Poul Anderson’s classic science fiction novel The Winter of the World is melancholy, of course. Books written by Poul Anderson tended to be; and books about the civilizations that arose thousands of years after a new Ice Age crushed ours also tend to be. Combine the two, and you get almost crystallized sadness. But it’s a good story for all that; action, statecraft, Thieves’ Guild, a battle or two, and evolutionary biology.
As I said: classic science fiction.
And so, adieu to Hawksbill Station.