Apocalyptic Science Fiction
...ws’; This Is the Way the World Ends. In Nightfall, a world is on the edge of chaos, torn between the madness of religious fanaticism and the stubborn denial of scientists. Only a handful of people on the planet Kalgash are prepared to face the truth, that their six suns are setting all at once for the first time in 2000 years, signaling the end of civilization. In This Is the Way the World Ends, the novel is set in a post-apocalyptic time, in which a people that never existed (Blackbloods) bring to trial those people they feel as responsible for the end of their world. This is a past-tense framed narrative that sends the reader on a journey to see a prophecy of the end of civilization. I define ‘Apocalyptic’, as an event that drastically and suddenly upsets, reshapes, or destroys life as we (humanity) knows it. Killing vast numbers of people usually, but not always, accomplishes this. I define ‘Science Fiction’ as a reflection of scientific thought that considers the challenges ahead of us, the possible consequences and the possible solutions (if any) of event(s), in a non-too distant future. Therefore ‘Apocalyptic Science Fiction’ is humanity struggling to come to terms with or outmaneuver a catysclismic event that would signal the harbinger of doom for the end of life. Excellent examples of ‘Apocalyptic Science Fiction’ are Nightfall by Isaac Asimov and James Morro...