History Creator / JohnBrunner

* DistantReactionShot: A non-comedic example occurs at the end of ''The Sheep Look Up'', with [[spoiler:people in Ireland smelling the smoke as (evidently) all of America burns.]]
* DownerEnding:'' The Sheep Look Up'' has possibly one of the darkest endings in any literary Science Fiction novel written at the time. In short: Austin Train dies in a terrorist bombing but not before his words (and the rapidly collapsing biosphere) encourage widespread civil unrest and revolution against the essentially fascist US of the Novel's fictional setting. Most of the main cast ends up dead and the whole novel ends with a few people in *Ireland* seeing the smoke from the American apocalypse drifting over their heads. America is effectively dead but judging by how the Mediterranean sea is completely sterilized from pollution and Southeast Asia has completely desertified due to American imperialism in the region it looks like the rest of the world is not far behind

* GaiasLament: The Sheep Look Up. America is on the brink of mass famine due to widespread pollution that has become so bad that an entire generation of children are growing up with birth defects. The Oceans are dead and sterile. It is briefly mentioned that the Mekong delta is simply *gone*, the entire area completely unihabitable due to US chemical weapons used in the (then ongoing at time of writing) Vietnam War. People must wear breathmasks at all times when walking around outside in most of the world due to the air pollution, and "real" food is sold at a premium for not having been contaminated. This is just the *setting*, the rest of the novel is a series of {{from bad to worse}}
* LiteraryAllusionTitle: "The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed" ("Lycidas", Creator/JohnMilton)

* DownerEnding: The Sheep Look Up has possibly one of the darkest endings in any literary Science Fiction novel written at the time. In short: Austin Train dies in a terrorist bombing but not before his words (and the rapidly collapsing biosphere) encourage widespread civil unrest and revolution against the essentially fascist US of the Novel's fictional setting. Most of the main cast ends up dead and the whole novel ends with a few people in *Ireland* seeing the smoke from the American apocalypse drifting over their heads. America is effectively dead but judging by how the Mediterranean sea is completely sterilized from pollution and Southeast Asia has completely desertified due to American imperialism in the region it looks like the rest of the world is not far behind

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: "Galactic Consumer Reports No. 1: Automatic Twin-Tube Wishing Machines" is all about this trope. The devices are actually ''twin'' tube because a prototype device had produced a creature that killed the creator, so a second tube was introduced as a limiter. The story is all about the device not quite managing, but it's still stated to be better than the cheaper one-tube variants - it's mentioned that a five year old kid took over his homeworld with one. In contrast, the worst we get from a twin-tuber is "merely" a couple thousand blown up because some loser's GetRichQuickScheme involved wishing for too much uranium-235 at one.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: "Galactic Consumer Reports No. 1: Automatic Twin-Tube Wishing Machines" is all about this trope. The devices are actually ''twin'' tube because a prototype device had produced a creature that killed the creator, so a second tube was introduced as a limiter. The story is all about the device not quite managing, but it's still stated to be better than the cheaper one-tube variants - it's mentioned that a five year old kid took over his homeworld with one.

* ComedicSpanking: "Galactic Consumer Reports No. 1: Automatic Twin-Tube Wishing Machines" states that during the machine tests, one kid produced a spanking machine which almost killed his parents.

* BrokenPedestal: * In 'Galactic Consumer Reports No. 1: Inexpensive Time Machines'', the titular devices have restrictions on what eras one can travel. As the report states, it's not a matter of messing up with history - there is a TimePolice from the 11th millennium which handles this far better than any built-in safeguards can. It's a matter of avoiding this trope, so a Jew, for example, can set his machine to avoid accidentally seeing what really happened on Mount Sinai.

John Kilian Houston Brunner (24 September 1934 -- 26 August 1995) was a British science fiction writer usually associated with the NewWaveScienceFiction movement. His best-known novels include ''Literature/StandOnZanzibar'' (which won a HugoAward), ''Literature/TheShockwaveRider'' (a forerunner of {{Cyberpunk}} that predicted many aspects of the internet), ''The Sheep Look Up'', ''Jagged Orbit'', and ''Literature/TheSquaresOfTheCity''. Also notable is ''Literature/TheTravellerInBlack'' (later further expanded as ''The Compleat Traveller in Black''), a collection of short stories.

John Brunner (1934-1995) was a British science fiction writer usually associated with the NewWaveScienceFiction movement. His best-known novels include ''Literature/StandOnZanzibar'' (which won a HugoAward), ''Literature/TheShockwaveRider'' (a forerunner of {{Cyberpunk}} that predicted many aspects of the internet), ''The Sheep Look Up'', ''Jagged Orbit'', and ''Literature/TheSquaresOfTheCity''. Also notable is ''Literature/TheTravellerInBlack'' (later further expanded as ''The Compleat Traveller in Black''), a collection of short stories.

