Count Zero

Brass Man

Neal Asher2005

An agent pursues a cyborg enemy across star systems while a scientist uncovers the truth about a lethal, ancient alien technology.

Same cold register, still cyberpunk

pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

cold → sardonic

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

Shadow & Claw

Gene Wolfe1983

A torturer travels across a far-future Earth where technology is indistinguishable from magic. He recounts his exile in dense, archaic prose.

cold → meditative

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

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.

cold → dreamlike

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

Neon Gods

Katee Robert2021

In a modern city-state, Persephone flees an arranged marriage to Zeus by entering the underworld. She strikes a deal with Hades to stay there.

cold → tense

pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

Murderbot Diaries

Martha Wells2023

A self-aware security android hacks its governor module to watch soap operas while protecting humans. It navigates corporate conspiracies.

cold → sardonic, still cyberpunk

pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

Starter Villain

John Scalzi2023

A substitute teacher inherits his uncle's secret supervillain business, including a volcano lair and talking cats.

cold → wry

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Nexus

Ramez Naam2012

A scientist develops a nanotech drug that links minds and is hunted by government agencies. It is a high-speed global conspiracy thriller.

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Freedom™

Daniel Suarez2010

An autonomous computer program reorganizes global society into a decentralized network. A group of rebels fights to maintain human agency.

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits

David Wong2015

A young woman inherits her estranged father's criminal empire in a lawless future city. She must survive assassins using high-tech gadgets.

cold → sardonic, still cyberpunk

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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.

cold → meditative

pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1

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.

cold → elegiac

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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.

cold → earnest

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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.

cold → bleak, still cyberpunk

pace0·prose0·bleak+1

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.

cold → tense, still cyberpunk

pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

Golem100

Alfred Bester1980

In a future city, a group of women accidentally summon a psychic monster that commits acts of extreme violence while investigators track it.

cold → sardonic, still cyberpunk

pace0·prose0·bleak+1