Shipstar

Coyote

Allen Steele2002

Dissidents steal a starship to escape a fascist Earth. They spend 230 years in stasis before attempting to build a colony on a new moon.

pace0·prose0·bleak0

Empty Space

M. John Harrison2012

Three interlocking timelines follow a widow in London, a detective in a neon city, and a pilot in deep space. The prose is dense and surreal.

earnest → dreamlike, still space opera

pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

The Fractal Prince

Hannu Rajaniemi2012

A post-human thief is sent to Earth to steal a memory from a city made of digital ghosts. The prose uses dense, unexplained jargon.

earnest → dreamlike, still hard sci-fi

pace+1·prose+2·bleak0

VAS

Steve Tomasula2002

A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.

earnest → clinical

pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

Redshirts

John Scalzi2012

Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.

earnest → playful, still space opera

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Foundation's Edge

Isaac Asimov1982

Two factions search for a hidden planet and the origin of humanity. The plot follows political maneuvering and scientific deduction.

earnest → propulsive, still hard sci-fi

pace+1·prose0·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.

earnest → playful

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

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.

earnest → playful, still space opera

pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

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.

earnest → propulsive, still hard sci-fi

pace+2·prose0·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.

earnest → propulsive, still space opera

pace+2·prose-1·bleak-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.

earnest → meditative

pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

White Mars, or, The mind set free

Brian W. Aldiss1999

A group of scientists and thinkers attempts to establish a utopian society on Mars after Earth is cut off by a global catastrophe.

Same earnest register, still hard sci-fi

pace-1·prose+1·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.

earnest → playful

pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

Flood

Stephen Baxter2008

The sea level rises globally due to water leaking from the Earth's crust. Four former hostages watch as civilization slowly drowns over decades.

earnest → clinical, still hard sci-fi

pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

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.

earnest → bleak, still hard sci-fi

pace0·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.

earnest → bleak, still hard sci-fi

pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2