LitQueuelitqueue

After

Map of bones

James Rollins2004

5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster

More like it

Same propulsive register, still techno-thriller

1 more ↓

  • Timeline

    Michael Crichton1999

    Historians travel to 1357 France using quantum technology to rescue their professor. They must survive the Hundred Years' War to return home.

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Naked Lunch: The Restored Text

    William S. Burroughs

    A series of nonlinear vignettes follow a drug addict's hallucinations and travels. The prose is fragmented and satirical.

    propulsive → sardonic

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2

  • 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.

    propulsive → dreamlike

    pace-3·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Playing with Fire

    Gena Showalter2006

    A barista gains elemental superpowers after being poisoned and must flee from a government agent. They eventually work together to escape.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Fifty Shades of Grey

    E.L. James2000

    A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.

    propulsive → earnest

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • David and Goliath

    Malcolm Gladwell2013

    A series of case studies arguing that perceived disadvantages can become strengths. It covers topics from dyslexia to the civil rights movement.

    propulsive → earnest

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

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.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-3·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-3·prose+2·bleak-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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-3·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Fail-safe

    Eugene Burdick1962

    A mechanical failure sends American bombers to nuke Moscow, forcing the President to negotiate a desperate solution to avoid total war.

    propulsive → tense, still techno-thriller

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    propulsive → cold

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak+2

  • 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.

    propulsive → bleak

    pace-2·prose0·bleak+2