There’s an undeniable beauty to witnessing an entire planet being destroyed both on screen and in science fiction novels. However, for me, the latter is always more affecting, and many of them have left lasting impacts with their sheer brilliance.
The most impressive times planets have been destroyed in sci-fi
As with any list, this is not exhaustive, and although I do consider myself a good researcher and avid reader, I may have missed a few. I am sure the glaring ones I fail to write will be pulled up, and I will surely read many I have missed. However, these are the planetary destructions I remember from sci-fi. Hopefully, there will be some new ones and memories of old for all. Beware, there are spoilers ahead.
The Killing Star – Charles R. Pellegrino and George Zebrowski
Humanity has reached a state of utopia in the late 21st century. Nanotech is able to build structures at incredible speeds, humanity is spreading itself amongst the stars, and as a race, we have achieved travel at almost the speed of light. Life is good. Humanity is on the up and up, and the stars await discovery.
Blisteringly fast, boulder-sized chunks enter Earth’s atmosphere, each hitting the surface with the force of small nuclear arms. They’re un-trackable and leave Earth defenseless. On the eve of humanity’s collective golden age, we are wiped out, scattered to the winds. What a brutal end.
The set-up, with such utopian hope and unity, just sets this devastating planetary destruction up for a brilliant fall. Pick this one up for some real heart-wrenching science fiction based around our destroyed planet.
The Fall of Hyperion – Dan Simmons
Crossed wires, unprecedented alien invasion, and a government completely unprepared for the magnitude of attack leave a whole wave of planets open for complete destruction. This book makes it on the list for the sheer volume of planetary destruction depicted in this sci-fi novel.
Without giving too much away, due to miscalculations and mistakes, a large number of habited planets in the human network are left vulnerable to huge fleet attacks. The defense forces are unprepared, and there is nothing they can do but watch.
One planet, in particular, known for building “Treeships”, believes it will be spared attack. These Treeships are grown from the planet as enormous, city-sized, organic spaceships. The planet is beautiful, spiritual, and unique. The tranquility and sureness of peace make the obliteration of ‘Gods Grove’ even more devastating as there erupts a “corridor of flame rising ten kilometers into the night sky.”
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy – Douglas Adams
When the Earth is only considered to be “Mostly Harmless” by most other sentient beings in the galaxy, destroying it to build an intergalactic highway isn’t much of a problem. This is more or less how Douglas Adams’s trilogy of five begins. The destruction of planet Earth at the beginning of this science fiction novel sets up the rest of the books and their many adventures.
The nonchalant way Earth is wiped from the star charts is both underwhelming and hilarious. Human beings have rather high opinions of themselves, so to see our planet held in such low regard is quite humbling. There is no fanfare, no protests, just a planetary-sized bulldozer. In a not-so-subtle way, I guess it is an observation of what we do, as humans, to animals’ habitats daily for things as petty as retail parks and motorways.
Moonseed – Stephen Baxter
The idea of the Grey Goo in science fiction almost always spells massive planetary destruction for whatever unlucky planet it ends up on. The Grey Goo of Moonseed is no different, and there is little to nothing humanity can do about it.
I love the hopelessness and devastation of the planet-destroying Moonseed, which obliterates first Venus and then Earth. Our beloved planet faces annihilation from the inside out as the core begins to overheat and power plants around the globe destroy themselves.
In typically English fashion, there is an overwhelming sense of hopelessness in this science fiction novel. There is little chance of survival, and the story is more focused on the gradual decline into complete nothingness. I have always loved the Grey Goo concept as a cause for ruin, and I feel Moonseed does it particularly well. Abandon hope all ye who turn the first page.
The Commonwealth Saga – Peter F. Hamilton
Hamilton has included a weapon called the Quantumbuster in his saga, capable of turning a sun Nova, but that isn’t the planetary destruction I want to highlight. In these monstrous but incredibly engaging books, a hive mind is rereleased into the galaxy. This parasitic, genocidal alien is capable of engulfing whole worlds, dedicated to becoming the only living being in the universe.
As MorningLightMountain, the Prime hive mind, takes over planets, it has no regard for life, conditions, or preservation. As long as one element of it exists, it will survive. This leaves the planets it spreads itself across, poisoned, dead, and drained of anything usable. The crawling, unstoppable, and brutal way in which MorningLightMountain envelops planets is one of the most disgusting and terrifying of any alien invasion in science fiction novels. The concept of planetary destruction in science fiction by a monster of this magnitude makes the skin crawl.
The Final Architecture – Adrian Tchaikovsky
Witnessing Earth being destroyed for the sake of a planet-sized art piece is both beautiful and sad. In The Final Architecture books, this is exactly what happens. The Architects, a group of moon-sized aliens, turn Earth into a huge floating art piece—one that has absolutely no chance of ever being inhabited.
The Architects, aliens from another dimension, work according to instructions from higher beings. They move through galaxies, turning planets from inhabited to desolate, all in the name of art. I love the idea of massive planetary destruction simply being the whim of an aesthetic need in science fiction novels. It’s petty and beautiful.
Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut came up with a truly terrifying concept when he introduced Ice Nine into the science fiction literary world. The idea of this doomsday device is that one seed crystal of Ice Nine can turn any liquid it touches into Ice Nine, self-replicating as it goes.
Originally, the chemical was used to help marines cross marshes and pools. However, it quickly became evident it was far too dangerous. It was also capable of turning all fluids in the body into Ice Nine, completely killing anyone it came in contact with. As research went on, it quickly became evident that it could do the same for all the water on the earth.
With one slight mishap, Ice Nine reached the sea. Every ocean and body of water was frozen into Ice Nine, causing complete planetary destruction in this tragic science fiction novel by Vonnegut.
Berserkers – Fred Saberhagen
This is not a single novel but a concept by Fred Saberhagen spread over many science fiction novels. The machines are basically planet-destroying machines left over from an intergalactic war. Their only purpose is to destroy living beings, and they won’t stop until their job is done.
These machines are self-replicating, self-improving, and driven to complete destruction. They come in all sizes, from smaller than humans, to the size of asteroids. They use machine thinking and learning to improve themselves and run riot across whole galaxies.
They have been used in many books as a concept. Authors pick them up and build narratives around their defeat or success. They’re a terrifying foe to fight but make for some of the best science fiction novels.
Planets of The Dead – Culture Series – Iain M. Banks
In the vast imagined world of Iain M. Banks’ sci-fi saga, The Culture Series, he addresses the idea of “Dead Planets.” These now barren, lifeless places used to be homes to whole civilizations before they wiped themselves out in some kind of cataclysmic event.
The planets themselves are considered reminders or memorials to the cultures that once lived on them. A semi-sub sublime race called the Dra’Azon acts as caretakers, guarding them and maintaining them as memorials.
Revelation Space – Alistair Reynolds
One of the most terrifying and widespread destructions of planets comes from the Greenfly introduced in Alistair Reynolds’ Revelation Space. This is a similar kind of doomsday device as the Grey Goo in Moonseed, but much more devastating.
Originally designed to terraform planets, the Greenfly is supposed to land on uninhabitable planets and terraform them. They produce life and breathable air alongside lush vegetation. However, due to an alteration to their makeup, they now view any life form as a threat to their single purpose. They are considered responsible for the genocide of huge swathes of the milk way.
