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After

Market Forces

Richard K. Morgan2004

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

Same sardonic register, still cyberpunk

1 more ↓

  • Black Man

    Richard K. Morgan2007

    A genetically engineered soldier is released from prison to hunt down others of his kind who have escaped a Martian colony.

    sardonic → cold, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose+1·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.

    Same sardonic register, still dystopian

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • VAS

    Steve Tomasula2002

    A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.

    sardonic → clinical, still cyberpunk

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

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.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3

  • 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.

    sardonic → propulsive, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3

  • The Rooster Bar

    John Grisham2017

    Three law students realize their school is a scam and drop out to pose as lawyers. They steal identities to survive and pay off their debts.

    Same sardonic register

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-3

Faster

sardonic → propulsive, still cyberpunk

3 more ↓

  • Akira, Vol. 1

    Katsuhiro Ōtomo1984

    In a rebuilt post-WWIII Tokyo, two teenage bikers get caught in a government conspiracy after one develops psychic powers.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Get Jiro!

    Anthony Bourdain2012

    In a future Los Angeles, master chefs rule as warlords. A sushi chef who kills rude customers is caught between two warring food factions.

    Same sardonic register, still dystopian

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    sardonic → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Stand on Zanzibar

    John Brunner1968

    A fragmented portrait of an overpopulated 2010. The story uses news feeds and slogans to track a spy and a student in a corporate-run world.

    Same sardonic register, still cyberpunk

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-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.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2

  • Translated Accounts

    James Kelman2001

    Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.

    sardonic → bleak, still dystopian

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0