After
White Mars, or, The mind set free
Brian W. Aldiss1999
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from, nothing slower
More like it
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Red Mars
Kim Stanley Robinson1992
The first hundred colonists land on Mars to begin terraforming. The book details the technical, political, and social shifts over several decades.
earnest → meditative, still hard sci-fi
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Contact
Carl Sagan1985
A radio astronomer detects a signal from Vega containing blueprints for a machine. Scientists work to decode the message and build the device.
Same earnest register, still hard sci-fi
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
Mission of gravity
Hal Clement1954
A human crew recruits a tiny, centipede-like alien to retrieve a probe from a planet where gravity is 700 times that of Earth.
Same earnest register, still hard sci-fi
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
Giants' Star
James P. Hogan1981
Scientists discover that an ancient alien race has been observing Earth from a distant star system to influence human development.
Same earnest register, still hard sci-fi
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
Stardance
Jeanne Robinson1979
A dancer who cannot find work on Earth travels to a zero-gravity space station. She develops a new art form and encounters aliens.
Same earnest register, still hard sci-fi
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace+1prose+1bleak+1
Incandescence
Greg Egan2008
Two parallel stories follow a galactic traveler and a primitive society living inside a rock. They use physics to understand their environment.
earnest → meditative, still hard sci-fi
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
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.
earnest → dreamlike
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
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.
earnest → sardonic
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
Valis
Philip K. Dick1981
A man experiences a beam of pink light that imparts vast information. The narrative explores his mental breakdown and search for God in California.
earnest → meditative
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
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+1·bleak+2
Faster
- pace+3prose-1bleak0
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+3·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+3prose-2bleak0
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.
earnest → propulsive
pace+3·prose-2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+3prose-2bleak0
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
pace+3·prose-2·bleak0
- pace+3prose-2bleak+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.
earnest → propulsive
pace+3·prose-2·bleak+1
- pace+3prose-2bleak0
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
pace+3·prose-2·bleak0
Heavier
- pace+2prose-1bleak+3
The Forge of God
Greg Bear1987
Scientists and government officials realize Earth is being systematically dismantled by an alien presence.
earnest → elegiac, still hard sci-fi
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+3
- pace+2prose-1bleak+3
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+2·prose-1·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose+1bleak+3
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
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace+2prose0bleak+3
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+2·prose0·bleak+3
- pace+2prose-1bleak+3
The Killing Star
Charles R. Pellegrino1995
Relativistic missiles destroy Earth without warning. The few human survivors in the solar system are hunted by an alien species using logic.
earnest → bleak, still hard sci-fi
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+3
