# Science Fiction Satires **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993 "2004-07-26T22:20:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/1 "2004-07-26T22:20:06Z")
I’m trying to make a list of recent books that use science fiction (or fantasy or whatever) to take a satiric look at the world. Books from the 90s are good; from the 00s even better. Some examples of what I’m talking about might be _Jennifer Government_ by Max Berry or the Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde or Ben Elton’s environmental satires or maybe _Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom_, by Cory Doctorow or Marcos Donnelly’s _Prophets for the End of Time_, just to give several very different examples. They don’t have to be books you’d recommend, BTW. Mention them even if you think they stink. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/2 "2004-07-26T23:29:46Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > I’m trying to make a list of recent books that use science fiction (or fantasy or whatever) to take a satiric look at the world. Books from the 90s are good; from the 00s even better. > > Some examples of what I’m talking about might be _Jennifer Government_ by Max Berry or the Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde or Ben Elton’s environmental satires or maybe _Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom_, by Cory Doctorow or Marcos Donnelly’s _Prophets for the End of Time_, just to give several very different examples. > > They don’t have to be books you’d recommend, BTW. Mention them even if you think they stink. I like the Retief series [http://www.baen.com/library/0671318578/0671318578.htm](http://www.baen.com/library/0671318578/0671318578.htm) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/3 "2004-07-27T01:39:23Z")
There was **Sewer, Gas, and Electric: The Public Works Trilogy** by Matt Russ (despite its title, it’s a single book) from 1997. Especially good for its skewering of Ayn Rand. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/4 "2004-07-27T03:23:23Z")
It’s Matt **Ruff** , but thanks, **Chuck**. That’s exactly the sort of thing I’m looking for (I have the book, but I’d forgotten it). Unlike Retief, which started in 1963. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/5 "2004-07-27T03:43:42Z")
_The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ and Douglas Adams’ post-_Guide_ novels, \*Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency \* and _The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul_, aren’t exactly biting satire, but they do poke fun at certain aspects of modern life. Also, perhaps more in the category of parody (of both science fiction and _noir_), _The Plutonium Blonde_ and its sequel, _The Doomsday Brunette_, by John Zakour and Lawrence Ganem. The first was great fun. The second lacked the original’s spark, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/6 "2004-07-27T04:42:35Z")
If you’re looking for old-time stuff, there’s the roughly twenty-volume _Biography of Dom Manuel of Poictesme_ by James Branch Cabell. The best-known volume is the novel _Jurgen_. And then there’s the _Kai Lung_ stories by Ernest Bramah. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/7 "2004-07-27T04:52:10Z")
C.M. Kornbluth’s _The Space Merchants_. It’s from the '50s, but corporations haven’t changed much: “As I dressed that morning I ran over in my mind the long list of statistics, evasions, and exaggerations that they would expect in my report.” ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/8 "2004-07-27T05:00:29Z")
> [@coffeecat](#): > > C.M. Kornbluth’s _The Space Merchants_. It’s from the '50s, but corporations haven’t changed much Ditto for a bunch of Fred Pohl’s stuff about consumerism. ---
**Author:** ![Moe\_Mentum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@Moe\_Mentum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe_Mentum)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/9 "2004-07-27T05:28:22Z")
_Fallen Angels_ by Larry Niven, et. al. put an interesting twist in the whole Sci-Fi convetnion scene and hard core fans of the genre. [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743471814/qid=1090905804/sr=1-6/ref=sr\_1\_6/002-3590996-0232038?v=glance&s=books](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743471814/qid=1090905804/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_6/002-3590996-0232038?v=glance&s=books) ---
