Disaster

Entry updated 26 September 2022. Tagged: Theme.

Cataclysm, natural or manmade, is one of the most popular themes in sf. Tales of Future War andInvasion theoretically belong here, but for convenience are dealt with under those separate headings; see alsoClimate Change,End of the World,Holocaust,World War One,World War Two andWorld War Three. Stories which emphasize the nature of the societies which spring up after a great disaster are dealt with underPost-Holocaust and – when the disaster is long past –Ruined Earth.

Central to the disaster tradition are stories of vast biospheric changes which drastically affect human life. Tales of universal floods are at least as old asThe Epic of Gilgamesh (circa 2000 BCE), and other motifs, such as plagues, fires and famines, have an obvious source in the Bible, particularly the Revelation of St John (also known as the Apocalypse, whence the adjective "apocalyptic", frequently applied to this form of sf). Disaster stories appeal because they represent everything we most fear and at the same time, perhaps, secretly desire: a depopulated world, escape from the constraints of a highly organized industrial society, the opportunity to prove one's ability as a survivor. Perhaps because they represent a punishment meted out for the hubris of technological Man, such stories have not been particularly popular in the US sf magazines. The ideology of disaster stories ran counter to the optimistic and expansionist attitudes associated withAstounding Science-Fiction and its long-time editor, John WCampbell Jr. In fact, most examples of the type are from the UK, and it has been suggested that this may be associated with the UK's decline as a world power throughout the twentieth century.

However, some of the earliest examples were written at the height of Empire. H GWells's "The Star" (December 1897The Graphic) and M PShiel'sThe Purple Cloud (1901; rev1929) are both tales of cataclysm. In the first a runaway star collides with the Earth, and in the second a mysterious gas kills all but two people, a new Adam and Eve. Arthur ConanDoyle'sThe Poison Belt (1913) also features a gas-like effect (described as a contamination of the luminiferous ether rather than of the actual atmosphere), but in this case it turns out not to be fatal. After World War One the disaster theme became more common. J JConnington'sNordenholt's Million (1923) portrays the social chaos following an agricultural blight caused by a mutation in nitrogen-fixing bacteria. S FowlerWright'sDeluge (1928) andDawn (1929) depict the destruction of civilization by earthquakes and floods, and subsequent attempts to build a new society. JohnCollier'sTom's A-Cold (1933; vtFull Circle) and AlunLlewellyn'sThe Strange Invaders (1934) both deal effectively with survival in aPost-Holocaust world. R CSherriff'sThe Hopkins Manuscript (1939; rev vtThe Cataclysm) depicts the Moon's collision with Earth, and is aSatire on UK complacency in the face of impending war.

AfterWorld War Two there was a resurgence, to an even higher level, of the disaster theme. JohnWyndham'sThe Day of the Triffids (6 January-3 February 1951Collier's Weekly; as "Revolt of the Triffids";1951; rev1951; orig version vtRevolt of the Triffids1952) is an enjoyable tale of a world in which all but a few have been blinded and everyone is menaced by huge, poisonous plants, the titularTriffids. HisThe Kraken Wakes (1953; cut vtOut of the Deeps) is also a successful blend of invasion and catastrophe themes: sea-dwelling aliens melt Earth's icecaps and cause the inundation of the civilized world. The success of Wyndham's novels inspired many emulators. The most distinguished was JohnChristopher, whoseThe Death of Grass (1956; vtNo Blade of Grass) is a fine study of the breakdown of civilized values when a virus kills all crops. The same author'sThe World in Winter (1962; vtThe Long Winter) andA Wrinkle in the Skin (1965; vtThe Ragged Edge) are also above-average works: one concerns a new Ice Age and the other features earthquakes. Many other UK novelists have dealt in similar catastrophes; e.g., J TMcIntosh inOne in Three Hundred (February 1953F&SF; exp1954), JohnBoland inWhite August (1955), Charles EricMaine inThe Tide Went Out (1958; rev vtThirst!1977), EdmundCooper inAll Fools' Day (1966), D FJones inDon't Pick the Flowers (1971; vtDenver Is Missing) and KitPedler and GerryDavis inMutant 59: The Plastic-Eater (1972). KeithRoberts'sThe Furies (1966), D GCompton'sThe Silent Multitude (1966) and RichardCowper'sThe Twilight of Briareus (1974) combine disaster and invasion themes in the Wyndham manner. Fred and GeoffreyHoyle'sThe Inferno (1973) deals with humanity's attempts to survive devastating cosmic radiation.

There have been several more personal uses of the disaster theme by UK writers – studies in character and psychology rather than adventure stories. An early example was JohnBowen'sAfter the Rain (1958). More impressive are J GBallard's examinations of human "collaborations" with natural disasters:The Drowned World (January 1962Science Fiction Adventures; exp1962),The Burning World (1964; rev vtThe Drought) andThe Crystal World (1966), which concern the psychological attractions of flooded, arid and crystalline landscapes. Brian WAldiss'sGreybeard (1964) is a well-written tale of universal sterility and the impending death of the human race. Several younger UK writers, influenced by Aldiss and Ballard, have produced variations on the cataclysmic theme: CharlesPlatt in "The Disaster Story" (March 1966New Worlds) andThe City Dwellers (1970), M JohnHarrison inThe Committed Men (1971) and ChristopherPriest inFugue for a Darkening Island (1972). JohnBrunner made strong admonitory use of the form in his novel of ecological catastrophe,The Sheep Look Up (1972). AngelaCarter'sHeroes and Villains (1969) is a powerful love story set in the aftermath of a disaster, and DorisLessing'sMemoirs of a Survivor (1974) is about a passive woman who observes society's collapse from her window.

