Idlewild

Parable of the Talents

Octavia E. Butler1998

In a collapsed America, Lauren Olamina struggles to protect her community from religious zealots. The story is told through recovered journals.

Same tense register, still post-apocalyptic

pace0·prose0·bleak0

In Green's Jungles

Gene Wolfe2000

A narrator travels to different worlds while his physical form and memories shift. He recounts past voyages to prove his identity to his companions.

tense → elegiac

pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

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

pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

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.

tense → meditative

pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

She Went All the Way

Meg Cabot2002

A screenwriter and an actor survive a helicopter crash in the Alaskan wilderness and must hike to safety while being pursued by a killer.

pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Murderbot Diaries

Martha Wells2023

A self-aware security android hacks its governor module to watch soap operas while protecting humans. It navigates corporate conspiracies.

tense → sardonic, still cyberpunk

pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Mile High

Liz Tomforde2023

A professional hockey player and a flight attendant clash on the team's private plane during a season-long road trip.

pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

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.

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Hell Divers

Nicholas Sansbury Smith2016

Skydivers jump from massive airships to a ruined Earth to scavenge parts for humanity's survival. One team is stranded in a hostile zone.

Same tense register, still post-apocalyptic

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

The Martian

Andy Weir2011

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

tense → wry

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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

pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

After London

Richard Jefferies1885

Nature reclaims England after an unspecified catastrophe destroys civilization. A young man explores the toxic swamps that were once London.

tense → elegiac, still post-apocalyptic

pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

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.

tense → elegiac

pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2

On the Beach

Nevil Shute1957

Survivors in Australia wait for a lethal radiation cloud to arrive after a nuclear war. They spend their final months in quiet, domestic routines.

tense → elegiac, still post-apocalyptic

pace-1·prose0·bleak+1

The Walking Dead: Compendium One

Robert Kirkman2009

A sheriff wakes from a coma into a zombie apocalypse. He leads a group of survivors through various temporary shelters over several years.

tense → bleak, still post-apocalyptic

pace0·prose-1·bleak+1

One Second After

William R. Forstchen2009

An EMP strike destroys the American power grid. A history professor attempts to manage the starvation and societal collapse of his small town.

tense → bleak, still post-apocalyptic

pace0·prose0·bleak+1