Dark, gritty science fiction

[paradoxical]

Hey, can anyone suggest some dark, gritty preferably violent science fiction? I've read just about every title affiliated with both cyberpunk and postcyberpunk so don't bother with Gibson, Effinger, Stephenson (though I'd hardly call his work dark or gritty) or their ilk. Been through Richard Morgan's series and definitely not interested in Ian M. Banks' stuff.

[Foxbat]

Stephen Donaldson's Gap Series is pretty dark. Judging by comments I've seen in the past, it appears to be one of those series that people either love or hate. Me, I love it.

[j. d. worthington]

It all depends on what you mean by these terms, really....

While Harlan Ellison has not written that much of "straight" sf (as opposed to work which blurs the lines between sf, fantasy, horror, etc.), much of what he has, would probably fit that description. "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" might be said to be the template for what you're talking about; "The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World" would also, given that it is a sequel to Robert Bloch's tale "A Toy for Juliette" and depicts the result of a time-traveler having brought Jack the Ripper into a clean, almost antiseptic city of the future; "The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World"; "Run for the Stars"; "The Discarded"; "The World of the Myth", "Eyes of Dust"; "Catman"; "Knox"; "Silent in Gehenna"; "Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W"; "Alive and Well and on a Friendless Voyage"; "The Region Between"...

If you'd like to know where to find these, here's a handy site:

http://islets.net/index.html

[The Judge]

I can't help, since that is exactly the kind of stuff I wouldn't want to read!! However, I'll take this over to GBD and you might get a few more responses -- Book Search is really for those who have read a book in the past and now are trying to recall author and title.

[Coragem]

Kameron Hurley's God's War (shortlisted for a Nebula award) is regarded as extremely violent.

Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover is very, very violent, but often in a sort of comedy way.

Not sci-fi but for dark action and dark humour you can't beat Joe Abercrombie's The Heroes.

Coragem.

[merritt]

Through Darkest America -Neal Barret Jr.

Pretty dark :0)

[nomadman]

M John Harrison. Light, Nova and The Centauri Device.

[j. d. worthington]

I think I would also add something like Moorcock's Breakfast in the Ruins. Whether or not it is sf depends entirely on one's definition of that term, but this one deals with "alternative lives" of the character Karl Glogauer, from the past to the future, which is certainly a theme sf has explored quite a bit. At any rate, the novel is subtitled "A Novel of Inhumanity", which should certainly give an indication of the tone.

One thing I would like to address, however, is that all the suggestions I have made also tend to be very concerned with ethics and morality, at their core. The violence and inhumanity is not there gratuitously, but serves a larger purpose. I think, in the main, this is true of any good art; but it is often overlooked because the violence is so "flashy", and a lot of people do tend to take the surface for the substance....

[J-Sun]

Well, Cherryh can be pretty gritty and Tiptree can be pretty dark but I somehow don't think that's what you mean, so two words: Neal Asher. Lots of razor-bladed fanged spiked crazy aliens with alien and human parts flying around.

Oh yeah - and some of Alastair Reynolds' stuff like "Dr. Graefenwalder's Bestiary" and "Diamond Dogs" and whatnot might suit.

[paradoxical]

Hey, thanks for the move. Read most of Harrison's work. Can't stand Asher: I don't think of his stuff as being dark at all, more... I don't know, poorly extrapolated action/adventure with robots and space thrown in for good measure.

I've been trying to get my hands on a copy of Across Darkest America. Not easy.

[AlphaOnOne]

Try Roger William's The Metamorphosis Of Prime Intellect. It's not terribly known I'm afraid, so you can't really get it in print, but you can read it online. Beautiful piece of literature in my opinion, but the violence and sex in it can be disturbing. It was wonderful.

[Grimward]

Seconding Foxbat's Donaldson nomination. It's hard to find darker and grittier than Angus Thermopyle.

[clovis-man]

I can't believe nobody has thought to mention Neal Asher. The Spatterjay trilogy would be a good start.

[Boneman]

There is the Demi Monde series by Rod Rees. I did review the first (winter) on 21st July 2011, and Book 2 (spring) is out. I think summer is due pretty soon, as there was a blog about the cover on Rod's website

[Rodders]

Dan Abnett's Gaunts Ghost series.