add to the existing recommendations:

Kameron Hurley's Bel Dame Apocrypha series is pretty good. Very strange, but dark and brutal, and very much in line with Morgan's books. Start with God's War and work your way through Infidel and Rapture (can't get a touchstone to work for that last one, annoyingly).

Another SF writer similar to Morgan is Jon Courtenay Grimwood. The stand-alone 9tail Fox is closest in tone, and a personal favourite of mine (and I once got the chance to tell Grimwood this too), but the Arabesk trilogy is also right up there - Pashazade, Effendi and Felaheen.

Going further afield, perhaps you might want to look at Charlie Stross's Halting State and Rule 34, and Walter Jon Williams's This is Not a Game, Deep State, and The Fourth Wall.

Oh, and possibly Tricia Sullivan's Maul.

14DugsBooks
jul 10, 2013, 11:29 pm

#12 Reminds me of this Futurama episode {30 second clip}. I like this topic and will try some of the recommendations I have not already read.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKbFb6TPVEA

15dukedom_enough
Bewerkt: jul 11, 2013, 7:21 am

I forgot to say, Blindsight and the Watts novels rshart3 mentioned are available as free downloads on Watts's web site. While you're there, watch the 1-hour Powerpoint (really Flash animation) lecture on vampires. Dark and funny.

16psybre
jul 11, 2013, 3:24 pm

Of Morgan's works, I've read only Altered Carbon but very much enjoyed it. I vouch for these (mostly fore-mentioned) titles, not in any particular order:

The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
The Gap series (especially Forbidden Knowledge, the second book in the series) by Stephen R. Donaldson
Blindsight by Peter Watts
Have not read "When Heaven Fell" but suggest Acts of Conscience by William Barton
Maul by Tricia Sullivan
For Ellison, perhaps start with his Shatterday or I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream collections.

17artturnerjr
jul 11, 2013, 5:08 pm

Just thought of one that I didn't see anyone else mention - Cormac McCarthy's The Road. If dark is what you seek, this is the book for you (actually, if gets much darker than that one, I don't wanna know about it).

18bsima
jul 16, 2013, 10:47 pm

Along that line, I can recommend Gordon R. Dickson's Way of the Pilgrim.

19paradoxosalpha
jul 17, 2013, 7:34 am

Hm, Naked Lunch is probably the "darkest" science fiction I've read; certainly "for adults."

20chatbot
jul 17, 2013, 8:22 am

I have to second Peter Watts' Rifters series. I really enjoyed the them and I normally don't even read series.

21guido47
Bewerkt: jul 17, 2013, 9:07 am

Sorry, late coming into this conversation.

I am still unsure about Neal Asher.

Unfortunately I have read his works 'well out of order'.

Just finished gridlinked #1, but, since I know...

OP. I do like the AI's. The controlled violence. Perhaps you might like him/it. Oops. Just noticed 'Asher' has already been recommended. Well just think of this as a belated endoursement.

22justifiedsinner
jul 17, 2013, 10:38 am

Try Neal Asher's Cowl it's stand alone and very dark. There are several dark Iain Banks novels: Against a Dark Background, Use of Weapons etc.

23dukedom_enough
jul 18, 2013, 5:07 pm

Actually, is there a non-dark Iain Banks novel? Even when the protagonist survives, there's usually a high body count. Maybe The Business isn't so dark. There're some I haven't read.

24RobertDay
jul 18, 2013, 6:58 pm

'The Business' didn't strike me as dark, though part of the conceit of the novel was that the Company was the sort of organisation that ordinary punters would expect to be dark. But the novel? "The Zoroastrian People's Republic of Inner and Outer Magadan" indeed.

I AM going to miss Iain Banks.

25justifiedsinner
jul 20, 2013, 12:51 pm

So say we all.

26beniowa
jul 20, 2013, 8:21 pm

I'll second Kameron Hurley. Her books are great.

I'll add Kop by Warren Hammond, about a corrupt cop on an impoverished, backwater planet. It's quite a dark and gritty scifi story.

Another is Bitter Seeds, first book in the Milkweed Triptych by Ian Tregillis. It's an alternate history starting in WW2 featuring artificially created superhumans on the side of the Germans and wizards and elemental beings on the British side. One thing I thought it did very well is show what both sides are willing to do to win.

27crdf
Bewerkt: mei 7, 2014, 6:43 am

I don't understand how the The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi is a dark read. It might be just me, but it wasn't dark. I wouldn't say Wool is dark but it is darker.

I was just looking at a list of dark fictions and found The Image of the Beast by phillip Jose Farmer - looks quite dart! Another one I really loved is the Vang: the military form and I would say it is darker. I know it is book 2 but it can be read as a standalone.

I have no Mouth and I must Scream by Ellison Harlan

28paradoxosalpha
mei 7, 2014, 10:35 am

I thought Light was pretty dark.

29anglemark
mei 7, 2014, 10:36 am

Darn, I want that Like button sometimes.

30smaire
mei 10, 2014, 4:22 pm

Phillip Jose Farmer, Image of the Beast. Sci fi does not get much darker. Decidedly not for the faint of heart.

31bj
mei 10, 2014, 6:54 pm

I love the Richard Morgan books and I also love Veteran and Age of Scorpio by Gavin G. Smith so you might like them too. I also really enjoy Andy Remic's books as they are dark and disturbing and he's not afraid of killing off his characters. I think that you should give the 'A land fit for heroes' series a go.

Another series I loved is by David Gunn and his Death's Head books.

If you want to branch out from sci-fi and into fantasy try Joe Abercrombie who also likes to torture his characters and is not afraid to get dirty.

