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Dr. Futurity

Philip K. Dick1960

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • All Our Wrong Todays

    Elan Mastai2017

    A man from a techno-utopian 2016 accidentally travels back in time and returns to our version of reality. He tries to decide which world to save.

    tense → wry, still science fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Nova Express

    William S. Burroughs1964

    An experimental narrative uses the cut-up technique to depict a war between intergalactic criminals and the police. It is a collage of imagery.

    tense → sardonic, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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

  • 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

To recover

3 more ↓

  • On a Pale Horse

    Piers Anthony1983

    After accidentally killing the personification of Death, a man must take over the office. He navigates the bureaucracy of the afterlife.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Tuesdays with Morrie

    Mitch Albom1994

    A journalist reconnects with his dying college professor for weekly lessons on life. They discuss aging, regret, and love as the professor declines.

    tense → tender

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Stainless Steel Rat

    Harry Harrison1961

    A futuristic con man is caught by the Special Corps and forced to use his criminal skills to catch other lawbreakers.

    tense → playful, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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 science fiction

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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

  • 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

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Looking Backward, 2000-1887

    Edward Bellamy1888

    A man falls into a hypnotic sleep in 1887 and wakes up in the year 2000 to find the United States transformed into a socialist utopia.

    tense → earnest, still science fiction

    pace-2·prose0·bleak-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

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Behold the Man

    Michael Moorcock1968

    A man uses a time machine to travel to 28 AD to meet Jesus. Finding only a disabled man who cannot fulfill the gospels, he takes the role himself.

    tense → bleak, still time travel

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Year of the Quiet Sun

    Wilson Tucker1970

    A social scientist travels forward in time to document the collapse of the United States through racial conflict and nuclear war.

    tense → bleak, still time travel

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+1

  • 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.

    Same tense register, still science fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1