After
The Planet Explorer
Murray Leinster2007
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
Same earnest register, still science fiction
- pace0prose0bleak0
Wonder
Robert J. Sawyer2011
The final entry in a trilogy where a global consciousness emerges through the internet, forcing humanity to adapt to a new era.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
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The moon metal
Garrett Putman Serviss1900
A scientist discovers a way to extract a new metal from moonlight after the world's gold supply is destroyed by a mysterious ray.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Pegasus in Space
Anne McCaffrey2000
A telepathic teenager protects a space station project from sabotage. He uses his powers to coordinate the construction of a deep-space colony.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Ralph 124C 41+
Hugo Gernsback1925
A genius inventor in the year 2660 uses futuristic technology to rescue a woman from space and protect her from a rival suitor.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Mars, Inc
Ben Bova2013
A billionaire recruits other wealthy investors to bypass government bureaucracy and fund a private mission to Mars.
Same earnest register, still hard scifi
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- 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.
earnest → sardonic, still science fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- 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.
earnest → meditative, still science fiction
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Against the Day
Thomas Pynchon2006
A massive ensemble cast navigates the globe between the 1893 World's Fair and WWI. The plot spans airships, math, and secret societies.
earnest → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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.
earnest → sardonic, still science fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Schild's Ladder
Greg Egan2002
Physicists in the far future attempt to stop an expanding vacuum bubble that threatens to consume the universe. It focuses on theoretical physics.
earnest → meditative, still hard scifi
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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.
earnest → playful, still science fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
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.
earnest → propulsive, still science fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
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The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
earnest → wry, still competence porn
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
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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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
Slower
- 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.
earnest → meditative, still science fiction
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- 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.
earnest → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- 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.
earnest → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
His Master's Voice
Stanisław Lem2018
A mathematician works at a secret facility to decode a neutrino signal from space. The book is a philosophical essay disguised as a memoir.
earnest → clinical, still hard scifi
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
earnest → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
Heavier
- pace0prose0bleak+3
Titan
Stephen Baxter1997
A crew of astronauts embarks on a one-way mission to Saturn's moon. The narrative details the technical and psychological decay of the mission.
earnest → cold, still hard scifi
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
- pace-1prose+1bleak+3
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.
earnest → bleak, still science fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
Maelstrom
Peter Watts2001
A bio-engineered virus spreads through the global network while a woman navigates a flooded, post-apocalyptic landscape.
earnest → bleak, still hard scifi
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace0prose0bleak+3
The Jaunt
Stephen King2009
A father explains the history of teleportation to his family while they wait to travel. He describes the danger of being awake during the trip.
earnest → tense, still science fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
- pace+1prose+1bleak+3
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.
earnest → tense, still science fiction
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+3
