After
Random Acts of Senseless Violence
Jack Womack1994
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Heathern
Jack Womack1990
A corporation in a dystopian New York finds a man who can perform miracles and markets him as a messiah. Two employees witness the consequences.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
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.
bleak → cold, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Buyout
Alex Irvine2009
In a future where prisons are privatized, a man manages a program that offers inmates early release in exchange for their life insurance policies.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Flashback
Dan Simmons2011
In a future where most people are addicted to a drug that lets them relive memories, a detective investigates a six-year-old murder case.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
The Gold Coast
Kim Stanley Robinson1988
In a future Orange County covered in concrete, a young man drifts through parties before joining an anti-war sabotage group.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace1996
A sprawling narrative centered on a tennis academy, a halfway house, and a lethal film. The text includes hundreds of pages of detailed endnotes.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
City of Saints and Madmen
Jeff Vandermeer2001
A collection of stories, histories, and pamphlets about the city of Ambergris. It uses found documents to build a surreal urban history.
bleak → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
VAS
Steve Tomasula2002
A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.
bleak → clinical, still cyberpunk
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-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.
bleak → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
To recover
- pace+1prose-2bleak-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.
bleak → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
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.
bleak → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
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.
bleak → playful
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
bleak → wry, still epistolary
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace-1prose-2bleak-3
The Comfort Book
Matt Haig2021
A collection of short reflections, lists, and anecdotes intended to provide mental support. It is a non-linear book of philosophy and memoir.
bleak → warm
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Long Run
Daniel Keys Moran1989
A genetically engineered outlaw with the ability to interface with computers runs from a global police force. He attempts a final heist.
bleak → propulsive, still dystopian
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-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.
bleak → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
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.
bleak → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
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.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
bleak → wry, still epistolary
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
Slower
- pace-2prose+1bleak-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.
bleak → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
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.
bleak → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
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.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
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.
bleak → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-2prose+1bleak0
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace-2·prose+1·bleak0
