After
Lines of Departure
Marko Kloos2014
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster
More like it
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Earth Afire
Orson Scott Card2013
During an alien invasion, a mechanic tries to warn Earth while a soldier joins a specialized police unit to fight back.
Same tense register, still military sci-fi
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
War Dogs
Greg Bear2014
Soldiers are deployed to Mars to fight an alien threat on behalf of another species. The narrator recounts the mission from a hospital bed.
Same tense register, still military sci-fi
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
On My Way to Paradise
Dave Wolverton1989
A pharmacist in a future Panama joins a mercenary army to pay for his escape from a war-torn Earth.
tense → bleak, still military sci-fi
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
The Light Brigade
Kameron Hurley2019
Soldiers are turned into light to be beamed to the front lines of an interplanetary war, but one recruit experiences the missions out of order.
Same tense register, still military sci-fi
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak0
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 military sci-fi
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
Shadow & Claw
Gene Wolfe1983
A torturer travels across a far-future Earth where technology is indistinguishable from magic. He recounts his exile in dense, archaic prose.
tense → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
To recover
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Grunge
Larry Correia2016
A Marine killed in a bombing is resurrected to hunt supernatural creatures. He joins a private company that kills monsters for government bounties.
tense → sardonic
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose-1bleak-2
A Galaxy Unknown
Thomas DePrima2010
An ensign uses her tactical skills to rise through the ranks of a space navy while fighting pirates and internal bureaucracy.
tense → earnest, still military sci-fi
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
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Phule's Company
Robert Lynn Asprin1990
A wealthy captain is court-martialed and sent to lead a group of military misfits on a remote frontier planet.
tense → playful, still military sci-fi
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
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
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose-1bleak-2
Smokin' Seventeen
Janet Evanovich2011
A bounty hunter investigates bodies found in her boss's lot while choosing between three suitors. The story follows her daily mishaps in New Jersey.
tense → playful
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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+2·bleak0
- pace-3prose+2bleak-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.
tense → meditative
pace-3·prose+2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+2bleak-1
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-3·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+2bleak-2
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+2·bleak-2
- pace-3prose+2bleak-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.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+2·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace-1prose0bleak+1
Kaleidoscope Century
John Barnes1995
A mercenary wakes every ten years to a new body and a changing world. He uncovers his own history of atrocities across the 21st century.
tense → bleak, still military sci-fi
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
Dark Age
Pierce Brown2019
An outlawed revolutionary fights a losing war on Mercury while an exiled heir attempts to reclaim a space empire. It is a violent military epic.
tense → propulsive, still military sci-fi
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+1bleak+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.
tense → cold
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-2prose0bleak+1
Doomsday Book
Connie Willis1992
A student travels to 14th-century England while a virus spreads in the present. She arrives during the Black Death due to a technical error.
tense → bleak
pace-2·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
Perdido Street Station
China Miéville2000
A scientist in a sprawling, industrial city agrees to help a winged refugee fly again. His research accidentally unleashes a psychic predator.
tense → bleak
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
