After
American War
Omar El Akkad2017
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
- pace0prose-1bleak0
The Death of Grass
John Christopher1956
A virus kills the world's grass and grain, causing total societal collapse. A family attempts to flee London for a farm in the north.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Wolves
Simon Ings2014
Two friends navigate a near-future Britain collapsing under environmental decay and augmented reality addiction. It is a study of memory.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Metro 2033
Dmitry Glukhovsky2013
A young man travels through the Moscow subway system years after a nuclear war. He encounters various underground factions and mutants.
bleak → tense, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Watchmen
Alan Moore1986
Retired masked vigilantes investigate the murder of a former teammate. The story takes place in an alternate 1985 on the brink of nuclear war.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
Riddley Walker
Russell Hoban1980
A twelve-year-old boy travels across a primitive, post-nuclear England. The story is written entirely in a broken, phonetic future dialect.
bleak → meditative, still dystopian
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace1996
A sprawling narrative centered on a tennis academy, a halfway house, and a lethal film. The text includes hundreds of pages of detailed endnotes.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
Naked Lunch: The Restored Text
William S. Burroughs
A series of nonlinear vignettes follow a drug addict's hallucinations and travels. The prose is fragmented and satirical.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
Winterlong
Elizabeth Hand1990
In a decaying, post-apocalyptic Washington D.C., a girl with empathic powers is drawn into the plots of a decadent ruling class.
bleak → dreamlike, still dystopian
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
Dhalgren
Samuel R. Delany1975
An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.
bleak → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
To recover
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
Better Off Dead
Lee Child2021
Jack Reacher investigates a staged car crash in Arizona and infiltrates a dangerous local crew to find a missing woman.
bleak → propulsive
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
Warrior Rising
P.C. Cast2008
Goddesses transport a modern woman to ancient Troy to seduce and distract Achilles. It is a lighthearted fish-out-of-water romance.
bleak → playful
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
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Wielding a Red Sword
Piers Anthony1986
An Indian prince avoids an arranged marriage by accepting the supernatural office of War. He wields a sword that draws him into a conflict in Hell.
bleak → playful
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
bleak → playful
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
bleak → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
Hell Divers
Nicholas Sansbury Smith2016
Skydivers jump from massive airships to a ruined Earth to scavenge parts for humanity's survival. One team is stranded in a hostile zone.
bleak → tense, still post-apocalyptic
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
Akira, Vol. 1
Katsuhiro Ōtomo1984
In a rebuilt post-WWIII Tokyo, two teenage bikers get caught in a government conspiracy after one develops psychic powers.
bleak → propulsive, still post-apocalyptic
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
Get Jiro!
Anthony Bourdain2012
In a future Los Angeles, master chefs rule as warlords. A sushi chef who kills rude customers is caught between two warring food factions.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
bleak → wry
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline2008
A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.
bleak → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
Slower
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
Dhalgren
Samuel R. Delany1975
An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.
bleak → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
Invisible Cities
Italo Calvino1972
Marco Polo describes fifty-five imaginary cities to Kublai Khan. The book is a series of short, prose-poem meditations on urban existence.
bleak → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
Beelzebub's tales to his grandson
Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff1950
An extraterrestrial being explains the history and strange behaviors of humanity to his grandson during a long space voyage.
bleak → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-2prose+1bleak0
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace-2·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
Riddley Walker
Russell Hoban1980
A twelve-year-old boy travels across a primitive, post-nuclear England. The story is written entirely in a broken, phonetic future dialect.
bleak → meditative, still dystopian
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1