# Science Fiction set around the time of the end of the universe **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056 "2008-05-29T18:52:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/1 "2008-05-29T18:52:55Z")
By “set around the time of the end of the universe” I don’t mean necessarily within seconds or a few years. Just that it’s set at a time where people realize the end is coming “soon” in at least some historical or even geographic sense. If it’s right there at the end, though, so much the better. I know about the Restaurant at the End of the Universe already. 🙂 I’m just curious to know whether there have been any science fiction stories taking place in such a setting. The reason I am curious, if you’re curious, is because walking to work today I sort of spun out such a setting, and wondered how many wheels I was re-inventing. Yes, of course, there are serious ahem _engineering_ problems to be overcome in order to be able to exist in any setting that can count as “around the time of the end of the universe.” Let’s just say I’m not expecting any particularly _hard_ science fiction to come up in this thread. (If it does somehow, amazingly, then that would be great.) -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/2 "2008-05-29T18:57:29Z")
Wow, I’m not the biggest SF fan, but I haven’t seen or heard of anything matching that. Sounds kinda dark, would love to read it if you end up writing it. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/3 "2008-05-29T19:01:22Z")
Asimov’s “The Last Question” [http://www.multivax.com/last\_question.html](http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html) ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/4 "2008-05-29T19:03:00Z")
I have thought about asking this question before because I the concept exciting and I have never heard of such a story besides Hitchhiker’s and the third season ending of the new Doctor Who. I hope there are at least a few people who know of such stories. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/5 "2008-05-29T19:03:02Z")
All I can think of is a couple of comic book stories. One was in the first series of Wolverine, I think #'s 51-53. The story involves Mojo and Spiral and it takes Wolverine to the end of time, called The Crunch. Another was in Ultimate Fantastic Four, I forget what issue #'s. Somewhere around #18 through #24 or so? I think it involved the team going into another layer of the universe (some kind of String Theory physics involved) and that particular universe was at the end of it’s life. Ultimate Annihilus was introduced. It was a pretty good story, and I don’t usually like Ultimate FF. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/6 "2008-05-29T19:04:46Z")
Two things I can think of, in **H.G. Wells** ’ “The Time Traveler”, his hero travels to a time when most life is gone from the Earth and the Sun has begun to swell into a Red Giant. Okay, that’s not the end of the Universe, but near the End of the Earth. Second is **Asimov** ’s story about “The Final Question”. I won’t spoil it, but it does involve the End of the Universe. (The final question is essentially “Is there a way to reverse entropy?”) Satch ETA Hey, those three posts weren’t there a minute ago. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/7 "2008-05-29T19:04:55Z")
[The World at the End of Time](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_at_the_End_of_Time) by Frederick Pohl ---
**Author:** ![bauble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@bauble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bauble)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/8 "2008-05-29T19:10:29Z")
I don’t know if this qualifies, but what about Clark’s The Nine Billion Names of God? (BTW - a Google search on the title links to what seems to be the complete story - I didn’t read it through, and I don’t know that I could tell if there were any omissions, anyway) . ---
**Author:** ![Galwegian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galwegian/32/3426_2.png) [@Galwegian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galwegian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/9 "2008-05-29T19:12:06Z")
_Tau Zero_ by Poul Anderson, and \*Last and First Men \* by Olaf Stapledon are the two that come to mind. More so the Anderson book, IIRC, which is reasonably hard SF to boot! ---
**Author:** ![Galwegian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galwegian/32/3426_2.png) [@Galwegian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galwegian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/10 "2008-05-29T19:19:54Z")
Oh yes, and Vernor Vinge’s book \*Marooned in Realtime \* has the far, far future as a theme also, and is still hard SF. Not sure I remember if they get all the way to the very end of the Universe or not… ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/11 "2008-05-29T19:22:32Z")
I’m proud to have authored an unpublished soft Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel set around the end of the universe, including getting around the logistical problem (and it’s in first person!) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/12 "2008-05-29T19:23:45Z")
**Last Night** and **Sunshine** are two that are set a few years from now, but take place when the universe is ending. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/13 "2008-05-29T19:34:17Z")
First thing that came to mind was Asimov’s “The Last Question” (already mentioned.) Second thing that came to mind was the 2nd time Superman fought Doomsday, he took him forward in time and left him at the end of the universe. Probably not what you’re looking for but that’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![Galwegian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galwegian/32/3426_2.png) [@Galwegian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galwegian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/14 "2008-05-29T19:35:28Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] **Last Night** and **Sunshine** are two that are set a few years from now, but take place when the universe is ending. [/QUOTE] Ummm… if you mean the movie _Sunshine_, surely that’s set at a time when the sun is dying, not the whole Universe? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/15 "2008-05-29T19:43:19Z")
[QUOTE=Galwegian] Ummm… if you mean the movie _Sunshine_, surely that’s set at a time when the sun is dying, not the whole Universe? [/QUOTE] If the sun dies, wouldn’t the known universe end? It’s hair-splitting I know, but the premise of the movie is that all life would end. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/16 "2008-05-29T19:44:57Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] Asimov’s “The Last Question” > **[multivax.com](http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html)** [/QUOTE] I read that just now. It was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/17 "2008-05-29T19:45:26Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] **Last Night** and **Sunshine** are two that are set a few years from now, but take place when the universe is ending. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Galwegian] Ummm… if you mean the movie _Sunshine_, surely that’s set at a time when the sun is dying, not the whole Universe? [/QUOTE] I saw that movie right after watching Cloverfield last weekend. Thanks for reminding me that I need to write another review expressing my disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/18 "2008-05-29T19:46:55Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] If the sun dies, wouldn’t the known universe end? It’s hair-splitting I know, but the premise of the movie is that all life would end. [/QUOTE] But the OP specified an end-of-the-universe story. End-of-the-\*world \* stories are a dime a dozen. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/19 "2008-05-29T19:47:07Z")
Great info so far. I just finished reading Revtim’s link to **The Last Question**. Good read BTW. And now I am off to check out the other suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056/20 "2008-05-29T19:54:13Z")
For anyone interested: **The Last Question** is the only book, ever, that I’ve preferred in audio over printed format. It just _works_. And Isaac Asimov himself reads it. Look for it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-set-around-the-time-of-the-end-of-the-universe/451056.md?page=2)