# Most Memorable Last Lines in Science Fiction Literature? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 8, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738 "2019-07-08T23:27:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HyacinthBucket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hyacinthbucket/32/3063_2.png) [@HyacinthBucket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HyacinthBucket)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/1 "2019-07-08T23:27:38Z")
My apologies if this has been discussed before. The “Science Fiction Short Story ID Help” thread [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=878191](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=878191) reminded me of some favorite S-F stories where the very last line of the story or novel had a strong emotional impact and gave you serious chills or knocked you flat on your arse. My three favorites are from what for me is the classic era, 1950s-1970s, and all from one of the very best writers ever, Arthur C. Clarke. The post that brought the memories back includes one of them, **The Nine Billion Names Of God** My second shiver-inducer by ACC - **A Walk In The Dark** And at the very top of my list and probably my absolute favorite S-F short story - **The Star** **Without quoting the last line and spoiling the surprise for anyone who hasn’t read them yet,** what S-F stories do you think have the most unforgettable last lines in S-F literature? Please share your favorites and their authors! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/2 "2019-07-08T23:33:17Z")
Isaac Asimov - **The Last Question** (short story) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/3 "2019-07-08T23:45:35Z")
James Tiptree, Jr.: “The Screwfly Solution.” > **[The Classics: 'The Screwfly Solution'](https://www.theverge.com/2012/9/29/3427770/the-classics-the-screwfly-solution)** > > Exploring gender through madness and millenarianism ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/4 "2019-07-08T23:47:22Z")
“The Sound of Thunder” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/5 "2019-07-08T23:48:40Z")
The only one that is coming to mind for me is from [_The Gentle Seduction_ by Marc Stiegler](http://www.skyhunter.com/marcs/GentleSeduction.html). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/6 "2019-07-08T23:49:17Z")
I don’t remember if it was precisely the last line, but the ending of Clarke’s “Hatred” had an even stronger impact than “The Nine Billion Names of God”. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/7 "2019-07-08T23:51:48Z")
Isaac Asimov - Nightfall Daniel Keyes - Flowers for Algernon Mack Reynolds - Compounded Interest Robert Heinlein - All You Zombies William Tenn - Unto the Fourth Generation ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/8 "2019-07-08T23:52:52Z")
Fred Pohl - Day Million Arthur C. Clarke - Love That Universe ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/9 "2019-07-09T00:14:26Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Isaac Asimov - **The Last Question** (short story) To me, this is perhaps the most memorable final line in any story or book I’ve read. Along with Nineteen-Eighty-Four. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/10 "2019-07-09T00:41:07Z")
“I have no mouth. And I must scream.” ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/11 "2019-07-09T00:46:52Z")
I have no idea if the famous last lines in these were actually the last ones, but they were near the end, and when you read the titles, I think you’ll know what Iines i meant. To Serve Man It’s A Good Life. All The Time in The World (The Twilight Zone was great for this sort of thing, wasn’t it?) For Larry Niven stories, the endings of Protector and The Subject Is Closed, were really moving for me. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/12 "2019-07-09T00:55:55Z")
The ending of Watts’s The Things, is certainty jarring. [http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts\_01\_10/](http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/) Not unexpected given the viewpoint, but still. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/13 "2019-07-09T00:59:55Z")
Harlan Ellison - “Croatoan” Richard Matheson - “I Am Legend” ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/14 "2019-07-09T01:00:04Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Isaac Asimov - **The Last Question** (short story) Damn, the second post… ninja’ed before I even knew of this thread. So I’ll go with Asimov’s _“Nightfall”_… the original 1941 “novelette”, NOT the later novel (with Robert Silverberg, 1990). And Bradbury’s _“All Summer in a Day”._ I look back on my Junior High years (none of that pansyass “middle school” for us), and I was so enraptured with SF short stories. I devoured every anthology and collection of them. I still have so much respect for the ability to tell a tale succinctly, and moreso when it packs an emotional punch. The punchiest was _“ **Light of Other Days** ”_ **by Bob Shaw**. Thirty years later, a friend gave a Short Story Party, where everyone read their favorite. This was still mine. Imagine this tale read around a fireplace during a blizzard. And after the last line, silence. [Googling it](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&ei=eeUjXfHWMoWltQaclJHICg&q=light+of+other+days+short+story+pdf&oq=light+of+other+days+short+story+pdf&gs_l=psy-ab.3..33i299.36879.37451..37758...0.0..0.165.392.0j3......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71.DbBzAzLAxWg) brings up some free pdfs, a .doc file, and an audio version on YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/15 "2019-07-09T01:12:14Z")
Isaac Asimov - _All the troubles of the World._ ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/16 "2019-07-09T01:20:12Z")
Stephen King- The Jaunt (short story). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/17 "2019-07-09T01:56:26Z")
Most of the ones I thought of have been posted already. I’ve always remembered the last line of Fritz Leiber’s “Gonna Roll the Bones,” even though I don’t remember much else about the story. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/18 "2019-07-09T02:33:39Z")
[_Nightfall_](http://www.astro.sunysb.edu/fwalter/AST389/TEXTS/Nightfall.htm), maybe. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/19 "2019-07-09T02:51:55Z")
Technically two lines, but… > [@](#): > > And the silence was deeper that night across the face of the world, from pole to pole, deeper than it had ever been before in the life of the creatures that called themselves humans. > > But not as deep as it would soon become. Harlan Ellison, _On the Slab_ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738/20 "2019-07-09T11:45:28Z")
Fredric Brown’s _Answer_ definitely belongs in this thread. After the multiplanetary alien race finishes hooking up all their computers into a single supercomputer in order to ask it the Ultimate Question, the final lines go something like this: “Is there a God?” “Yes, now there is.” A bolt of lightning fused the switch shut. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-memorable-last-lines-in-science-fiction-literature/836738.md?page=2)