After
Guernica Night
Barry N. Malzberg1975
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Coelestis
Paul Park1993
A human diplomat and a surgically altered native woman navigate a colonized planet. The story focuses on identity and forced biological change.
bleak → dreamlike, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
A Scanner Darkly
Philip K. Dick1977
An undercover narcotics agent in a near-future California becomes addicted to the drug he is investigating and begins to spy on himself.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Sea and Summer
George Turner1987
In a future Melbourne drowned by rising seas, the population is divided into the employed 'Sweet' and the welfare-dependent 'Swill'.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
334
Thomas M. Disch1972
Interconnected stories depict the lives of residents in a New York housing project in the 2020s. It focuses on poverty and social stagnation.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
HARM
Brian Aldiss2007
A British Muslim man is detained and tortured in a secret prison. He hallucinates a second life on a distant planet to escape the pain.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace0prose+1bleak-1
Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace1996
A sprawling narrative centered on a tennis academy, a halfway house, and a lethal film. The text includes hundreds of pages of detailed endnotes.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace0·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace0prose+1bleak-1
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.
bleak → sardonic
pace0·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
bleak → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace0prose+1bleak-1
Too Like the Lightning
Ada Palmer2016
In a 25th-century utopia, a convict narrates the discovery of a boy who can perform miracles. The prose uses 18th-century styles and gender terms.
bleak → sardonic
pace0·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace0prose+1bleak-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
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
bleak → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
bleak → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James2000
A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.
bleak → earnest
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
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
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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
Faster
- pace+2prose-2bleak-2
Get Jiro!
Anthony Bourdain2012
In a future Los Angeles, master chefs rule as warlords. A sushi chef who kills rude customers is caught between two warring food factions.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
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
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
Red Rising
Pierce Brown2014
A laborer on Mars discovers his caste is being lied to and undergoes surgery to infiltrate the ruling elite. He joins a brutal war games academy.
bleak → propulsive, still dystopian
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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
- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
bleak → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-2
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
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak-2
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
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose-1bleak-3
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.
bleak → earnest, still sci-fi
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-3
