Title has been edited. I didn’t think of the ambiguity.
The only science fiction story about bad immortality I can think of off the top of my head is, “I have no mouth, and I must scream” by Harlan Ellison, but that is more to do with UFAI than anything else. I know the Dune mythos has some comments on immortality, but I’ve only read the first book.
Hmmm… Tolkien has some rather choice things to say about death in the Silmarillion IIRC. I believe the context is that he is speaking about the elves being envious that men can die rather than pass to the Halls of Mandos. In the downfall of Numenor, Tolkien speaks quite extensively about men rejecting death being an evil thing, and inheritance being screwed up because of it.
I would love more sci-fi/fantasy examples.
Edit: Tuck Everlasting! That book is centered around the theme of immortality, and perfectly ‘conventional’ in its treatment of immortality.
Peter Beagle’s The Last Unicorn has a magician who’s been cursed with not aging until he finds out how to be good at magic. When he makes the breakthrough about magic, the fact that he’s moved on to the normal track about aging is simply good news.
Beagle’s A Fine and Private Place is about ghosts who are clinging to their memories so that they don’t dissolve the way ghosts are supposed to. This is presented as a bad thing.
IIRC, in Harry Potter there are no legitimate magical methods of life extension.
Beagle’s A Fine and Private Place is about ghosts who are clinging to their memories so that they don’t dissolve the way ghosts are supposed to. This is presented as a bad thing.
It is notoriously tricky to dissolve a ghost. I’ve tried all manner of vinegars, oils, and sauces in addition to plain water, but alas, have yet to find the right recipe.
Well, Nicolas Flamel used the Philosopher’s stone for a long time, but in the end he’s depicted as tired of life and wanting to die, having experienced all that is to be experienced, seeking something new to explore. Maybe his expression of that could be of interest to the OP?
Title has been edited. I didn’t think of the ambiguity.
The only science fiction story about bad immortality I can think of off the top of my head is, “I have no mouth, and I must scream” by Harlan Ellison, but that is more to do with UFAI than anything else. I know the Dune mythos has some comments on immortality, but I’ve only read the first book.
Hmmm… Tolkien has some rather choice things to say about death in the Silmarillion IIRC. I believe the context is that he is speaking about the elves being envious that men can die rather than pass to the Halls of Mandos. In the downfall of Numenor, Tolkien speaks quite extensively about men rejecting death being an evil thing, and inheritance being screwed up because of it.
I would love more sci-fi/fantasy examples.
Edit: Tuck Everlasting! That book is centered around the theme of immortality, and perfectly ‘conventional’ in its treatment of immortality.
Peter Beagle’s The Last Unicorn has a magician who’s been cursed with not aging until he finds out how to be good at magic. When he makes the breakthrough about magic, the fact that he’s moved on to the normal track about aging is simply good news.
Beagle’s A Fine and Private Place is about ghosts who are clinging to their memories so that they don’t dissolve the way ghosts are supposed to. This is presented as a bad thing.
IIRC, in Harry Potter there are no legitimate magical methods of life extension.
It is notoriously tricky to dissolve a ghost. I’ve tried all manner of vinegars, oils, and sauces in addition to plain water, but alas, have yet to find the right recipe.
Well, Nicolas Flamel used the Philosopher’s stone for a long time, but in the end he’s depicted as tired of life and wanting to die, having experienced all that is to be experienced, seeking something new to explore. Maybe his expression of that could be of interest to the OP?
That is not quite applicable, as he has significant evidence of an afterlife.
In the third part of Gulliver’s Travels, there is a rare birth defect that causes people to live forever. They do not stop aging, though.