LitQueuelitqueue

After

Mars

Ben Bova1992

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • A Fire Upon the Deep

    Vernor Vinge1992

    Humans and a pack-mind alien species attempt to stop a galactic threat. The physics of the universe change based on distance from the core.

    Same propulsive register, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    propulsive → sardonic

    pace-1·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-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Project Hail Mary

    Andy Weir2021

    A man wakes up on a spaceship with amnesia and two dead crewmates. He must use scientific experiments to remember his mission and save the sun.

    Same propulsive register, still hard sci-fi

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-1

  • A Fall of Moondust

    Arthur C. Clarke1961

    A lunar tourist cruiser sinks beneath a sea of fine dust, trapping the passengers. Engineers on the surface race to locate and rescue them.

    propulsive → earnest, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • Clarke County, Space

    Allen Steele1990

    The residents of an orbital space colony attempt to secede from Earth's control. The story follows an ensemble of colonists and assassins.

    propulsive → wry, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    Same propulsive register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    propulsive → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    Same propulsive register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • The Gods Themselves

    Isaac Asimov1972

    A three-part story about the exchange of energy between Earth and a parallel universe. It follows a physicist, an alien triad, and lunar settlers.

    propulsive → clinical, still hard sci-fi

    pace-1·prose0·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Echopraxia

    Peter Watts2014

    A biologist is caught on a mission toward the sun alongside a pilot and a group of transhuman monks. It explores consciousness and evolution.

    propulsive → bleak, still hard sci-fi

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Beyond the Aquila Rift

    Alastair Reynolds2001

    A spaceship crew wakes from cold sleep to find they have overshot their destination by light-years. They must face the reality of their location.

    propulsive → bleak, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • The Killing Star

    Charles R. Pellegrino1995

    Relativistic missiles destroy Earth without warning. The few human survivors in the solar system are hunted by an alien species using logic.

    propulsive → bleak, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2