**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 27, 2004, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/10 "2004-07-27T11:20:19Z")
> [@](#): > > C.M. Kornbluth’s The Space Merchants. It’s from the '50s, but corporations haven’t changed much: “As I dressed that morning I ran over in my mind the long list of statistics, evasions, and exaggerations that they would expect in my report.” **The Space Merchants** started out as "The Merchants of Venus\>, which I always thought a cleverer title. Both were co-authored with Frederick Pohl, who later wrote a sequel, **The Merchant’s War**. The latter features something uncomfortably close to internet pop-ups, but in everyday life (!) ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/11 "2004-07-27T13:42:48Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **The Space Merchants** started out as "The Merchants of Venus\>, which I always thought a cleverer title. Both were co-authored with Frederick Pohl, who later wrote a sequel, **The Merchant’s War**. The latter features something uncomfortably close to internet pop-ups, but in everyday life (!) Actually, **The Space Merchants** started out as **Gravy Planet** , the title under which it appeared as a serial in _Galaxy_ (June and July of 1952). “The Merchants of Venus” is a much later (_Worlds of If_, July/Aug '72), unrelated story by Pohl alone – though that story is the first appearance of his “Heechee” universe. You are, of course, quite right to point out that **The Space Merchants** was by Pohl and Kornbluth (who did quite a bit of collaboration in the mid-'50s). As to the OP, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books (though fantasy rather than SF proper) moved from broad parody fairly quickly into more general satire, and many of the books of the last decade or so (I’m thinking particularly of the “Night Watch” books like **Jingo** and **Men At Arms** ) can clearly been seen to comment specifically on the modern world. Tom Holt does something like the same thing, only with vastly less seriousness of purpose. James Morrow’s novels are pretty satirical ( **Only Begotten Daughter** is probably the most fun; **Towing Jehovah** possibly the best), though they tend to focus pretty tightly on religion, to the exclusion of other aspects of modern life. Greg Egan’s **Teranesia** has a fair bit of satire of modern post-modernist theory (either hilarious or heavy-handed, depending on your opinion of the original). William Browning Spencer is pretty satirical – especially in **Resume With Monsters** (a Dilbert-meets-Lovecraft tale). Ken MacLeod’s novels (especially his first four, the “Fall Revolution” sequence) aren’t directly satirical, but do involve a lot of politics (some of it present-day) and observe it with a jaundiced eye. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/12 "2004-07-27T14:52:16Z")
Robert Heinlein’s REVOLT IN 2010 practically prophesized the Christian Right (and I say that as a C’tian Righty). Aldous Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD took on mass production, eugenics, planned economies & coercive utopianism. Ayn Rand’s ANTHEM (set in a post-apocalyptic world) and ATLAS SHRUGGED (with free energy generators, holographic-created mirages & sonic death rays) satirize collectivist philosophies. Walker Percy’s LOVE IN THE RUINS has a few science fictiony elements, but really skewers the Right-Left political & religious divides in the US. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/13 "2004-07-27T16:22:53Z")
There are some satirical elements in the Thursday Next novels by [Jasper fforde](http://www.jasperfforde.com/) ( **The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, Well of Lost Plots** , and **Something Rotten** (just released!) 😃 ). Christopher Moore’s **Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Friend** might also fit the criteria. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/14 "2004-07-27T16:27:53Z")
Not to hijack my own thread, but when I said recent as in the 90s and 00s, I really truly meant nothing more than a decade old. Even the 90s is really too old for what I’m looking for. Is nobody writing satire currently? Good recs, **G.B.H. Hornswoggler**. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/15 "2004-07-27T16:41:45Z")
I know it’s not what you’re looking for, but other people were talking about older science fiction satire, and I figured I’d get in on the ground floor with [Icaromenippus](http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/LucianSamosata.htm), science fiction satire written in 160 a.d. Beat that, suckers! Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/16 "2004-07-27T16:45:56Z")
Okay, now to be helpful. Le Guin has a very recent book, [Changing Planes](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0151009716/qid=1090946672/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/104-3462942-0311914?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), that’s sort of a colleciton of short stories or travelogues by people using the misery of airports to effect brief trips to alternate planes of existence. It’s funny and satirical, very similar to Gulliver’s Travels. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-satires/256993/17 "2004-07-27T16:55:40Z")
Bimbos of the Death Sun, maybe? And it doesn’t count as hijacking if you’re trying to get your thread back on track; quite the opposite, actually.