LitQueuelitqueue

After

L' Êve future

Auguste comte de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam1909

5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Solaris

    Stanisław Lem1961

    A psychologist arrives at a research station on a planet covered by a sentient ocean. The ocean manifests physical forms of his repressed memories.

    Same meditative register, still philosophical fiction

    pace0·prose-1·bleak0

To recover

meditative → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    meditative → playful, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2

  • This Man

    Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

    An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.

    meditative → tense

    pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2

  • Real Murders

    Charlaine Harris1990

    A librarian in a small Georgia town belongs to a club that studies famous crimes. A real murder occurs that mimics a historical case.

    meditative → wry

    pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    meditative → wry

    pace+2·prose-3·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.

    meditative → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2

  • 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.

    meditative → wry

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    Same meditative register, still philosophical fiction

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

  • 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.

    Same meditative register

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

  • A Modern Utopia

    H. G. Wells1900

    Two travelers are transported to a parallel Earth where a global state manages all human activity. The book outlines the planet's social systems.

    Same meditative register, still philosophical fiction

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Trial

    Franz Kafka1925

    A bank officer is arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority for a crime that is never named.

    meditative → cold, still philosophical fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • 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.

    meditative → tense, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1

  • The Running Man

    Richard Bachman

    A man enters a deadly reality show to fund medical care for his daughter. He must survive thirty days while the entire world hunts him for money.

    meditative → propulsive, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak+1