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After

Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens

Alan Dean Foster2001

5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster

More like it

Same propulsive register, still space opera

1 more ↓

  • House Corrino

    Frank Herbert2001

    The Emperor Shaddam IV attempts to secure his throne and create a synthetic spice while Great Houses plot against him.

    pace-1·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

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.

    propulsive → meditative, still science fiction

    pace-3·prose+2·bleak0

  • Nova Express

    William S. Burroughs1964

    An experimental narrative uses the cut-up technique to depict a war between intergalactic criminals and the police. It is a collage of imagery.

    propulsive → sardonic, still science fiction

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    propulsive → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    propulsive → playful, still science fiction

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Guardians of the West

    David Eddings1987

    Years after a prophecy is fulfilled, King Garion must hunt for his kidnapped son across a continent to prevent a dark god's return.

    propulsive → earnest, still chosen one

    pace-2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Translation State

    Ann Leckie2023

    Three people from different cultures search for a missing diplomat in a galaxy of rigid social hierarchies. It focuses on biological identity.

    propulsive → tender, still space opera

    pace-2·prose0·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-3·prose+2·bleak0

  • The Rise of Endymion

    Dan Simmons1997

    A man protects a young messiah from a galactic church that uses resurrection to control humanity. It concludes a four-book series.

    propulsive → elegiac, still space opera

    pace-2·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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-3·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Jaunt

    Stephen King2009

    A father explains the history of teleportation to his family while they wait to travel. He describes the danger of being awake during the trip.

    propulsive → tense, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+2

  • Hellspark

    Janet Kagan1988

    A linguist travels to a new planet to investigate a murder. She must determine if the local species is sentient while navigating a conspiracy.

    propulsive → tense, still science fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • The Running Man

    Richard Bachman

    A man enters a deadly reality show to fund medical care for his daughter. He must survive thirty days while the entire world hunts him for money.

    Same propulsive register, still science fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2