After
Hellspark
Janet Kagan1988
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier, nothing faster
More like it
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
Distraction
Bruce Sterling1998
A political fixer manages a campaign in a collapsed, high-tech future America. He battles rival factions and his own genetic secrets.
Same tense register, still science fiction
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Fools
Pat Cadigan1992
In a future where personas are traded, a woman realizes her mind contains multiple, conflicting identities. The prose reflects her confusion.
Same tense register, still cyberpunk
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-2
Brasyl
Ian McDonald2007
Three stories set in 1732, 2006, and 2032 Brazil intersect through quantum physics. It follows a Jesuit, a TV producer, and a fixer.
tense → propulsive, still science fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak-2
- pace-1prose0bleak-2
The Computer Connection
Alfred Bester1975
A group of immortals recruits a physicist to help them hijack the supercomputer that runs Earth's mechanical systems.
tense → playful, still science fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak-2
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
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.
Same tense register, still science fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+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.
tense → sardonic, still science fiction
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+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.
tense → meditative, still science fiction
pace-3·prose+1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+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.
tense → sardonic, still science fiction
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
VAS
Steve Tomasula2002
A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.
tense → clinical, still cyberpunk
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+1·bleak-1
To recover
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
The Kaiju Preservation Society
John Scalzi2022
A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.
tense → playful, still science fiction
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace0prose-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.
tense → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
The Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Harrison1961
A futuristic con man is caught by the Special Corps and forced to use his criminal skills to catch other lawbreakers.
tense → playful, still science fiction
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace-1prose-2bleak-3
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.
tense → meditative, still science fiction
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace-1prose-2bleak-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.
tense → propulsive, still science fiction
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-3
Slower
- pace-3prose+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.
tense → meditative, still science fiction
pace-3·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-3prose+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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+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.
tense → meditative
pace-3·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-3prose+1bleak-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.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+1·bleak-3
- pace-3prose+1bleak-2
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.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+1·bleak-2
