LitQueuelitqueue

After

Effendi

Jon Courtenay Grimwood2002

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • A Fire in the Sun

    George Alec Effinger1989

    A street-smart detective in a futuristic Middle Eastern city is forced to work for the police. He investigates a series of murders.

    Same sardonic register, still noir

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • All Those Vanished Engines

    Paul Park2014

    Three linked stories follow the Park family through an alternate history where the American Civil War ended in a two-nation settlement.

    sardonic → dreamlike, still alternate history

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Winterlong

    Elizabeth Hand1990

    In a decaying, post-apocalyptic Washington D.C., a girl with empathic powers is drawn into the plots of a decadent ruling class.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    sardonic → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

sardonic → playful

3 more ↓

  • She Went All the Way

    Meg Cabot2002

    A screenwriter and an actor survive a helicopter crash in the Alaskan wilderness and must hike to safety while being pursued by a killer.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Mile High

    Liz Tomforde2023

    A professional hockey player and a flight attendant clash on the team's private plane during a season-long road trip.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Behind the Net

    Stephanie Archer2024

    A former musician becomes the live-in assistant for a professional hockey goalie she knew in high school.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • All Systems Red

    Martha Wells2017

    A self-aware security android hacks its own governor module to watch soap operas while protecting a team of scientists on a distant planet.

    sardonic → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Skin Game

    Jim Butcher2014

    Wizard Harry Dresden joins a team of villains to rob a vault in the Underworld. It is a fast-paced heist set in a modern fantasy Chicago.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    sardonic → playful

    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.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Hav

    Jan Morris2006

    A travel writer describes the culture and history of a fictional Mediterranean city-state before and after a massive political upheaval.

    sardonic → elegiac, still alternate history

    pace-2·prose+1·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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Elvissey

    Jack Womack1993

    Travelers from a corporate dystopia visit an alternate 1954 to kidnap Elvis Presley. They find a version of him that is dangerous and unstable.

    sardonic → bleak, still alternate history

    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.

    Same sardonic register, still noir

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Gone World

    Tom Sweterlitsch2018

    An investigator travels to possible futures to solve a murder and stop an approaching apocalypse. The timeline changes based on her observations.

    sardonic → bleak, still noir

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1