The World of Ā

Dune House Corrino

Brian Herbert1999

Set before the events of Dune, Emperor Shaddam IV attempts to consolidate power while the Great Houses plot for control of the spice.

pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

propulsive → sardonic, still science fiction

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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.

propulsive → dreamlike, still space opera

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.

propulsive → meditative, still science fiction

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Translation State

Ann Leckie2023

Three people from different cultures search for a missing diplomat in a galaxy of rigid social hierarchies. It focuses on biological identity.

propulsive → tender, still science fiction

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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.

propulsive → playful

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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.

propulsive → playful

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

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.

propulsive → earnest, still science fiction

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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.

propulsive → 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.

propulsive → playful, still science fiction

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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.

propulsive → meditative

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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.

propulsive → earnest, still science fiction

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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.

propulsive → elegiac

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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.

propulsive → tense, still science fiction

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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.

propulsive → 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.

Same propulsive register, still science fiction

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