US disaster novels are fewer in number. Oddly enough, where UK writers reveal an obsession with the weather, US writers show a strong concern for disease. DisastrousPandemics feature in JackLondon'sThe Scarlet Plague (1915), George RStewart'sEarth Abides (1949), RichardMatheson'sI Am Legend (1954), AlgisBudrys'sSome Will Not Die (1961), MichaelCrichton'sThe Andromeda Strain (1969), Chelsea QuinnYarbro'sTime of the Fourth Horseman (1976), StephenKing'sThe Stand (cut from manuscript1978; text largely restored and rev1990), FrankHerbert'sThe White Plague (1982), GregBear'sBlood Music (June 1983Analog; exp1985) – though here the biological immolation of the USA is ultimately argued as a blessing in disguise – and on into the new century with such works as AlexAdams'sWhite Horse (2012). Of these, Stewart'sEarth Abides perhaps the outstanding work, containing much sensitive description of landscape and of the moral problems of the survivors. A notable short-story treatment of the theme, with a man-made plague as in several of the above-cited novels, is JamesTiptree Jr's "The Last Flight of Doctor Ain" (March 1969Galaxy; rev inSF: Authors' Choice 4, anth1974, ed HarryHarrison).

Other notable disaster stories by US writers includeThe Second Deluge (1912) by Garrett PServiss,Darkness and Dawn (1914) by George AllanEngland,When Worlds Collide (September 1932-February 1933Blue Book;1933) by EdwinBalmer and PhilipWylie,Greener Than You Think (1947) by WardMoore, "The Xi Effect" (January 1950Astounding) by PhilipLatham,Cat's Cradle (1963) by KurtVonnegut Jr,The Genocides (1965) by Thomas MDisch, "And Us, Too, I Guess" (inChains of the Sea, anth1973, ed RobertSilverberg) by George AlecEffinger,The Swarm (1974) by ArthurHerzog andLucifer's Hammer (1977) by LarryNiven and JerryPournelle.

Japanese sf seems to have a leaning towards disaster themes. Two notable examples are KōbōAbe'sDai-Yon Kampyoki (1959; trans asInter Ice Age 41970) and SakyoKomatsu'sNippon Chinbotsu (1973; cut trans asJapan Sinks1976). The latter was filmed in 1973 asNippon Chinbotsu (vtThe Submersion of Japan; vtTidal Wave).

Disaster is a popular motif in sf in theCinema and onTelevision. Examples are the US filmEarthquake (1975) directed by Mark Robson and the UK television seriesSurvivors (1975-1977). The original disaster-movie boom in the US took place in the 1960s and 1970s, and featured disasters both domestic and science-fictional; a producer associated with films of both kinds was IrwinAllen, whose productions includeThe Swarm (1978), whose eponymous menace consists of killer bees. Post-1960 examples range from Earth falling into theSun inTheDay the Earth Caught Fire (1961) directed by Val Guest to theAsteroid impact of the television miniseriesAsteroid (1997) and the only partially preventedComet strike ofDeep Impact (1998) directed by Mimi Leder. Occasional disaster-themed films continue to appear in the twenty-first century, such as the almost comical overstatement of rapidClimate Change inTheDay After Tomorrow (2004) directed by RolandEmmerich, the more personal/psychological handling of a coming planetary collision inMelancholia (2011) directed by Lars von Trier, and the harrowing depiction of escalating globalPandemic inContagion (2011) directed by Steven Soderbergh. Another durable cinema incarnation is theMonster Movie (which see).

Curiously enough, although the 1980s were generally regarded as a pessimistic decade, the disaster theme in sf seemed temporarily played out, with only occasional books of any consequence. Among them wereThe Birth of the People's Republic of Antarctica (1983) by John CalvinBatchelor, which is an ironic account of civilization's collapse; JamesMorrow'sThis Is the Way the World Ends (1986), which puts survivors of aWorld War Three Holocaust on trial; GregBear'sThe Forge of God (1987), which has Earth destroyed byAlien machines, and DavidBrin'sEarth (1990), which sees Earth in danger of being swallowed up by a smallBlack Hole at its core.

Similarly exotic and far-fetched disaster scenarios from British authors appear in StephenBaxter'sMoonseed (1998), where the Earth's crust is devoured by alienNanotechnology, releasing internal magma in increasingly cataclysmic volcanic eruptions as a preliminary to the total dissolution of the planet (see alsoGrey Goo); Paul JMcAuley'sThe Secret of Life (2001), with adapted microbes fromMars forming a vast Pacific bloom or slick whose growth threatens global meltdown ofEcology; AdamRoberts'sOn (2001), turningGravity sideways to make most of Earth's surface a vertiginous, precarious cliff, andThe Snow (2004), in which a snowfall of unexplained and unfeasible vastness buries the world three miles deep; and StephenBaxter's similarly impossibleFlood (2008), drowning Earth first with rain and then in ever-rising waters from imagined subcrustal reservoirs.

In the USA, MatthewMather'sNomad (2015) has theSolar System threatened by an approaching pair of mutually orbitingBlack Holes; the same author'sAeon Rising (2022) features a supernova flash that rapidly overheats Earth's southern hemisphere.

But the default mode of disaster for the twenty-first century, spreading even into works byMainstream Writers of SF and such films asTheDay After Tomorrow (2004), is human-caused or human-exacerbatedClimate Change (which see). [DP/PN/DRL]