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After

Nemesis

Isaac Asimov1989

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Black Sun

    Jack Williamson1997

    A crew lands on a planet orbiting a dead star and discovers footprints belonging to crewmates who left their spacesuits behind.

    meditative → earnest, still hard scifi

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Radiance

    Catherynne M. Valente2015

    A documentary filmmaker disappears on Venus in an alternate 1980s solar system. The story is told through scripts, interviews, and letters.

    meditative → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Perhaps the Stars

    Ada Palmer2021

    A global war between ideological factions reaches its conclusion. The story is told through a dense, 18th-century style narrative voice.

    Same meditative register, still space opera

    pace+1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Schild's Ladder

    Greg Egan2002

    Physicists in the far future attempt to stop an expanding vacuum bubble that threatens to consume the universe. It focuses on theoretical physics.

    Same meditative register, still hard scifi

    pace0·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • 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, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    meditative → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Chilling Effect

    Valerie Valdes2019

    A spaceship captain completes dangerous missions to pay off a ransom for her kidnapped sister. The crew includes a pilot who is a sentient plant.

    meditative → playful, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Star Kings

    Edmond Hamilton1949

    A 20th-century man swaps bodies with a prince 200,000 years in the future. He must lead a galactic empire against a tyrant's fleet.

    meditative → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Star Wars Trilogy

    George Lucas2018

    A farm boy joins a rebellion against a galactic empire. He learns to use a mystical force under the guidance of an exiled knight.

    meditative → earnest, still space opera

    pace+2·prose0·bleak0

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.

    Same meditative register

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • His Master's Voice

    Stanisław Lem2018

    A mathematician works at a secret facility to decode a neutrino signal from space. The book is a philosophical essay disguised as a memoir.

    meditative → clinical, still hard scifi

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    meditative → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Maelstrom

    Peter Watts2001

    A bio-engineered virus spreads through the global network while a woman navigates a flooded, post-apocalyptic landscape.

    meditative → bleak, still hard scifi

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • An Exchange of Hostages

    Susan R. Matthews1997

    A surgeon is drafted into a space empire's corps of torturers. He tries to maintain his ethics while being trained to inflict pain.

    meditative → clinical, still space opera

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story

    Stephen R. Donaldson

    A space pirate, a victim, and a police officer are trapped in a cycle of abuse and betrayal. The narrative shifts perspectives to reveal lies.

    meditative → bleak, still space opera

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2