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After

Star Wars - Legacy of the Force - Revelation

Karen Traviss2008

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still space opera

1 more ↓

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Sometimes a Great Notion

    Ken Kesey1964

    A family of independent loggers in Oregon refuses to join a local strike. The perspective shifts rapidly between characters, often mid-paragraph.

    tense → elegiac, still sibling rivalry

    pace-1·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.

    tense → sardonic, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose+2·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.

    tense → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Captain Vorpatril's Alliance

    Lois McMaster Bujold2012

    A military officer enters a marriage of convenience to protect a woman from a criminal syndicate. It is a comedic space opera set in a larger series.

    tense → playful, still space opera

    pace0·prose0·bleak-2

  • 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.

    tense → earnest, still space opera

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • A Veiled Deception

    Annette Blair2009

    A vintage shop owner investigates a murder during her sister's wedding preparations to clear her family's name.

    tense → playful

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens

    Alan Dean Foster2001

    A scavenger and a defecting soldier join the fight against a new galactic power. They search for a missing hero from the previous generation.

    tense → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Rookie

    Scott Sigler2012

    A talented but prejudiced quarterback joins a professional team of diverse alien species. He must lead them to win in a violent interstellar league.

    tense → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-1

  • Skylark DuQuesne

    Edward Elmer Smith1966

    Two rival geniuses must unite their space fleets to stop an alien threat. It features planet-destroying weapons and faster-than-light travel.

    tense → earnest, still space opera

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-2

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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2

  • 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.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Consider Phlebas

    Iain Banks1987

    A shape-shifting mercenary works for an alien empire to retrieve a rogue AI during a galactic war. He faces a series of deadly set-pieces.

    tense → bleak, still space opera

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Hard to be a god

    Аркадий Стругацкий2014

    An observer from a technologically advanced Earth lives undercover on a planet stuck in a medieval state. He must watch atrocities without helping.

    tense → bleak, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    Same tense register, still science fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1