After
System Collapse
Martha Wells2023
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory
Martha Wells
A security android that hacked its own governor module helps a friend navigate a legal dispute. It deals with personhood and social anxiety.
Same wry register, still space opera
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Hild
Nicola Griffith2013
The niece of a 7th-century king survives by becoming his seer. She uses observation and logic to predict political shifts and stay alive.
wry → tense, still space opera
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak0
Mickey7
Edward Ashton2022
An expendable clone on an ice planet survives a mission he was meant to die in, only to find his replacement has already been grown.
Same wry register, still scifi
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Last Colony
John Scalzi2007
A retired soldier and his family lead a new colony on a frontier planet. They soon find themselves pawns in a galactic political conflict.
Same wry register, still space opera
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Expendable
James Alan Gardner1997
In a future where only 'expendable' people are sent to dangerous planets, an explorer investigates a high-fatality mission. It is a space opera.
Same wry register, still space opera
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Radiance
Catherynne M. Valente2015
A documentary filmmaker disappears on Venus in an alternate 1980s solar system. The story is told through scripts, interviews, and letters.
wry → dreamlike, still space opera
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
Perhaps the Stars
Ada Palmer2021
A global war between ideological factions reaches its conclusion. The story is told through a dense, 18th-century style narrative voice.
wry → meditative, still space opera
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Against the Day
Thomas Pynchon2006
A massive ensemble cast navigates the globe between the 1893 World's Fair and WWI. The plot spans airships, math, and secret societies.
wry → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Rakesfall
Vajra Chandrasekera2024
Two souls reincarnate across centuries of Sri Lankan history and a distant future. The narrative shifts through different bodies and realities.
wry → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
wry → dreamlike, still space opera
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Murderbot Diaries
Martha Wells2023
A self-aware security android hacks its governor module to watch soap operas while protecting humans. It navigates corporate conspiracies.
wry → sardonic, still space opera
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Megan's Mark
Lora Leigh2006
A sheriff's deputy with psychic empathy tracks a killer alongside a genetically engineered feline-human hybrid who claims her as his mate.
wry → earnest
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Artemis
Andy Weir2017
A porter and smuggler on a lunar colony takes a high-stakes sabotage job to pay off a debt. She uses technical knowledge to solve problems.
wry → propulsive, still scifi
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-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.
wry → playful, still space opera
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James2000
A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.
wry → earnest
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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.
Same wry register, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Artemis
Andy Weir2017
A porter and smuggler on a lunar colony takes a high-stakes sabotage job to pay off a debt. She uses technical knowledge to solve problems.
wry → propulsive, still scifi
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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.
wry → playful, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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.
wry → playful, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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.
wry → propulsive, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
wry → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
wry → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
wry → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak-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.
wry → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
wry → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
Heavier
- pace0prose+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.
wry → bleak, still space opera
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
The Fifth Science
Exurb1a2019
Twelve stories trace the rise and fall of a human empire through the discovery of a science of the mind. It spans 100,000 years of history.
wry → elegiac, still scifi
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+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.
wry → clinical, still space opera
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+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.
wry → bleak, still space opera
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+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.
wry → propulsive, still space opera
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
