After
The Restoration Game
Ken MacLeod2010
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Cryptonomicon
Neal Stephenson1999
WWII codebreakers and their 1990s descendants attempt to build a data haven while uncovering a global gold conspiracy.
Same wry register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
The Punch Escrow
Tal M. Klein2017
A man is accidentally duplicated during a teleportation malfunction in 2147. He must evade a global corporation that wants to eliminate the error.
Same wry register, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Zero History
William Gibson2010
A billionaire hires a former musician and a recovering addict to investigate secret military fashion trends. The plot follows global brand logistics.
Same wry register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Michael Chabon2007
A homicide detective investigates a murder in a Yiddish-speaking Jewish settlement in Alaska. The district is weeks away from being reclaimed.
Same wry register, still conspiracy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Rainbows End
Vernor Vinge2006
A recovered Alzheimer's patient navigates a future of ubiquitous augmented reality. He is caught in a conspiracy involving mind control.
Same wry register, still conspiracy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
In Green's Jungles
Gene Wolfe2000
A narrator travels to different worlds while his physical form and memories shift. He recounts past voyages to prove his identity to his companions.
wry → elegiac, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+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
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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, still unreliable narrator
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+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.
wry → dreamlike
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Rakesfall
Vajra Chandrasekera2024
Two souls reincarnate across centuries of Sri Lankan history and a distant future. The narrative shifts through different bodies and realities.
wry → dreamlike
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
To recover
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
Murderbot Diaries
Martha Wells2023
A self-aware security android hacks its governor module to watch soap operas while protecting humans. It navigates corporate conspiracies.
wry → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
Vampires Are Forever
Lynsay Sands2008
A woman suspects her business partner is a vampire after he attempts to bite her. He tries to convince her they are fated mates.
wry → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
The Mane Event
Shelly Laurenston2007
A female cop reunites with a childhood friend who is now a lion-shifter. They navigate a romantic attraction while he pursues her in New York.
wry → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
Mile High
Liz Tomforde2023
A professional hockey player and a flight attendant clash on the team's private plane during a season-long road trip.
wry → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
Faster
wry → propulsive, still cyberpunk
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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.
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak+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.
pace+2·prose-2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak0
The 22 Murders of Madison May
Max Barry2021
A journalist pursues a killer who murders the same woman across multiple parallel realities. The story follows her jumps between different lives.
wry → propulsive, still technothriller
pace+2·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
Same wry register
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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.
Same wry register
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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, still unreliable narrator
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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-1·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Dandelion Wine
Ray Bradbury1946
A twelve-year-old boy experiences a series of vignettes over one summer in 1928 Illinois. The chapters focus on small-town life and aging.
wry → elegiac
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
For Us, the Living
Robert A. Heinlein2003
A 1930s pilot wakes up in the year 2086. The book consists of long dialogues explaining the social, economic, and sexual norms of the future.
wry → earnest
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace+1prose-1bleak+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
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose-1bleak+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
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
Random Acts of Senseless Violence
Jack Womack1994
A twelve-year-old girl records her life in a diary as New York City collapses into riots and hyperinflation. Her family falls into poverty.
wry → bleak, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace+2prose0bleak+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 cyberpunk
pace+2·prose0·bleak+2
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
Golem100
Alfred Bester1980
In a future city, a group of women accidentally summon a psychic monster that commits acts of extreme violence while investigators track it.
wry → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2