The End of Science Fiction
by Sam Smith
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Description
No matter how important your job . would YOU turn up for work knowing that you and every living being on the planet will be dead before pay day? A beautiful young woman is brutally murdered - just as governments around the world announce that the universe will end in five days' time. The planet Earth's 6.5 billion human beings deal with their impending extinction in 6.5 billion ways. But amid global chaos, dedicated detective Herbie Watkins stays on the case, determined to discover the show more killer against a merciless clock that's ticking away his own final hours. Is he insanely obsessed, or is he the last sane man in the history of the human race? Sam Smith weaves a unique cop story of a unique cop against a unique backdrop in a unique page-turner of a book. No count-down novel, no disaster book, no police saga has ever been written to thrill the reader and plumb the depths of the human soul as does The End of Science Fiction. It is the last word in SF and crime . and much more. You will read The End of Science Fiction over and over again, asking new and challenging questions of yourself and formulating new answers every time you re-open this outstanding work from the pen of an author who demands one-sitting novel reading. show lessTags
Member Reviews
Brilliant
A murder mystery wrapped in a disaster novel
The story opens with the British cabinet being told by those in the know that the universe is entering the big crunch – the universe has stopped expanding and is snapping back like an elastic band – instead of the big crunch taking millennia the universe and all it contains will be destroyed in a week. With a sense of futility the cabinet decide they can neither confirm nor deny that the end of everything is true. Against this backdrop a young girl is viciously bludgeoned to death and detective Herbie Watkins is determined to catch her killer despite the fact that there is no future. The mystery is in itself satisfying even though its quite run of the mill. The whole concept of show more the end of everything really makes you think though. The end of science fiction? Well it means the end of the future, in fact the end of all possible futures in an utterly annihilating way. As is explored via several conversations throughout the book man really does depend on there being a future for a motivation to do pretty much anything.
Overall – brilliantly written and thought provoking book show less
A murder mystery wrapped in a disaster novel
The story opens with the British cabinet being told by those in the know that the universe is entering the big crunch – the universe has stopped expanding and is snapping back like an elastic band – instead of the big crunch taking millennia the universe and all it contains will be destroyed in a week. With a sense of futility the cabinet decide they can neither confirm nor deny that the end of everything is true. Against this backdrop a young girl is viciously bludgeoned to death and detective Herbie Watkins is determined to catch her killer despite the fact that there is no future. The mystery is in itself satisfying even though its quite run of the mill. The whole concept of show more the end of everything really makes you think though. The end of science fiction? Well it means the end of the future, in fact the end of all possible futures in an utterly annihilating way. As is explored via several conversations throughout the book man really does depend on there being a future for a motivation to do pretty much anything.
Overall – brilliantly written and thought provoking book show less
A young girl is found brutally murdered the same day it’s announced that the universe will end in just 6 days. When there is no future what need to find a killer?
It's a fantastic concept well done. The mystery is satisfying but it’s the effects and exploration of the end of the world scenario that really makes it shine. Against the backdrop of disintegrating society, with no reason for going on, finding what makes you tick becomes all important. The characters need to be strong to hold this plot and luckily they are; from the main protagonist happy in his routine relationship with his wife to his partners inherent loneliness, they are all full realised. Of course it’s interesting too to ponder what you would do this situation, I show more mean you may consider your own mortality but the negation of everything? The end of the future? That’s a stark thought indeed. show less
It's a fantastic concept well done. The mystery is satisfying but it’s the effects and exploration of the end of the world scenario that really makes it shine. Against the backdrop of disintegrating society, with no reason for going on, finding what makes you tick becomes all important. The characters need to be strong to hold this plot and luckily they are; from the main protagonist happy in his routine relationship with his wife to his partners inherent loneliness, they are all full realised. Of course it’s interesting too to ponder what you would do this situation, I show more mean you may consider your own mortality but the negation of everything? The end of the future? That’s a stark thought indeed. show less
Two determined detectives proceed with a murder investigation while humanity reacts in varying ways to the expected end of the universe. Not giving anything away in this review! - much of the tension is engendered by whether, in fact, the predicted calamity will actually happen. Thought-provoking, and very well-written.
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Author Information
15 Works 43 Members
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2004
- People/Characters
- Katherine "Kate" Helen Soames; Herbie Watkins (Detective Inspector); Jim Nixon (Detective Sergeant); Mrs. Harris; Mr. Trellpott; Liz Bradley (show all 7); Sal Watkins
- Important events
- End of the Universe; Murder of Katherine Soames
- Dedication
- Still dedicated to Dick Szwejkowski, man of paper
- First words
- Scene: Nineteen suited Ministers around the oval table of the Cabinet room.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 16
- Popularity
- 1,521,475
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.20)
- Languages
- Chinese, English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
