After
The Gone World
Tom Sweterlitsch2018
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
Same bleak register, still cosmic horror
- pace0prose0bleak0
Beyond the Aquila Rift
Alastair Reynolds2001
A spaceship crew wakes from cold sleep to find they have overshot their destination by light-years. They must face the reality of their location.
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Negative Space
B.R. Yeager2020
Four teenagers in a decaying New Hampshire town use a drug made from local parasites. They navigate hallucinations and a string of suicides.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Cipher
Kathe Koja1991
A couple discovers a black hole in their apartment floor that physically and mentally alters anything that enters it.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
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Demons
John Shirley2002
In a near-future setting, seven clans of monstrous entities harvest humans for pain. It follows survivors navigating an apocalyptic landscape.
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1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Thomas Sweterlitsch2014
In a future where Pittsburgh was destroyed, a man investigates a murder using a digital archive of the city. He discovers data is being deleted.
Same bleak register, still noir
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
bleak → dreamlike
- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-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.
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak-1
Star Maker
Olaf Stapledon1937
A narrator travels through space and time to observe the birth and death of civilizations across the universe.
bleak → elegiac, still cosmic horror
pace0·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
bleak → sardonic
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
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.
bleak → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
To recover
- pace-1prose-2bleak-3
This Girl
Colleen Hoover2013
A husband retells the story of his early relationship to his wife. It uses dual timelines to revisit events from the first book in the series.
bleak → earnest
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The Score
Elle Kennedy2016
A college senior has a one-night stand with a hockey player to get over a breakup. They continue the arrangement as graduation approaches.
bleak → playful
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3 more ↓ ↑
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To Sir Phillip, With Love
Julia Quinn2003
Eloise Bridgerton travels to meet a widowed baronet she has only known through letters. They consider a marriage of convenience.
bleak → warm
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace-1prose-2bleak-3
All Rhodes Lead Here
Mariana Zapata2021
A woman moves back to her Colorado hometown after a breakup and rents a garage apartment from a grumpy single father.
bleak → warm
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- pace-1prose-2bleak-3
Hannah's List
Debbie Macomber2010
A widower receives a letter from his late wife suggesting three women he should date. He begins to interact with each woman over the following year.
bleak → warm
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
Lost in Time
A.G. Riddle2022
A man is exiled to the Triassic period for a murder he didn't commit while his daughter tries to bring him back.
bleak → propulsive, still time travel
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
bleak → wry
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
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.
bleak → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
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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.
bleak → wry
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
Skin Game
Jim Butcher2014
Wizard Harry Dresden joins a team of villains to rob a vault in the Underworld. It is a fast-paced heist set in a modern fantasy Chicago.
bleak → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-2prose+1bleak-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.
bleak → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
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.
bleak → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
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.
bleak → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
Night Land
William Hope Hodgson2014
In the distant future, a man leaves the last human stronghold to find a woman across a sunless, monster-filled wasteland.
bleak → dreamlike, still cosmic horror
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- pace-2prose0bleak-3
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.
bleak → elegiac
pace-2·prose0·bleak-3
