LitQueuelitqueue

After

Hard to be a god

Аркадий Стругацкий2014

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Star-begotten

    H. G. Wells1937

    A historian becomes convinced that Martians are using cosmic rays to alter human genes. He begins to see evidence of a new, superior species.

    bleak → meditative, still science fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak-2

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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, still science fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-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

  • 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, still science fiction

3 more ↓

  • The Last Question

    Isaac Asimov2007

    A short story told in seven vignettes spanning billions of years. Humanity asks a supercomputer if the heat death of the universe can be avoided.

    bleak → meditative, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • Dream Park

    Steven Barnes1981

    A security chief investigates a real death during a high-stakes holographic role-playing game. The story tracks the game mechanics and the murder.

    bleak → propulsive, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • Fugitive Telemetry

    Martha Wells2021

    A security android discovers a dead body on a space station and must work with human authorities to solve the murder without being blamed.

    bleak → sardonic, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Logan's run

    William F. Nolan1967

    In a future where everyone is executed at age 21, an enforcer becomes a fugitive. He attempts to reach a rumored sanctuary.

    bleak → tense, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Influx

    Daniel Suarez2014

    A physicist invents a gravity-reflecting device and is imprisoned by a secret agency that suppresses technology. He plots a high-tech escape.

    bleak → propulsive, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens

    Alan Dean Foster2001

    A scavenger and a defecting soldier join the fight against a new galactic power. They search for a missing hero from the previous generation.

    bleak → propulsive, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose-1·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.

    bleak → meditative

    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

  • 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.

    bleak → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-3