After
The Midnight Train
Matt Haig2026
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser
More like it
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
The Fifth Science
Exurb1a2019
Twelve stories trace the rise and fall of a human empire through the discovery of a science of the mind. It spans 100,000 years of history.
haunted → elegiac, still literary
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak0
- pace0prose-2bleak0
Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow ..
Frank Herbert1974
haunted → tense, still scifi
pace0·prose-2·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Gnomon
Nick Harkaway2017
An inspector in a total-surveillance future probes the mind of a dissident. She finds four different lives that may or may not be real.
haunted → tense, still time travel
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories
Ray Bradbury2005
A collection of short stories exploring time travel, space exploration, and the future. The prose focuses on atmosphere and metaphor.
haunted → dreamlike, still scifi
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
To recover
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Artemis
Andy Weir2017
A porter and smuggler on a lunar colony takes a high-stakes sabotage job to pay off a debt. She uses technical knowledge to solve problems.
haunted → propulsive, still scifi
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace0prose-3bleak-2
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.
haunted → playful
pace0·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-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.
haunted → propulsive
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace0prose-3bleak-2
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.
haunted → earnest
pace0·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-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.
haunted → propulsive
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Artemis
Andy Weir2017
A porter and smuggler on a lunar colony takes a high-stakes sabotage job to pay off a debt. She uses technical knowledge to solve problems.
haunted → propulsive, still scifi
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-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.
haunted → propulsive
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-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.
haunted → wry
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-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.
haunted → propulsive
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
The Kaiju Preservation Society
John Scalzi2022
A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.
haunted → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-2prose0bleak0
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.
haunted → dreamlike
pace-2·prose0·bleak0
- pace-2prose0bleak-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.
haunted → meditative
pace-2·prose0·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose0bleak-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.
haunted → meditative
pace-2·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-2prose-1bleak-1
Hav
Jan Morris2006
A travel writer describes the culture and history of a fictional Mediterranean city-state before and after a massive political upheaval.
haunted → elegiac, still literary
pace-2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose0bleak-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.
haunted → playful
pace-2·prose0·bleak-2
Heavier
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
The Fifth Science
Exurb1a2019
Twelve stories trace the rise and fall of a human empire through the discovery of a science of the mind. It spans 100,000 years of history.
haunted → elegiac, still literary
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose-1bleak+1
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood1985
In a totalitarian state with a plummeting birth rate, a woman is enslaved as a reproductive vessel. She records her daily life and memories.
haunted → cold
pace-1·prose-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose-2bleak+1
Doomsday Book
Connie Willis1992
A student travels to 14th-century England while a virus spreads in the present. She arrives during the Black Death due to a technical error.
haunted → bleak
pace-1·prose-2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose0bleak+1
Perdido Street Station
China Miéville2000
A scientist in a sprawling, industrial city agrees to help a winged refugee fly again. His research accidentally unleashes a psychic predator.
haunted → bleak
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-1prose-1bleak+1
The Sparrow
Mary Doria Russell1996
A Jesuit priest joins a mission to a newly discovered planet. The story is told in flashbacks after he returns as the sole, traumatized survivor.
haunted → elegiac
pace-1·prose-1·bleak+1
