After
Down to a Sunless Sea
David Graham1979
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak-1
CyberStorm
Matthew Mather2013
A family in New York City struggles to survive when a massive snowstorm coincides with a total collapse of the digital infrastructure.
Same tense register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Feed
Seanan McGuire2010
Bloggers follow a presidential campaign twenty years after a zombie outbreak. They uncover a conspiracy while dodging the infected.
tense → propulsive, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
The Last President
John Barnes2013
Following a global disaster, the remnants of the US government struggle to maintain order. Various factions use technology to seize power.
tense → bleak, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Fail-safe
Eugene Burdick1962
A mechanical failure sends American bombers to nuke Moscow, forcing the President to negotiate a desperate solution to avoid total war.
Same tense register, still techno-thriller
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak-1
The boy on the bridge
Mike Carey2017
A team of scientists and soldiers travels across a zombie-infested Britain in an armored lab. They seek a cure using a gifted, neurodivergent boy.
Same tense register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
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·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+2bleak-1
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·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak-1
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·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+2bleak-1
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.
tense → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+2bleak-1
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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
To recover
- pace+1prose-1bleak-3
Odessa Sea
Clive Cussler2016
Dirk Pitt investigates a ghost ship in the Black Sea and discovers a conspiracy involving a lost Romanov secret. It is a high-speed adventure.
tense → propulsive, still techno-thriller
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-1bleak-3
The Kaiju Preservation Society
John Scalzi2022
A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.
tense → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-3
Smokin' Seventeen
Janet Evanovich2011
A bounty hunter investigates bodies found in her boss's lot while choosing between three suitors. The story follows her daily mishaps in New Jersey.
tense → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-1bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tense → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-1bleak-3
Digital Fortress
Dan Brown1998
The NSA's code-breaking supercomputer encounters an unbreakable algorithm. A cryptographer and a professor race to find the kill code.
tense → propulsive, still techno-thriller
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+1prose0bleak-1
Plague War
Jeff Carlson1967
A researcher flees the American government to distribute a vaccine for a nanotech plague that has killed most of the population.
tense → propulsive, still post-apocalyptic
pace+1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Hell Divers
Nicholas Sansbury Smith2016
Skydivers jump from massive airships to a ruined Earth to scavenge parts for humanity's survival. One team is stranded in a hostile zone.
Same tense register, still post-apocalyptic
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
Lost in Time
A.G. Riddle2022
A man is exiled to the Triassic period for a murder he didn't commit while his daughter tries to bring him back.
tense → propulsive, still techno-thriller
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
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.
tense → propulsive, still post-apocalyptic
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Lake House
James Patterson
A veterinarian and an FBI agent protect six genetically engineered children who can fly. They are pursued by a global conspiracy.
tense → propulsive, still techno-thriller
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
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·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak-2
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-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak-2
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-2
- pace-2prose+2bleak-3
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.
tense → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-3
- pace-2prose+2bleak-2
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.
tense → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2
