After

The Android's Dream

John Scalzi2006

pace
prose
structure
bleakness

4 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from, nothing faster

More like it

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And Another Thing…
Eoin Colfer2009
Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect continue their journey through space after the destruction of Earth. The story follows the original series' characters.
Same playful register, still space opera
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
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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.
Same playful register, still space opera
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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.
playful → wry, still space opera
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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.
Same playful register, still space opera
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1 more ↓

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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.
Same playful register, still space opera
pace-1·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

pace-2prose+3bleak+2
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.
playful → dreamlike, still space opera
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2
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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.
playful → meditative, still space opera
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3 more ↓

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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.
playful → dreamlike, still space opera
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2
pace-3prose+3bleak+2
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.
playful → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+2
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Valis
Philip K. Dick1981
A man experiences a beam of pink light that imparts vast information. The narrative explores his mental breakdown and search for God in California.
playful → meditative
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2

Slower

pace-3prose+3bleak+2
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.
playful → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+2
pace-3prose+3bleak+1
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.
playful → meditative
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+1

3 more ↓

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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.
playful → meditative
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+1
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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.
Same playful register
pace-3·prose+3·bleak0
pace-3prose+3bleak+1
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.
Same playful register
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+1

Heavier

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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.
playful → bleak, still space opera
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+3
pace-2prose+2bleak+3
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.
playful → clinical, still space opera
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+3

3 more ↓

pace-1prose+2bleak+3
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.
playful → bleak, still space opera
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+3
pace-1prose+2bleak+3
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.
playful → propulsive, still space opera
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+3
pace-1prose+1bleak+3
Star Wars - Legacy of the Force - Sacrifice
Karen Traviss2007
Jacen Solo hunts his own parents during a galactic civil war. He commits increasingly ruthless acts to secure his power as a Sith apprentice.
playful → bleak, still space opera
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+3