After
The Soft Machine
William S. Burroughs1961
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser
More like it
Same dreamlike register
- pace0prose0bleak0
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.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
City of Saints and Madmen
Jeff Vandermeer2001
A collection of stories, histories, and pamphlets about the city of Ambergris. It uses found documents to build a surreal urban history.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Rakesfall
Vajra Chandrasekera2024
Two souls reincarnate across centuries of Sri Lankan history and a distant future. The narrative shifts through different bodies and realities.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
King of Morning, Queen of Day
Ian McDonald1991
Three generations of Irish women encounter the fae across the 20th century. The prose shifts styles to match the 1913, 1937, and 1980s settings.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Jagannath: Stories
Karin Tidbeck2012
A collection of short stories featuring surreal scenarios and body horror. Characters include a child born in a tin and people floating beyond time.
Same dreamlike register, still body horror
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
This Man
Jodi Ellen Malpas2013
An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.
dreamlike → tense
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Fifty Shades Darker
E.L. James2011
A young woman resumes her relationship with a wealthy businessman while starting a new job. They navigate his past and his specific sexual needs.
dreamlike → earnest
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Hardline
Meredith Wild2015
A software executive and a billionaire navigate a relationship complicated by corporate takeover attempts and sexual power dynamics.
dreamlike → tense
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Play
Kylie Scott2014
A drummer for a famous rock band hires a woman to pose as his girlfriend to improve his public image. They live together to sell the lie.
dreamlike → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Final Offer
Lauren Asher2023
An alcoholic heir returns to his family's lake house to secure his inheritance. He finds his ex-girlfriend living there with a child he never knew.
dreamlike → earnest
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
dreamlike → wry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-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.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
dreamlike → wry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-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.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-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.
dreamlike → playful
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-1prose0bleak0
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.
Same dreamlike register
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose-1bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → elegiac
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
dreamlike → earnest
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace-1prose-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.
dreamlike → elegiac
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak+1
Kolyma tales
Varlam SHALAMOV1980
Short stories documenting daily life and survival in a Soviet labor camp. The prose is detached and focuses on the physical reality of starvation.
dreamlike → clinical
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
Steps
Jerzy Kosiński1968
A series of disconnected, clinical vignettes describe acts of sexual dominance, cruelty, and voyeurism.
dreamlike → clinical, still experimental
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace0prose-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.
dreamlike → cold
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-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.
dreamlike → bleak
pace0·prose-2·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+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.
dreamlike → bleak
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose-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.
dreamlike → elegiac
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
