LitQueuelitqueue

After

Antimatter Blues

Edward Ashton2023

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Columbus Day

    Craig Alanson2016

    After an alien invasion, a soldier and an eccentric AI lead a crew of humans into space. The story focuses on military tactics and banter.

    Same sardonic register, still space opera

    pace0·prose-1·bleak0

Denser prose

sardonic → meditative

3 more ↓

  • Ink

    Hal Duncan2007

    Gods and mortals clash in a shifting city where reality is written on skin. The story follows a cycle of mythic archetypes across time.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • In the Night Garden

    Catherynne M. Valente2006

    A girl with tattooed eyelids tells a prince interlocking stories of monsters and folklore. The narrative is a series of nested myths.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • At Swim-Two-Birds

    Flann O'Brien1939

    A student writes a story about a man whose own characters rebel and plot against him. It incorporates Irish myth and multiple layers of fiction.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Rowan

    Anne McCaffrey1990

    A powerful telepath living in isolation connects with a distant mind to defend against an alien invasion. It follows their psychic courtship.

    sardonic → earnest, still space opera

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

  • Space Opera

    Catherynne M. Valente2018

    Earth must compete in a galactic musical talent show to avoid extinction. The narrative uses maximalist prose and frequent footnotes.

    sardonic → playful, still space opera

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    sardonic → playful, still space opera

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Honor's Knight

    Rachel Bach2014

    A mercenary with memory loss navigates a galactic conspiracy while her armor begins to malfunction. She must decide who to trust on her ship.

    sardonic → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • The Star Wars Trilogy

    George Lucas2018

    A farm boy joins a rebellion against a galactic empire. He learns to use a mystical force under the guidance of an exiled knight.

    sardonic → earnest, still space opera

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • Dungeon Crawler Carl

    Matt Dinniman2020

    Earth is converted into an 18-level televised death game. A man and a cat must navigate traps and monsters to survive.

    Same sardonic register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • The Habitation of the Blessed

    Catherynne M. Valente2010

    A priest finds the lost kingdom of Prester John. The story is told through three nested layers of journals, myths, and historical accounts.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • Unfinished Tales

    J.R.R. Tolkien1980

    A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • Moonwise

    Greer Gilman1991

    Two women are pulled into a world created by their own folk-tales. The narrative uses dense, archaic language to describe a shifting landscape.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Pet Sematary

    Stephen King1983

    A family moves to Maine and discovers a burial ground that can return the dead to life. They use it, and the consequences are absolute.

    sardonic → tense

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Poppy War

    R.F. Kuang2018

    A war orphan enters a military academy and discovers shamanic powers. She leads a unit into a total war inspired by 20th-century Chinese history.

    sardonic → bleak

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Traitor Baru Cormorant

    Seth Dickinson2015

    An accountant infiltrates the empire that conquered her home to destroy it from within. She uses economics and politics as her primary weapons.

    sardonic → cold

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2