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After

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Philip K. Dick1968

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Shift

    Hugh Howey2013

    A prequel to Wool that explains the construction of the underground silos. It follows the politicians and workers who planned the end of the world.

    Same bleak register, still dystopian

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Infinite Jest

    David Foster Wallace1996

    A sprawling narrative centered on a tennis academy, a halfway house, and a lethal film. The text includes hundreds of pages of detailed endnotes.

    bleak → sardonic, still dystopian

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    bleak → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • VAS

    Steve Tomasula2002

    A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.

    bleak → clinical, still cyberpunk

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Murderbot Diaries

    Martha Wells2023

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

    bleak → sardonic, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    bleak → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Da Vinci Code

    Dan Brown2003

    A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.

    bleak → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    bleak → propulsive, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • Get Jiro!

    Anthony Bourdain2012

    In a future Los Angeles, master chefs rule as warlords. A sushi chef who kills rude customers is caught between two warring food factions.

    bleak → sardonic, still dystopian

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

    A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

    bleak → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    bleak → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Translated Accounts

    James Kelman2001

    Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.

    Same bleak register, still dystopian

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Stand on Zanzibar

    John Brunner1968

    A fragmented portrait of an overpopulated 2010. The story uses news feeds and slogans to track a spy and a student in a corporate-run world.

    bleak → sardonic, still dystopian

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    Same bleak register, still dystopian

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Noir

    K. W. Jeter1998

    An investigator navigates a corporate-owned city where people trade in simulated experiences and legal technicalities.

    bleak → sardonic, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Tomorrow and Tomorrow

    Thomas Sweterlitsch2014

    In a future where Pittsburgh was destroyed, a man investigates a murder using a digital archive of the city. He discovers data is being deleted.

    Same bleak register, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1