Ferrian's Winter was interesting, but Megan's war was more so. Attention was given where attention was needed. The rest simply followed from there.
Madness string 3172
Of course, if you haven't read enough speculative fiction to think like that, you won't come up with this. So the lesson is clear: reading is a lifesaving tool. Read more, and come up with strange and unusual ways of thinking, and that curse can become a game.