After
Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand
Samuel R. Delany1984
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser
More like it
Same meditative register, still space opera
- pace0prose0bleak0
The golden age
John C. Wright2002
In a far-future utopia, an immortal man discovers he has had his memories erased. He searches for his identity while defying a collective mind.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Deep Wheel Orcadia
Harry Josephine Giles2021
A verse novel written in the Orcadian dialect follows a community on a space station. It focuses on the arrival of a researcher and local life.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Ancillary Justice
Ann Leckie2013
A lone soldier, once the artificial intelligence of a massive starship, seeks revenge in a single human body.
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Inversions
Iain Banks1998
Two stories run in parallel about a doctor and a bodyguard serving different rulers on a medieval planet. Both are secretly from a high-tech society.
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
Chapterhouse: Dune
Frank Herbert1985
The Bene Gesserit terraform a new planet into a desert to preserve the spice cycle while facing total extinction by the Honored Matres.
meditative → tense, still space opera
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
To recover
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
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.
meditative → wry, still space opera
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-3bleak-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.
meditative → playful, still space opera
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
The Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Harrison1961
A futuristic con man is caught by the Special Corps and forced to use his criminal skills to catch other lawbreakers.
meditative → playful, still space opera
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-3bleak-1
Star Nomad
Lindsay Buroker2016
A fighter pilot and a small crew of strangers attempt to escape a system-wide war in a freighter. It is a character-driven space adventure.
meditative → playful, still space opera
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-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.
meditative → playful, still space opera
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
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.
meditative → wry, still space opera
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
The Android's Dream
John Scalzi2006
A diplomat must find a specific, genetically engineered sheep to prevent an interstellar war. The story is a fast-paced, irreverent space comedy.
meditative → playful, still space opera
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak-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.
meditative → playful, still space opera
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-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.
meditative → propulsive, still space opera
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak0
The Star Wars Trilogy
George Lucas2018
A farm boy joins a rebellion against a galactic empire. He learns to use a mystical force under the guidance of an exiled knight.
meditative → earnest, still space opera
pace+2·prose-2·bleak0
Slower
- pace-1prose0bleak+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.
meditative → dreamlike
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-1prose0bleak0
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.
Same meditative register
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak0
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.
Same meditative register
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
Dandelion Wine
Ray Bradbury1946
A twelve-year-old boy experiences a series of vignettes over one summer in 1928 Illinois. The chapters focus on small-town life and aging.
meditative → elegiac
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-2bleak-1
For Us, the Living
Robert A. Heinlein2003
A 1930s pilot wakes up in the year 2086. The book consists of long dialogues explaining the social, economic, and sexual norms of the future.
meditative → earnest
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
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.
meditative → bleak, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace0prose-2bleak+2
On the Beach
Nevil Shute1957
Survivors in Australia wait for a lethal radiation cloud to arrive after a nuclear war. They spend their final months in quiet, domestic routines.
meditative → elegiac, still soft sci-fi
pace0·prose-2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak+2
An Exchange of Hostages
Susan R. Matthews1997
A surgeon is drafted into a space empire's corps of torturers. He tries to maintain his ethics while being trained to inflict pain.
meditative → clinical, still space opera
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story
Stephen R. Donaldson
A space pirate, a victim, and a police officer are trapped in a cycle of abuse and betrayal. The narrative shifts perspectives to reveal lies.
meditative → bleak, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
Dark Age
Pierce Brown2019
An outlawed revolutionary fights a losing war on Mercury while an exiled heir attempts to reclaim a space empire. It is a violent military epic.
meditative → propulsive, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
