LitQueuelitqueue

After

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

Mary Shelley1818

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

1 more ↓

Denser prose

bleak → sardonic, still science fiction

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.

    bleak → meditative, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    bleak → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-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.

    bleak → meditative

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

To recover

bleak → playful

3 more ↓

  • The Hating Game

    Sally Thorne2016

    Two executive assistants at a publishing house compete for a single promotion through a series of psychological games and mutual sabotage.

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • The Score

    Elle Kennedy2016

    A college senior has a one-night stand with a hockey player to get over a breakup. They continue the arrangement as graduation approaches.

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • The Spanish Love Deception

    Elena Armas2021

    A woman convinces a colleague she dislikes to fly to Spain and pose as her boyfriend for a wedding. They have four weeks to prepare the ruse.

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-3

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    bleak → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3

  • 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.

    bleak → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3

  • 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.

    bleak → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3

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.

    bleak → meditative, still frame story

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    bleak → earnest, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-3

  • 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.

    bleak → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-3