After
The Night Sessions
Ken MacLeod2008
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Lock In
John Scalzi2014
An FBI agent uses a robotic body to investigate a murder. He is one of many people whose minds are 'locked in' their bodies by a global virus.
Same wry register, still police procedural
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Friday
Robert A. Heinlein1982
An artificial human works as a secret courier on a chaotic future Earth. She completes various missions while seeking a sense of belonging.
Same wry register, still science fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Robot Novels
Isaac Asimov1954
A human detective and a robot partner solve murders on a crowded Earth and a sparse outer world. The stories use logic to test robotic laws.
wry → clinical, still science fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Remake
Connie Willis1994
In a future where movies are digitally manipulated and actors are replaced by software, a man meets a woman who wants to dance in films for real.
Same wry register, still science fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Demon
John Varley1984
A group of humans confronts a god-like intelligence living in a massive biological torus. It is the conclusion of the Gaea trilogy.
Same wry register, still science fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
wry → sardonic, still science fiction
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
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.
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- 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.
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
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.
wry → meditative, still science fiction
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- 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.
wry → dreamlike
pace-2·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.
wry → clinical, still cyberpunk
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
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.
wry → playful, still science fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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.
wry → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
The Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Harrison1961
A futuristic con man is caught by the Special Corps and forced to use his criminal skills to catch other lawbreakers.
wry → playful, still science fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
The President Is Missing
Bill Clinton2018
The U.S. President goes underground to stop a cyberattack that threatens to wipe out the nation's electrical and financial infrastructure.
wry → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
The Last Question
Isaac Asimov2007
A short story told in seven vignettes spanning billions of years. Humanity asks a supercomputer if the heat death of the universe can be avoided.
wry → meditative, still science fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
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.
wry → playful, still science fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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.
wry → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
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.
wry → tense, still science fiction
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Akira, Vol. 1
Katsuhiro Ōtomo1984
In a rebuilt post-WWIII Tokyo, two teenage bikers get caught in a government conspiracy after one develops psychic powers.
wry → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
The Lake House
James Patterson
A veterinarian and an FBI agent protect six genetically engineered children who can fly. They are pursued by a global conspiracy.
wry → propulsive, still science fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
Slower
- 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.
wry → meditative, still science fiction
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- 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.
wry → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- 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.
wry → 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.
wry → 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.
wry → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
Heavier
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
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.
wry → tense, still science fiction
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Thomas Sweterlitsch2014
In a future where Pittsburgh was destroyed, a man investigates a murder using a digital archive of the city. He discovers data is being deleted.
wry → bleak, still science fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+2
Dr. Adder
K. W. Jeter1984
In a broken future Los Angeles, a surgeon performs extreme genital modifications for a subculture of outcasts.
wry → cynical, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
Hard to be a god
Аркадий Стругацкий2014
An observer from a technologically advanced Earth lives undercover on a planet stuck in a medieval state. He must watch atrocities without helping.
wry → bleak, still science fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose0bleak+2
Market Forces
Richard K. Morgan2004
In a future where executives duel in armored cars for promotions, Chris Faulkner joins a firm that profits from civil wars. It is a corporate satire.
wry → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
