What is the most "far-flung into the future" sci-fi you have read?

[daBronzeBomma]

Not talking a few decades into the future.

Not a few centuries.

Not even a few millennia.

I'm talking a minimum of a few hundred thousand years ahead.

What are some of the "extremely far ahead" sci-fi that you have read or at least know of?

Point of reference: anything on par with, but preferably farther ahead of, the future timeline of H.G.Wells' classic tale THE TIME MACHINE.

Bonus points if no actual time travel occurs in the story.

Really curious to see if there are any recommendations with a setting so far removed from our own.

[kjn]

There are a couple of extremely far future sf stories, though most of them are novellas or shorter.

One classic is "The Last Question" by Isaac Asimov, which ends in a future where entropy has seen the last stars die. Recommended.

Michael Moorcock wrote a series of satirical sf novels called The Dancers at the End of Time, set at the end of time and the universe. They involve time travel in various subplots.

I'm unsure how far into the future Charles Stross's novel Neptune's Brood is set, but it involves human civilisation covering large parts of the galaxy using STL travel. It is a sequel to Saturn's Children, which is near-future in comparison, and set within the Solar system.

Tau Zero by Poul Anderson; not sure how well it has aged.

[CliffHanger2]

Galapagos by Vonnegut. Pretty good.

[kjn]

I should also have mentioned Olaf Stapledon's two most well-known sf novels: Last Men and First Men and Star Maker. Both are really into exploring ideas and concepts, more akin to history or grand narratives, and have been hugely influential.

[Gray Lensman]

The epilogue of E. E. 'Doc' Smith's Lensman series ends with the replacements for humanity getting a message from the protagonist of the last book, who has evolved into being the replacement for the elder race who mentored humanity throughout the series.

Bonus fact - the novel series provides much of the inspiration for the Silver Age of Comics lore rewrite of the Green Lantern series.

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There was also a story I remember in an old Marvel comic where the last two people on Earth watch as the Sun goes out, only to be mysteriously rekindled. The couple then reveal their names to the reader - Adam and Eve.

[Jack Dracula]

Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny. Humanity has spread throughout the galaxy and a select few have risen to the level of godhood taking on the roles of the Egyptian pantheon and others rising up to oppose them. I highly recommend it.

[DrNewGod]

Larry Niven's A World Out Of Time. The protagonist's adventures catapult him 200 years into the future, but his subsequent career as an astronaut throw him 3 Million years further into the future.

[KyCoo]

The time machine?? ELois and Morlocks?

[Jack Dracula]

Larry Niven's A World Out Of Time. The protagonist's adventures catapult him 200 years into the future, but his subsequent career as an astronaut throw him 3 Million years further into the future.

Good one. I should've thought of it. I was a big Niven fan in youth.

[seismic-2]

Well of course there's the second volume in Douglas Adams's "Hitchhikers'" trilogy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, but since this is a CBR forum, mention should be made of Neil Gaiman's DC mini-series The Books of Magic, wherein Mr. E takes Tim Hunter on a time-walking tour into the future all the way until they are the only two beings left (except for Death and Destiny of the Endless, who are on hand to finish the last page of Destiny's book so that Death can then shut down all existence).

[DrNewGod]

Good one. I should've thought of it. I was a big Niven fan in youth.

Personally, I think it's his most underrated work. I prefer his The State novels over either his Known Space or Empire of Man settings. Integral Trees is really nifty.

[GOLGO 13]

Warhammer 40K is the most insanely enjoyable, far-flung sci-fi universe I've ever read.

Read the books...for the Emperor.

[Jack Dracula]

Personally, I think it's his most underrated work. I prefer his The State novels over either his Known Space or Empire of Man settings. Integral Trees is really nifty.

I enjoy all of his work, but I admit to preferring the Known Space stories over the rest. The novel Protector foremost.
I should really get those books out of storage and read them again.