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After

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls

Robert A. Heinlein1985

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Rama Revealed

    Gentry Lee1993

    A group of humans lives inside a massive alien spacecraft. They deal with internal political conflict and the biology of the ship's creators.

    sardonic → earnest, still hard scifi

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+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.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+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.

    sardonic → meditative, still space opera

    pace+1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Four Agreements

    Don Miguel Ruiz1997

    A guide to personal conduct based on four principles derived from Toltec traditions. It focuses on changing internal dialogue to reduce suffering.

    sardonic → warm

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Untamed

    Glennon Doyle2020

    A woman recounts leaving her marriage and rebuilding her life after falling in love with another woman. It is a series of personal manifestos.

    sardonic → earnest

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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.

    sardonic → playful, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → playful, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-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.

    sardonic → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    sardonic → earnest, still space opera

    pace+2·prose0·bleak0

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.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    sardonic → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Maelstrom

    Peter Watts2001

    A bio-engineered virus spreads through the global network while a woman navigates a flooded, post-apocalyptic landscape.

    sardonic → bleak, still hard scifi

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+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.

    sardonic → clinical, still space opera

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+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.

    sardonic → bleak, still space opera

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2