LitQueuelitqueue

After

Embassytown

China Miéville2011

5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser

More like it

Same meditative register, still science fiction

1 more ↓

  • The Left Hand of Darkness

    Ursula K. Le Guin1969

    A human envoy visits a frozen planet where the inhabitants have no fixed gender. He travels across the ice with an exiled native politician.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Wallbanger

    Alice Clayton2012

    Caroline is kept awake by her neighbor's loud sexual encounters. She confronts him, leading to a relationship built on banter and frustration.

    meditative → playful

    pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2

  • Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

    John Gray1992

    A guide to heterosexual relationships that attributes communication conflicts to inherent psychological differences between men and women.

    meditative → earnest

    pace0·prose-3·bleak-2

  • Wildfire

    Hannah Grace2023

    Two college students who had a one-night stand discover they are working as counselors at the same summer camp.

    meditative → playful

    pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    meditative → wry

    pace+2·prose-3·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.

    meditative → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2

  • 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.

    meditative → wry

    pace+2·prose-3·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.

    Same meditative register

    pace-1·prose0·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.

    meditative → earnest, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose-2·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.

    meditative → elegiac

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Perdido Street Station

    China Miéville2000

    A scientist in a sprawling, industrial city agrees to help a winged refugee fly again. His research accidentally unleashes a psychic predator.

    meditative → bleak, still weird fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Absolution

    Jeff VanderMeer2024

    A prequel and sequel to the Southern Reach trilogy. It explores the early origins of Area X through multiple perspectives and decades.

    meditative → dreamlike, still weird fiction

    pace0·prose-1·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.

    meditative → tense, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1