LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Weapon Makers

A. E. van Vogt1947

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same earnest register, still space opera

1 more ↓

  • Vigilant

    James Alan Gardner1999

    A member of an elite monitoring group investigates a conspiracy involving a past alien plague and her father's medical legacy.

    earnest → wry, still space opera

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Shadow & Claw

    Gene Wolfe1983

    A torturer travels across a far-future Earth where technology is indistinguishable from magic. He recounts his exile in dense, archaic prose.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+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·bleak0

  • 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+1

To recover

earnest → playful, still space opera

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    earnest → meditative, still science fiction

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-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.

    earnest → wry, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Butterfly Kid

    Chester Anderson1967

    Hippie protagonists in Greenwich Village discover that a new drug allows them to manifest hallucinations into reality to fight an alien invasion.

    earnest → playful, still science fiction

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

earnest → propulsive, still space opera

3 more ↓

  • Skylark DuQuesne

    Edward Elmer Smith1966

    Two rival geniuses must unite their space fleets to stop an alien threat. It features planet-destroying weapons and faster-than-light travel.

    Same earnest register, still space opera

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-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.

    earnest → wry, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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.

    earnest → playful, still science fiction

    pace+1·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-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • Looking Backward, 2000-1887

    Edward Bellamy1888

    A man falls into a hypnotic sleep in 1887 and wakes up in the year 2000 to find the United States transformed into a socialist utopia.

    Same earnest register, still science fiction

    pace-2·prose0·bleak-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.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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+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.

    earnest → tense, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • The Running Man

    Richard Bachman

    A man enters a deadly reality show to fund medical care for his daughter. He must survive thirty days while the entire world hunts him for money.

    earnest → propulsive, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2