LitQueuelitqueue

After

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance

Lois McMaster Bujold2012

5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Witches of Karres

    James H. Schmitz1966

    A space captain rescues three young girls with psychic powers, only to find himself a fugitive from multiple galactic empires.

    Same playful register, still space opera

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Radiance

    Catherynne M. Valente2015

    A documentary filmmaker disappears on Venus in an alternate 1980s solar system. The story is told through scripts, interviews, and letters.

    playful → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • 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.

    playful → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • In Green's Jungles

    Gene Wolfe2000

    A narrator travels to different worlds while his physical form and memories shift. He recounts past voyages to prove his identity to his companions.

    playful → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens

    Alan Dean Foster2001

    A scavenger and a defecting soldier join the fight against a new galactic power. They search for a missing hero from the previous generation.

    playful → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+1·prose0·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.

    playful → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • 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.

    playful → earnest, still space opera

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    playful → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    Same playful register

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    Same playful register

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Hard to be a god

    Аркадий Стругацкий2014

    An observer from a technologically advanced Earth lives undercover on a planet stuck in a medieval state. He must watch atrocities without helping.

    playful → bleak, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+3

  • The Jaunt

    Stephen King2009

    A father explains the history of teleportation to his family while they wait to travel. He describes the danger of being awake during the trip.

    playful → tense, still science fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+3

  • Hellspark

    Janet Kagan1988

    A linguist travels to a new planet to investigate a murder. She must determine if the local species is sentient while navigating a conspiracy.

    playful → tense, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+3