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After

The Terraformers

Annalee Newitz2023

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same earnest register, still hard sci-fi

1 more ↓

  • The Songs of Distant Earth

    Arthur C. Clarke1986

    Refugees from a destroyed Earth arrive at a peaceful water-world. The story follows the cultural clash and the technical logistics of the visit.

    earnest → elegiac, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Rakesfall

    Vajra Chandrasekera2024

    Two souls reincarnate across centuries of Sri Lankan history and a distant future. The narrative shifts through different bodies and realities.

    earnest → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Empty Space

    M. John Harrison2012

    Three interlocking timelines follow a widow in London, a detective in a neon city, and a pilot in deep space. The prose is dense and surreal.

    earnest → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • All Those Vanished Engines

    Paul Park2014

    Three linked stories follow the Park family through an alternate history where the American Civil War ended in a two-nation settlement.

    earnest → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Foundation's Edge

    Isaac Asimov1982

    Two factions search for a hidden planet and the origin of humanity. The plot follows political maneuvering and scientific deduction.

    earnest → propulsive, still hard sci-fi

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-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.

    earnest → playful, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Blue Remembered Earth

    Alastair Reynolds2012

    Two siblings investigate their grandmother's hidden legacy across a solar system linked by a surveillance network. It is a slow-paced space opera.

    earnest → meditative, still hard sci-fi

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Chilling Effect

    Valerie Valdes2019

    A spaceship captain completes dangerous missions to pay off a ransom for her kidnapped sister. The crew includes a pilot who is a sentient plant.

    earnest → playful, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Project Hail Mary

    Andy Weir2021

    A man wakes up on a spaceship with amnesia and two dead crewmates. He must use scientific experiments to remember his mission and save the sun.

    earnest → propulsive, still hard sci-fi

    pace+2·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Star Kings

    Edmond Hamilton1949

    A 20th-century man swaps bodies with a prince 200,000 years in the future. He must lead a galactic empire against a tyrant's fleet.

    earnest → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Flood

    Stephen Baxter2008

    The sea level rises globally due to water leaking from the Earth's crust. Four former hostages watch as civilization slowly drowns over decades.

    earnest → clinical, still hard sci-fi

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • Echopraxia

    Peter Watts2014

    A biologist is caught on a mission toward the sun alongside a pilot and a group of transhuman monks. It explores consciousness and evolution.

    earnest → bleak, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Beyond the Aquila Rift

    Alastair Reynolds2001

    A spaceship crew wakes from cold sleep to find they have overshot their destination by light-years. They must face the reality of their location.

    earnest → bleak, still hard sci-fi

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2