32Shaika-Dzari
mei 16, 2014, 12:07 pm

Resurrecting my old post :-) Thanks for the new suggestions.

A couple of month later, I have tried a couple of the suggestions above. Mainly : Gridlinked, Brass Man, Noir, chasm city and Blindsight.
Really like Asher. I think Cormac is similar to Kovac on many way... So it's fitting my taste.
Blindsight was also really interresting. The mix is genre is fun to read.
Chasm City was great but not so dark...
Noir was also not bad. Too much description for my taste but still fun to read.

Next on my list :
- Image of the Beast
- The Road
- The Cold Commands

33DavidWalkerSF
okt 23, 2017, 4:25 pm

Dit bericht wordt niet meer getoond omdat het door verschillende gebruikers is aangemerkt als misbruik. (Tonen)
Forgive the self promotion, but it's on topic. I write dark science fiction. I've published a dark sci-fi novelette called "Wet Work." I also have a dark sci-fi novella called "Blood Fields" slated for December 20th. If you're into dark sci-fi, there's a decent chance you'll like my stuff.

http://www.librarything.com/work/20544489/book/147427787

http://www.librarything.com/work/20544484/147427749

Cheers.

34ThomasWatson
nov 16, 2017, 1:31 pm

I'm surprised China Mieville hasn't been mentioned. Perdido Street Station sits on the border of fantasy and science fiction, but it certainly fits these parameters.

35RobertDay
nov 16, 2017, 4:49 pm

>34 ThomasWatson: Agreed. I've read both Perdido Street Station and Iron Council, and they felt to me more like sf than fantasy.

36ScoLgo
nov 16, 2017, 6:01 pm

>34 ThomasWatson: >35 RobertDay: I agree too. Haven't read Iron Council yet but, despite the fantasy trappings of Perdido, it is set on an alien world with scienc-ey underpinnings to the 'magic', (Clarke's Law?).

Another that hasn't been mentioned here is The Last Policeman trilogy. Not incredibly dark but still... end of the world is nigh, plus murders & stuff... I enjoyed the writing style and the protagonist was suitably conflicted throughout.

37ThomasWatson
nov 17, 2017, 3:48 pm

>36 ScoLgo: Interesting way to look at Perdido Street Station. It really is a world on which science is being transformed into something like magic as knowledge fades and disfunctionality becomes the rule. It may also have set the record for the number of pages I've read in one book that took place in a sewer.

38RobertDay
Bewerkt: nov 17, 2017, 5:30 pm

39DugsBooks
nov 17, 2017, 5:51 pm

Or Ninja mutant Turtles? ;-)

40Darth-Heather
nov 17, 2017, 8:12 pm

41ThomasWatson
nov 17, 2017, 8:47 pm

>38 RobertDay: Comparable to the first. Haven't read the second.
>39 DugsBooks: Not even close, come to think of it. However, the sewers in Perdido Street Station make those known to the Turtles look posh!
>40 Darth-Heather: Can't say. Haven't read that one.

42princent
Bewerkt: aug 6, 2018, 9:07 am

This is a good topic!

A dark feeling is subjective of course, but for me would be a book elicits a certain feeling, mostly how skillfully the author talks to me via his/her's character, rather than describing a bleak setting. Some say Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi is dark. For me it's more of a cute story whereas Dan Simmons' Hyperion trilogy touches dark more.

Dan Simmons - Hyperion trilogy - superb! Haunting and terrifically suspenseful:
https://www.librarything.com/work/23078

Christopher Priest's Inverted World - A book you will never forget. Not classical sci-fi nor fantasy.. I'm not sure how to categorize it. Brilliant:
https://www.librarything.com/work/187371

Elizabeth Moon - The Speed of Dark:
https://www.librarything.com/work/15604

Richard Phillips - The Rho Agenda: (this touches YA but is very good)
https://www.librarything.com/work/8308738

Stephen Wallenfels - Pod:
https://www.librarything.com/work/9641721

Vernor Vinge: Not dark perhaps but very good sci-fi:
https://www.librarything.com/author/vingevernor

I second Starfish - https://www.librarything.com/work/47729

Richard K. Morgan's Market Forces is different. I like it very much, both the premise and the intercorporate drama.

Peter F. Hamilton - I can never remember his books after I read them for some reason.

Same with Alastair Reynolds - he is good but it's not very dark.

Otherwise some very nice and some new tips here!

43RobertDay
aug 6, 2018, 6:08 pm

>42 princent: I've just read a scholarly article about Chris Priest which defines his work as science fiction where the science is psychology. He's certainly an under-rated writer and deserves to be better known.

I'm currently about two-thirds of the way through Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End. Some parts have had me bogged down slightly; but others have been quite revalatory. It's about a near future (written in 2005 and set in 2025) where there are cures - though not always 100% successful - for Alzheimer's and where the wired society has gone to the next level. Although it pre-dates the ubiquity of smartphones, it skips a generation (or two) and goes directly to augmented reality and wearable tech. Some of the scenarios and points are chillingly prescient even though a twelve-year-old book about future tech might be assumed to be badly out of date. It isn't. And that's pretty dark.

44princent
aug 12, 2018, 3:12 pm

Ooh, a reply!

Thanks for the tidbit regarding C. Priest.

I didn't like Rainbows End in the beginning but then it picked up and I loved it. It could also be that I am so receptive to how he writes, I suppose.

Hope you like it and find more good stuff.

45bnielsen
aug 13, 2018, 4:26 am

>42 princent: and >44 princent: I'm currently reshelving my books after moving and was looking at Fugue for a darkening Island as I read your post :-)

46SFF1928-1973
aug 20, 2018, 10:59 am

>42 princent: The Windup Girl, which I read quite recently, certainly addresses the darkness of the human soul.

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