John Brunner (1934-1995) was a British science fiction writer usually associated with the NewWaveScienceFiction movement. His best-known novels include ''Literature/StandOnZanzibar'' (which won a HugoAward), ''Literature/TheShockwaveRider'' (a forerunner of {{Cyberpunk}} that predicted many aspects of the internet), ''The Sheep Look Up'', ''Jagged Orbit'', and ''The Squares of the City''. Also notable is ''Literature/TheTravellerInBlack'' (later further expanded as ''The Compleat Traveller in Black''), a collection of short stories.

* TheChessmaster: The chess-motif-laden novel ''The Squares of the City'' appropriately has one as the villain.
* ChessMotifs: All over the place in ''The Squares of the City''.

* ForScience: The motivation of one of the villains in ''The Squares of the City''; it's all about getting to try out his techniques in real-world conditions, and never mind about fiddly ethical considerations.
* HumanChess: In ''The Squares in the City'', the leaders of the city play it.

* PunBasedTitle: "The Squares of the City" has chess as a strong theme throughout.

* SubliminalSeduction: Used to manipulate the population in ''The Squares of the City''.

John Brunner (1934-1995) was a British science fiction writer usually associated with the NewWaveScienceFiction movement. His best-known novels include ''Literature/StandOnZanzibar'' (which won a HugoAward), ''Literature/TheShockwaveRider'' (a forerunner of {{Cyberpunk}} that predicted many aspects of the internet), ''The Sheep Look Up'', ''Jagged Orbit'', and ''The Squares of the City''. Also notable is ''The Traveller in Black'' (later further expanded as ''The Compleat Traveller in Black''), a collection of short stories.

* BatheHerAndBringHerToMe: In the Traveller in Black novella "The Wager Lost by Winning", the rather unsympathetic protagonist is bathed before being claimed by Lord Fellian.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: A recurring theme in the Traveller in Black stories; those who wish carelessly and selfishly get their comeuppance, while those who wish unselfishly (whose number, in the entire series, can be counted on one hand) are rewarded.

* FakeMemories: In the Traveller in Black novella "Imprint of Chaos", an evil magician takes a seat on the Ruling Council of a city, the better to cause the citizens to make a choice that will increase Chaos in the area. His plan includes implanting Fake Memories that he has always been a member of the Council himself in the rest of the Council members.

* IHaveManyNames: The Traveller in Black is described more than once as "having many names, but only one nature".

* TheMagicGoesAway: The mission of the Traveller in Black is to make this happen.

* OrderVersusChaos: The overarching conflict of the "Traveller in Black" stories; the Traveller himself is an agent of Order.

* ScarecrowSolution: Used to frighten off a god (it wasn't a very ''smart'' god) in one of the Traveller in Black stories.

* UnfazedEveryman: In the first Traveller in Black story, a 20th-century Englishman is summoned to the magical past in which the stories are set, and reacts to every strange thing he encounters with calm rationality. (It's suggested that he was specifically chosen for that attribute, it being in notably short supply in that place at that time.)

* WalkingTheEarth: The title character of ''The Traveller in Black''

* RubberBandHistory: ''Times Without Number'' is a collection of short stories set in an alternate history where the Spanish Armada conquered England and the resultant European superpower went on to invent time travel. In the final story, English nationalists travel back in time to sabotage the Armada; despite the hero's efforts, they succeed, creating the history we're familiar with.

* [[DangerousVisions "Judas"]]

John Brunner (1934-1995) was a British science fiction writer usually associated with the New Wave movement. His best-known novels include ''Literature/StandOnZanzibar'' (which won a HugoAward), ''Literature/TheShockwaveRider'' (a forerunner of {{Cyberpunk}} that predicted many aspects of the internet), ''The Sheep Look Up'', ''Jagged Orbit'', and ''The Squares of the City''. Also notable is ''The Traveller in Black'' (later further expanded as ''The Compleat Traveller in Black''), a collection of short stories.

John Brunner (1934-1995) was a British science fiction writer usually associated with the New Wave movement. His best-known novels include ''Literature/StandOnZanzibar'' (which won a HugoAward), ''TheShockwaveRider'' (a forerunner of {{Cyberpunk}} that predicted many aspects of the internet), ''The Sheep Look Up'', ''Jagged Orbit'', and ''The Squares of the City''. Also notable is ''The Traveller in Black'' (later further expanded as ''The Compleat Traveller in Black''), a collection of short stories.

* ''TheShockwaveRider''

John Brunner (1934-1995) was a British science fiction writer. His best-known novels include ''Literature/StandOnZanzibar'' (which won a HugoAward), ''TheShockwaveRider'' (a forerunner of {{Cyberpunk}} that predicted many aspects of the internet), ''The Sheep Look Up'', and ''The Squares of the City''. Also notable is ''The Traveller in Black'' (later further expanded as ''The Compleat Traveller in Black''), a collection of short stories.

* ''TheCrucibleOfTime''