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After

The Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula K. Le Guin1969

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More like it

Same meditative register, still science fiction

1 more ↓

  • In Ascension

    Martin MacInnes2023

    A microbiologist studies ancient life in a deep-sea trench before joining a space mission. The focus is on biology and the scale of the universe.

    Same meditative register, still first contact

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Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Nova Express

    William S. Burroughs1964

    An experimental narrative uses the cut-up technique to depict a war between intergalactic criminals and the police. It is a collage of imagery.

    meditative → sardonic, still science fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Embassytown

    China Miéville2011

    On a distant planet, humans coexist with aliens whose language is literal truth. A new arrival threatens the fragile linguistic balance.

    Same meditative register, still science fiction

    pace0·prose+1·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.

    meditative → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Wallbanger

    Alice Clayton2012

    Caroline is kept awake by her neighbor's loud sexual encounters. She confronts him, leading to a relationship built on banter and frustration.

    meditative → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

    John Gray1992

    A guide to heterosexual relationships that attributes communication conflicts to inherent psychological differences between men and women.

    meditative → earnest

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

    A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

    meditative → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

    A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

    meditative → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-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.

    meditative → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-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.

    meditative → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

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.

    Same meditative register

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    meditative → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-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.

    meditative → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Hellspark

    Janet Kagan1988

    A linguist travels to a new planet to investigate a murder. She must determine if the local species is sentient while navigating a conspiracy.

    meditative → tense, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Running Man

    Richard Bachman

    A man enters a deadly reality show to fund medical care for his daughter. He must survive thirty days while the entire world hunts him for money.

    meditative → propulsive, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak+2

  • Strangers

    Gardner Dozois1978

    An artist living among the alien Cian on a distant planet falls in love with a local woman and attempts to navigate their incompatible biology.

    meditative → elegiac, still science fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2