LitQueuelitqueue

After

Head On

John Scalzi2018

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Friday

    Robert A. Heinlein1982

    An artificial human works as a secret courier on a chaotic future Earth. She completes various missions while seeking a sense of belonging.

    Same wry register, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • VAS

    Steve Tomasula2002

    A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.

    wry → clinical, still cyberpunk

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+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.

    wry → sardonic

    pace-1·prose+3·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.

    wry → meditative

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Headcrash

    Bruce Bethke1995

    A computer programmer loses his job and enters a virtual reality underworld to seek revenge on the corporate elite. It is a satire of 1990s tech.

    wry → sardonic, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • The Naked Sun

    Isaac Asimov1954

    A detective from Earth travels to a planet where humans live in total isolation, served by robots. He must solve a rare face-to-face murder.

    wry → clinical, still buddy cop

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Guards! Guards!

    Terry Pratchett1989

    A secret society summons a dragon to take over a fantasy city. A group of cynical, underfunded night watchmen must stop the beast.

    Same wry register

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Stars My Destination

    Alfred Bester1956

    Gully Foyle is left for dead in space and spends years seeking revenge. He travels a future where humans can teleport using their minds.

    wry → propulsive, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Nexus

    Ramez Naam2012

    A scientist develops a nanotech drug that links minds and is hunted by government agencies. It is a high-speed global conspiracy thriller.

    wry → propulsive, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Freedom™

    Daniel Suarez2010

    An autonomous computer program reorganizes global society into a decentralized network. A group of rebels fights to maintain human agency.

    wry → propulsive, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

Slower

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.

    wry → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

  • 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.

    wry → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak-1

  • Ulysses

    James Joyce1914

    Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

    wry → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Random Acts of Senseless Violence

    Jack Womack1994

    A twelve-year-old girl records her life in a diary as New York City collapses into riots and hyperinflation. Her family falls into poverty.

    wry → bleak, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • 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.

    wry → tense, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Golem100

    Alfred Bester1980

    In a future city, a group of women accidentally summon a psychic monster that commits acts of extreme violence while investigators track it.

    wry → sardonic, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2