After
The Last Policeman
Ben H. Winters2012
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Countdown City
Ben H. Winters2013
A former detective searches for a missing person while an asteroid is three months away from destroying Earth.
bleak → elegiac, still noir
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Philip K. Dick1968
A bounty hunter in a radioactive San Francisco tracks six escaped androids. He uses an empathy test to distinguish them from humans.
Same bleak register, still noir
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Monster Island
David Wellington
A weapons inspector leads a group of child soldiers into a zombie-infested Manhattan. They encounter sentient undead with psychic abilities.
Same bleak register, still apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
The Andromeda Strain
Michael Crichton1969
A team of scientists is quarantined in a secret underground lab to study a lethal alien organism. The story is told as a technical report.
bleak → clinical, still ticking clock
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Killing Star
Charles R. Pellegrino1995
Relativistic missiles destroy Earth without warning. The few human survivors in the solar system are hunted by an alien species using logic.
Same bleak register, still apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+2bleak-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.
bleak → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
bleak → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
To recover
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
On a Pale Horse
Piers Anthony1983
After accidentally killing the personification of Death, a man must take over the office. He navigates the bureaucracy of the afterlife.
bleak → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose-1bleak-2
Tuesdays with Morrie
Mitch Albom1994
A journalist reconnects with his dying college professor for weekly lessons on life. They discuss aging, regret, and love as the professor declines.
bleak → tender
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Royally Screwed
Emma Chase2016
A crown prince visiting Manhattan pursues a bakery worker who threw a pie at him. The story follows their class-clash courtship.
bleak → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
bleak → propulsive, still mystery
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Hot mahogany
Stuart Woods2008
A lawyer guards a former spy with amnesia who restores antique furniture. They uncover a conspiracy linked to the man's service in Vietnam.
bleak → wry, still mystery
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+1prose0bleak-1
The Demolished Man
Alfred Bester1953
In a future where telepathic police make premeditated crime impossible, a businessman plans a murder. He uses a catchy song to block his thoughts.
bleak → propulsive, still noir
pace+1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
bleak → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
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-1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak-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.
bleak → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
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+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
Blood on the dining-room floor
Gertrude Stein1948
A repetitive, circular narrative about a death in a country house. It uses experimental prose to obscure the facts of a traditional mystery.
bleak → playful, still mystery
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak-2
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.
bleak → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2
Heavier
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
A Scanner Darkly
Philip K. Dick1977
An undercover narcotics agent in a near-future California becomes addicted to the drug he is investigating and begins to spy on himself.
Same bleak register, still noir
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Watchmen
Dave Gibbons1986
Retired costumed vigilantes investigate a conspiracy after one of their own is murdered. The story uses a comic-within-a-comic and backmatter.
bleak → cold, still noir
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Forge of God
Greg Bear1987
Scientists and government officials realize Earth is being systematically dismantled by an alien presence.
bleak → elegiac, still apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Cat's Cradle
Kurt Vonnegut1963
A writer researches the creator of the atomic bomb and discovers a substance that freezes all water. He joins an island cult.
bleak → sardonic, still apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Flood
Stephen Baxter2008
The sea level rises globally due to water leaking from the Earth's crust. Four former hostages watch as civilization slowly drowns over decades.
bleak → clinical, still apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
