LitQueuelitqueue

After

Empty Space

M. John Harrison2012

5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser

More like it

1 more ↓

  • King of Morning, Queen of Day

    Ian McDonald1991

    Three generations of Irish women encounter the fae across the 20th century. The prose shifts styles to match the 1913, 1937, and 1980s settings.

    Same dreamlike register

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

To recover

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.

    dreamlike → wry, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2

  • To Sir Phillip, With Love

    Julia Quinn2003

    Eloise Bridgerton travels to meet a widowed baronet she has only known through letters. They consider a marriage of convenience.

    dreamlike → warm

    pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2

  • All Rhodes Lead Here

    Mariana Zapata2021

    A woman moves back to her Colorado hometown after a breakup and rents a garage apartment from a grumpy single father.

    dreamlike → warm

    pace0·prose-3·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Chilling Effect

    Valerie Valdes2019

    A spaceship captain completes dangerous missions to pay off a ransom for her kidnapped sister. The crew includes a pilot who is a sentient plant.

    dreamlike → playful, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2

  • The Star Kings

    Edmond Hamilton1949

    A 20th-century man swaps bodies with a prince 200,000 years in the future. He must lead a galactic empire against a tyrant's fleet.

    dreamlike → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    dreamlike → wry

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2

Slower

3 more ↓

  • For Us, the Living

    Robert A. Heinlein2003

    A 1930s pilot wakes up in the year 2086. The book consists of long dialogues explaining the social, economic, and sexual norms of the future.

    dreamlike → earnest

    pace-1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Hav

    Jan Morris2006

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

    dreamlike → elegiac

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Kolyma tales

    Varlam SHALAMOV1980

    Short stories documenting daily life and survival in a Soviet labor camp. The prose is detached and focuses on the physical reality of starvation.

    dreamlike → clinical

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    Same dreamlike register, still weird fiction

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1

  • Dark Age

    Pierce Brown2019

    An outlawed revolutionary fights a losing war on Mercury while an exiled heir attempts to reclaim a space empire. It is a violent military epic.

    dreamlike → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

  • An Exchange of Hostages

    Susan R. Matthews1997

    A surgeon is drafted into a space empire's corps of torturers. He tries to maintain his ethics while being trained to inflict pain.

    dreamlike → clinical, still space opera

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1