LitQueuelitqueue

After

저주 토끼 [Jeoju tokki]

Bora Chung2021

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Shift

    Hugh Howey2013

    A prequel to Wool that explains the construction of the underground silos. It follows the politicians and workers who planned the end of the world.

    Same bleak register

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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-2·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.

    bleak → 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.

    bleak → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Artemis

    Andy Weir2017

    A porter and smuggler on a lunar colony takes a high-stakes sabotage job to pay off a debt. She uses technical knowledge to solve problems.

    bleak → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The time keeper

    Mitch Albom2011

    The inventor of the first clock is released from a cave to help two people in the modern world. He teaches them the value of their remaining time.

    bleak → earnest, still magical realism

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • 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+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Skin Game

    Jim Butcher2014

    Wizard Harry Dresden joins a team of villains to rob a vault in the Underworld. It is a fast-paced heist set in a modern fantasy Chicago.

    bleak → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    bleak → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

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.

    bleak → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Love & Sleep

    John Crowley1994

    Pierce Moffett researches the history of magic while living in a small town. The narrative shifts between his life and the Renaissance.

    bleak → meditative, still magical realism

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    bleak → elegiac, still magical realism

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2

Heavier

Same bleak register, still body horror

3 more ↓

  • Red Spider White Web

    Misha1990

    In a corporate-owned wasteland, an artist survives by scavenging. The prose is dense and focuses on body modification and urban decay.

    bleak → dreamlike, still body horror

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • The children's hospital

    Chris Adrian2006

    The world floods under seven miles of water, leaving a children's hospital as the only dry land. Survivors navigate a new, mythic reality.

    bleak → dreamlike, still magical realism

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Handmaid's Tale

    Margaret Atwood1985

    In a totalitarian state with a plummeting birth rate, a woman is enslaved as a reproductive vessel. She records her daily life and memories.

    bleak → cold

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1