Any good sci-fi out there that isn't apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, or some form of capitalism in the future? You know, some kind of portrayal of a better world is possible? Star Trek is an obvious one but I'm scratching my head trying to think of other examples.

  • StLangoustine [any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Yeah, this is a drum I've been beating in for quite some time. I love Culture, but it's not particularly radical and Banks seems to have been a lib. Culture is basically what libs want to see "the West" as. Progressive, prosperous, untouchable in its hegemony. Graciously interfering with more backwards weaker civilizations for their own damn good.

    Look to Windward is a particularly revealing example.

    spoiler

    Culture secretly meddles in affairs of cat people's backwards cast civilization, trying to get democratic forces to power through bribes and what not. This backfires spectacularly and leads to a cat civil war killing a good fraction of population in process. The cats are pissed at the Culture. They sent a civil war veteran who lost family in the war to go 9/11 on the Culture's massive space station. The attempt is easily thwarted and it's cat architects are brutally tortured and murdered by Culture's super special forces robot agent.

    Published in year 2000. You can't make this shit up.

    If anyone is curious I also read an academic article with the same sentiment.