Do you have any examples and which do you prefer?
I was thinking in the context of sci-fi authors and how so many of the current generation seem to prefer the above mentioned cynical and pessimistic writing style with British authors seeming to be the worse (best?) examples. Although Stephen Baxtor and Alistair Reynolds are both good writes I find that the unrelenting darkness in their books leaves an unpleasant taste in my mouth, why should I care what happens to the characters if they are to a wo/man unlikable, hateful people?
As you’ve gathered I much prefer authors to have a generally optimistic or idealistic outlook, and again as a generalisation I’ve found American sci-fi authors to be more of this vein than their British counterparts. This struck me, and the whole idea for this thread, after I read a short story by David Brin in a sci-fi collection where his main point seemed to be the necessity of fighting for objective, communal reality with all its difficulties and flaws as opposed to self-centered narcissism (of course he put it much more cleverly than that) and the ending of Thor Meets Captain America almost made me stand up and cheer. 