After
The Native Star
M. K. Hobson2010
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Hollow Earth
Rudy Rucker1990
A young man and Edgar Allan Poe travel to the center of the Earth through a hole in the South Pole.
Same playful register, still steampunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance
Lois McMaster Bujold2012
A military officer enters a marriage of convenience to protect a woman from a criminal syndicate. It is a comedic space opera set in a larger series.
Same playful register, still romance
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Circumpolar!
Richard A. Lupoff1984
In an alternate 1920s where the Earth is a disk, pilots race to fly around the world. Historical figures compete in a steampunk setting.
Same playful register, still steampunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Phoenix Rising
Pip Ballantine2011
Two agents of a secret society investigate bloodless corpses in Victorian London using gadgets and explosives.
Same playful register, still steampunk
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Agent of Change
Sharon Lee1988
A master spy and a mercenary pilot are forced to cooperate while being hunted across the galaxy. It is the start of a long-running series.
Same playful register, still opposites attract
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
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.
playful → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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.
playful → sardonic
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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.
playful → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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.
playful → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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.
playful → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Warbound
Larry Correia2013
In an alternate 1930s, people with magical abilities fight a war against a trans-dimensional threat. It is the final book in a trilogy.
playful → propulsive, still historical fantasy
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
playful → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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.
playful → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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.
playful → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- 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.
playful → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
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.
playful → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- 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.
playful → 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.
playful → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
Love & Sleep
John Crowley1994
Pierce Moffett researches the history of magic while living in a small town. The narrative shifts between his life and the Renaissance.
playful → meditative, still historical fantasy
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
The Habitation of the Blessed
Catherynne M. Valente2010
A priest finds the lost kingdom of Prester John. The story is told through three nested layers of journals, myths, and historical accounts.
playful → dreamlike, still historical fantasy
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace-1prose+2bleak+3
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.
playful → bleak, still steampunk
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+3
- pace-1prose+1bleak+3
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.
playful → elegiac, still romance
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+3
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.
playful → cold
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace-1prose0bleak+3
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.
playful → bleak
pace-1·prose0·bleak+3
- pace-1prose+1bleak+3
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.
playful → elegiac
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+3
