Orphanage

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.

earnest → tense, still military sci-fi

pace0·prose0·bleak+1

A Forest of Stars

Kevin J. Anderson2003

Humanity uses a robot army to fight gas-giant aliens who control fuel sources, unaware the machines have already killed their previous creators.

earnest → propulsive, still military sci-fi

pace0·prose0·bleak0

The Uplift War

David Brin1987

A gorilla-like alien race invades the planet Garth. A small group of humans and uplifted chimpanzees lead a guerrilla resistance in the mountains.

Same earnest register, still military sci-fi

pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Einstein's Bridge

John G. Cramer1997

Physicists at the Superconducting Super Collider detect a signal from another universe. This contact triggers an encounter with a predatory species.

Same earnest register, still alien invasion

pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

earnest → dreamlike

pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

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.

earnest → sardonic

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

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.

earnest → sardonic

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

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.

Same earnest register, still military sci-fi

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Lines of Departure

Marko Kloos2014

An officer fights an interstellar war against alien giants while Earth collapses into poverty. It follows military campaigns across space.

pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

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.

pace+1·prose-1·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.

earnest → dreamlike

pace-2·prose+2·bleak+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.

earnest → meditative

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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.

earnest → bleak, still military sci-fi

pace0·prose0·bleak+2

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.

earnest → propulsive, still military sci-fi

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2