After
Winterlong
Elizabeth Hand1990
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier, nothing denser
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Sugar Rain
Paul Park1989
During a revolution against a theocracy, a doctor in exile tries to protect his family while a new, pragmatic faith rises.
dreamlike → bleak, still science fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Riddley Walker
Russell Hoban1980
A twelve-year-old boy travels across a primitive, post-nuclear England. The story is written entirely in a broken, phonetic future dialect.
dreamlike → meditative, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Rakesfall
Vajra Chandrasekera2024
Two souls reincarnate across centuries of Sri Lankan history and a distant future. The narrative shifts through different bodies and realities.
Same dreamlike register, still science fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Icarus Descending
Elizabeth Hand1993
In a future where the sun is dying, an orbital station inhabitant descends to a ruined Earth. The story follows his discovery of genetic remnants.
Same dreamlike register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Red Spider White Web
Misha1990
In a corporate-owned wasteland, an artist survives by scavenging. The prose is dense and focuses on body modification and urban decay.
Same dreamlike register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
Split Infinity
Piers Anthony1980
A man travels between a high-tech world of games and a parallel world of magic. He must master both systems to avoid being assassinated.
dreamlike → playful, still science fantasy
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
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.
dreamlike → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
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.
dreamlike → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
Mile High
Liz Tomforde2023
A professional hockey player and a flight attendant clash on the team's private plane during a season-long road trip.
dreamlike → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
Behind the Net
Stephanie Archer2024
A former musician becomes the live-in assistant for a professional hockey goalie she knew in high school.
dreamlike → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
Hell Divers
Nicholas Sansbury Smith2016
Skydivers jump from massive airships to a ruined Earth to scavenge parts for humanity's survival. One team is stranded in a hostile zone.
dreamlike → tense, still post-apocalyptic
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
Akira, Vol. 1
Katsuhiro Ōtomo1984
In a rebuilt post-WWIII Tokyo, two teenage bikers get caught in a government conspiracy after one develops psychic powers.
dreamlike → propulsive, still post-apocalyptic
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
Get Jiro!
Anthony Bourdain2012
In a future Los Angeles, master chefs rule as warlords. A sushi chef who kills rude customers is caught between two warring food factions.
dreamlike → sardonic, still dystopian
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
dreamlike → wry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
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-3
Slower
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
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·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → meditative
pace-1·prose0·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → meditative
pace-1·prose0·bleak-2
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
After London
Richard Jefferies1885
Nature reclaims England after an unspecified catastrophe destroys civilization. A young man explores the toxic swamps that were once London.
dreamlike → elegiac, still post-apocalyptic
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-1bleak-3
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-3
