After
Blackfish City
Sam J. Miller2018
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak-1
The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport
Samit Basu2023
A failed actor and a tiny bot navigate a revolution in a futuristic Indian city. The story follows their attempts to outmaneuver local powers.
tense → playful, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak0
Glasshouse
Charles Stross2006
An amnesiac veteran joins a social experiment simulating a 20th-century society. He must find a killer while living in a total panopticon.
Same tense register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Distraction
Bruce Sterling1998
A political fixer manages a campaign in a collapsed, high-tech future America. He battles rival factions and his own genetic secrets.
Same tense register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Lagoon
Nnedi Okorafor2014
Aliens land in the ocean off the coast of Lagos, Nigeria. The story follows a soldier, a rapper, and a biologist during the initial chaos.
Same tense register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Steel Remains
Richard K. Morgan2008
A cynical war hero searches for a cousin sold into slavery. He discovers the return of an ancient, cruel race of beings.
Same tense register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Sometimes a Great Notion
Ken Kesey1964
A family of independent loggers in Oregon refuses to join a local strike. The perspective shifts rapidly between characters, often mid-paragraph.
tense → elegiac
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
VAS
Steve Tomasula2002
A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.
tense → clinical, still cyberpunk
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Too Like the Lightning
Ada Palmer2016
In a 25th-century utopia, a convict narrates the discovery of a boy who can perform miracles. The prose uses 18th-century styles and gender terms.
tense → sardonic
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Valis
Philip K. Dick1981
A man experiences a beam of pink light that imparts vast information. The narrative explores his mental breakdown and search for God in California.
tense → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
To recover
- pace-1prose-1bleak-2
A Veiled Deception
Annette Blair2009
A vintage shop owner investigates a murder during her sister's wedding preparations to clear her family's name.
tense → playful
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
tense → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
It Starts with Us
Colleen Hoover2022
A single mother navigates a new relationship with her first love while managing a jealous ex-husband. The story alternates perspectives.
tense → earnest
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Assistant to the Villain
Hannah Nicole Maehrer2023
A woman takes a job as an administrative assistant to a local villain to support her family. She manages his office while ignoring his evil deeds.
tense → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
The Marriage Bargain
Jennifer Probst2012
A bookstore owner enters a one-year contract marriage with a billionaire to save her family's land. They must follow a set of rules to stay platonic.
tense → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
Faster
tense → propulsive, still cyberpunk
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tense → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose+1bleak-1
Accelerando
Charles Stross2005
Three generations of a family navigate the rapid evolution of technology toward a singularity. The pace accelerates as humanity is outpaced by AI.
tense → wry, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
All Systems Red
Martha Wells2017
A self-aware security android hacks its own governor module to watch soap operas while protecting a team of scientists on a distant planet.
tense → wry, still found family
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
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.
tense → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
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.
tense → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
Dandelion Wine
Ray Bradbury1946
A twelve-year-old boy experiences a series of vignettes over one summer in 1928 Illinois. The chapters focus on small-town life and aging.
tense → elegiac
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-2prose0bleak-2
For Us, the Living
Robert A. Heinlein2003
A 1930s pilot wakes up in the year 2086. The book consists of long dialogues explaining the social, economic, and sexual norms of the future.
tense → earnest
pace-2·prose0·bleak-2
Heavier
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Dr. Adder
K. W. Jeter1984
In a broken future Los Angeles, a surgeon performs extreme genital modifications for a subculture of outcasts.
tense → cynical, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
The Sheep Look Up
John Brunner1972
The United States collapses under total environmental toxicity and corporate greed. It follows several characters through a series of disasters.
tense → bleak, still cli-fi
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
The Sea and Summer
George Turner1987
In a future Melbourne drowned by rising seas, the population is divided into the employed 'Sweet' and the welfare-dependent 'Swill'.
tense → bleak, still cli-fi
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Market Forces
Richard K. Morgan2004
In a future where executives duel in armored cars for promotions, Chris Faulkner joins a firm that profits from civil wars. It is a corporate satire.
tense → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Random Acts of Senseless Violence
Jack Womack1994
A twelve-year-old girl records her life in a diary as New York City collapses into riots and hyperinflation. Her family falls into poverty.
tense → bleak, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
