Armada

The lost key

Catherine Coulter2014

Two FBI agents investigate a stabbing on Wall Street. They discover the victim was a naval historian involved in a high-stakes conspiracy.

pace0·prose0·bleak0

Blood on the dining-room floor

Gertrude Stein1948

A repetitive, circular narrative about a death in a country house. It uses experimental prose to obscure the facts of a traditional mystery.

propulsive → playful

pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

The Doves Necklace

Raja Alem2014

A detective investigates an unidentified woman's body found in a Mecca alleyway. The city itself narrates parts of the story.

propulsive → dreamlike

pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

American Psycho

Bret Easton Ellis1991

A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.

propulsive → cold

pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2

Skylark DuQuesne

Edward Elmer Smith1966

Two rival geniuses must unite their space fleets to stop an alien threat. It features planet-destroying weapons and faster-than-light travel.

propulsive → earnest, still space opera

pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

Dinosaur Summer

Greg Bear1998

In 1947, a teenager joins an expedition to return the last circus dinosaurs to their plateau in the Venezuelan jungle.

propulsive → earnest, still science fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance

Lois McMaster Bujold2012

A military officer enters a marriage of convenience to protect a woman from a criminal syndicate. It is a comedic space opera set in a larger series.

propulsive → playful, still space opera

pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

The Rookie

Scott Sigler2012

A talented but prejudiced quarterback joins a professional team of diverse alien species. He must lead them to win in a violent interstellar league.

Same propulsive register, still space opera

pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

Skylark DuQuesne

Edward Elmer Smith1966

Two rival geniuses must unite their space fleets to stop an alien threat. It features planet-destroying weapons and faster-than-light travel.

propulsive → earnest, still space opera

pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

Deep fathom

James Rollins2012

An ex-Navy SEAL explores a massive undersea pillar as solar flares trigger global tectonic shifts and the threat of nuclear war.

propulsive → tense, still science fiction

pace+1·prose+2·bleak+2

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.

propulsive → dreamlike

pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

Gödel, Escher, Bach

Douglas R. Hofstadter1979

An exploration of how cognition emerges from hidden neurological patterns. It uses math, art, and music to explain self-referential systems.

propulsive → playful

pace-2·prose+3·bleak-1

Ulysses

James Joyce1914

Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

propulsive → playful

pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

American Psycho

Bret Easton Ellis1991

A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.

propulsive → cold

pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2

Sharp Objects

Gillian Flynn2006

A reporter returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two girls while grappling with her own history of self-harm.

propulsive → tense

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

In Cold Blood

Truman Capote1965

A reconstruction of the 1959 murder of a Kansas family and the subsequent investigation. It follows both the victims and the killers.

propulsive → clinical

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2