After
The Line of Polity
Neal Asher2003
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
Same propulsive register, still space opera
- pace0prose0bleak0
Escaping Exodus
Nicky Drayden2019
Humans live inside the hollowed-out bodies of giant space beasts. A high-born woman and a worker navigate a rigid, biological caste system.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Ghost Brigades
John Scalzi2006
Soldiers grown from the DNA of the dead hunt a traitorous scientist across the galaxy. It follows a new recruit with an inherited consciousness.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Crossover
Joel Shepherd2001
An android super-soldier attempts to live a civilian life on a space station while being hunted by political factions.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Fool's War
Sarah Zettel1997
A freelance starship crew discovers a sentient AI while being hunted by a religious organization. The story focuses on digital security and war.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Naked God
Peter F. Hamilton1999
The final 1,200-page volume of a space opera. Humanity uses ancient technology and exorcism to fight souls returning from the afterlife.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+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.
propulsive → dreamlike, still space opera
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+2bleak+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.
propulsive → meditative, still space opera
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
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.
propulsive → sardonic
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
propulsive → dreamlike, still space opera
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
VAS
Steve Tomasula2002
A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.
propulsive → clinical
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
- pace+1prose-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.
propulsive → wry, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-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.
propulsive → playful, still space opera
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
This Man
Jodi Ellen Malpas2013
An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.
propulsive → tense
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Fifty Shades Darker
E.L. James2011
A young woman resumes her relationship with a wealthy businessman while starting a new job. They navigate his past and his specific sexual needs.
propulsive → earnest
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Hardline
Meredith Wild2015
A software executive and a billionaire navigate a relationship complicated by corporate takeover attempts and sexual power dynamics.
propulsive → tense
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+1prose-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.
propulsive → wry, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Jack Four
Neal Asher2021
A human clone with forbidden knowledge attempts to escape an alien ship during a viral outbreak. He uses a missile launcher to fight his captors.
propulsive → clinical, still space opera
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
The Android's Dream
John Scalzi2006
A diplomat must find a specific, genetically engineered sheep to prevent an interstellar war. The story is a fast-paced, irreverent space comedy.
propulsive → playful, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
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.
propulsive → playful, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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.
Same propulsive register, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-2prose+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.
propulsive → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+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.
propulsive → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+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.
propulsive → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+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.
propulsive → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+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.
propulsive → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
Heavier
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
Consider Phlebas
Iain Banks1987
A shape-shifting mercenary works for an alien empire to retrieve a rogue AI during a galactic war. He faces a series of deadly set-pieces.
propulsive → bleak, still space opera
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
Maelstrom
Peter Watts2001
A bio-engineered virus spreads through the global network while a woman navigates a flooded, post-apocalyptic landscape.
propulsive → bleak, still biopunk
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
propulsive → clinical, still space opera
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+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.
propulsive → bleak, still space opera
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
Dark Age
Pierce Brown2019
An outlawed revolutionary fights a losing war on Mercury while an exiled heir attempts to reclaim a space empire. It is a violent military epic.
Same propulsive register, still space opera
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
