After
RedRobe
Jon Courtenay Grimwood2005
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
Same sardonic register, still cyberpunk
- pace0prose0bleak0
When Gravity Fails
George Alec Effinger1987
A private investigator in a futuristic Middle Eastern city hunts a serial killer who uses high-tech personality-altering implants.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Gun, with Occasional Music
Jonathan Lethem1994
A private eye investigates a murder in a future where animals are evolved into citizens and people use drugs to manage their karma.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Irontown Blues
John Varley2018
A private investigator and his cybernetic dog hunt a biohacker on the Moon. He models his life after 20th-century noir archetypes.
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose+1bleak0
Only Forward
Michael Marshall Smith1994
A fixer in a city of themed neighborhoods searches for a kidnapped man while navigating his own ability to enter a dream world.
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak0
End of the World Blues
Jon Courtenay Grimwood2006
A British expat running a Tokyo biker bar and a schoolgirl who stole millions collide in a world of Yakuza and high-tech assassins.
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
Same sardonic register
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Nova Swing
M. John Harrison2006
In a city bordering a reality-warping zone, a travel agent and a detective deal with illegal artifacts. The prose is dense and non-linear.
sardonic → cold, still cyberpunk
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
sardonic → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
The Sentinel
Lee Child2020
A drifter helps an IT manager targeted by criminals after a cyberattack. He uses physical force to protect the man and uncover a conspiracy.
sardonic → propulsive
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
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-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Murderbot Diaries
Martha Wells2023
A self-aware security android hacks its governor module to watch soap operas while protecting humans. It navigates corporate conspiracies.
Same sardonic register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Thraxas
Martin Millar
An overweight, beer-drinking private investigator with minor magical abilities solves crimes in a corrupt fantasy city.
sardonic → wry
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
Faster
sardonic → propulsive, still cyberpunk
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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-2
- pace+1prose+1bleak-1
Accelerando
Charles Stross2005
Three generations of a family navigate the rapid evolution of technology toward a singularity. The pace accelerates as humanity is outpaced by AI.
sardonic → wry, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
sardonic → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak-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.
sardonic → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak-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-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak-2
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.
sardonic → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
Ulysses
James Joyce1914
Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.
sardonic → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Noir
K. W. Jeter1998
An investigator navigates a corporate-owned city where people trade in simulated experiences and legal technicalities.
Same sardonic register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Thomas Sweterlitsch2014
In a future where Pittsburgh was destroyed, a man investigates a murder using a digital archive of the city. He discovers data is being deleted.
sardonic → bleak, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
A Scanner Darkly
Philip K. Dick1977
An undercover narcotics agent in a near-future California becomes addicted to the drug he is investigating and begins to spy on himself.
sardonic → bleak, still noir
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Watchmen
Dave Gibbons1986
Retired costumed vigilantes investigate a conspiracy after one of their own is murdered. The story uses a comic-within-a-comic and backmatter.
sardonic → cold, still noir
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Market Forces
Richard K. Morgan2004
In a future where executives duel in armored cars for promotions, Chris Faulkner joins a firm that profits from civil wars. It is a corporate satire.
Same sardonic register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
