After
The Fifth Sacred Thing
Starhawk1993
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
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The Long Tomorrow
Leigh Brackett1955
In a post-nuclear America where technology is banned by law, a boy finds a radio and seeks a rumored secret city of scientists.
Same earnest register, still post-apocalyptic
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Bannerless
Carrie Vaughn2017
In a post-collapse society where birth is a regulated privilege, an investigator looks into a mysterious death. It follows the protocol of a mystery.
Same earnest register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Forbidden Tower
Marion Zimmer Bradley1977
Four people on the planet Darkover form a psychic circle to challenge the ruling elite. They attempt to use forbidden technology to gain autonomy.
Same earnest register, still rebellion
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- pace0prose0bleak0
The Waters Rising
Sheri S. Tepper2010
A princess travels across a flooded world to find an ancient power. The story follows her quest to stop the Sea King from drowning humanity.
Same earnest register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
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Songs from the Stars
Norman Spinrad1980
In a post-nuclear world, a tribe of artists and surfers encounters a high-tech culture from space. It explores the clash of their philosophies.
Same earnest register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+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.
earnest → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
Too Like the Lightning
Ada Palmer2016
In a 25th-century utopia, a convict narrates the discovery of a boy who can perform miracles. The prose uses 18th-century styles and gender terms.
earnest → sardonic
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
earnest → meditative
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
Shadow & Claw
Gene Wolfe1983
A torturer travels across a far-future Earth where technology is indistinguishable from magic. He recounts his exile in dense, archaic prose.
earnest → meditative
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+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.
earnest → dreamlike
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World
John Mark Comer
A pastor argues for a slower pace of life based on Christian principles and his own experience with burnout.
Same earnest register
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-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.
earnest → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
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The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
earnest → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-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.
Same earnest register
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
earnest → wry
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+2prose-1bleak+1
Hell Divers
Nicholas Sansbury Smith2016
Skydivers jump from massive airships to a ruined Earth to scavenge parts for humanity's survival. One team is stranded in a hostile zone.
earnest → tense, still post-apocalyptic
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+2prose-1bleak+1
Akira, Vol. 1
Katsuhiro Ōtomo1984
In a rebuilt post-WWIII Tokyo, two teenage bikers get caught in a government conspiracy after one develops psychic powers.
earnest → propulsive, still post-apocalyptic
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
earnest → wry
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline2008
A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.
earnest → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-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.
earnest → wry
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-1prose+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.
earnest → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+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.
earnest → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+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.
earnest → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+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.
earnest → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+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.
earnest → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
Heavier
earnest → elegiac, still post-apocalyptic
- pace0prose+2bleak+2
Zone One
Colson Whitehead2011
A sweeper squad clears Manhattan of lingering zombies and catatonic 'stragglers.' The focus is on the protagonist's memories and the city's decay.
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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.
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
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The Walking Dead: Compendium One
Robert Kirkman2009
A sheriff wakes from a coma into a zombie apocalypse. He leads a group of survivors through various temporary shelters over several years.
earnest → bleak, still post-apocalyptic
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
One Second After
William R. Forstchen2009
An EMP strike destroys the American power grid. A history professor attempts to manage the starvation and societal collapse of his small town.
earnest → bleak, still post-apocalyptic
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
The Death of Grass
John Christopher1956
A virus kills the world's grass and grain, causing total societal collapse. A family attempts to flee London for a farm in the north.
earnest → bleak, still post-apocalyptic
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
