After
Zero History
William Gibson2010
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Dervish House
Ian McDonald2010
Six characters navigate a week of political and technological intrigue in a near-future Istanbul. The story centers on an old dervish house.
wry → meditative, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Restoration Game
Ken MacLeod2010
A computer programmer is hired to create a simulation of a fictional Caucasian country, leading her into a real-world geopolitical conspiracy.
Same wry register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Pattern Recognition
William Gibson2003
A woman with a physical sensitivity to branding tracks the origin of mysterious film clips across the globe. It is a tech-focused corporate mystery.
wry → clinical, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Cryptonomicon
Neal Stephenson1999
WWII codebreakers and their 1990s descendants attempt to build a data haven while uncovering a global gold conspiracy.
Same wry register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Halting State
Charles Stross2007
An Edinburgh cop, an IT consultant, and a programmer investigate a virtual bank robbery. The story is told in the second person.
Same wry register, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
City of Saints and Madmen
Jeff Vandermeer2001
A collection of stories, histories, and pamphlets about the city of Ambergris. It uses found documents to build a surreal urban history.
wry → dreamlike
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
VAS
Steve Tomasula2002
A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.
wry → clinical, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
wry → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
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.
wry → sardonic
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
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.
wry → meditative
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
To recover
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown2009
Symbologist Robert Langdon follows a trail of Masonic puzzles through Washington D.C. monuments to save his kidnapped mentor.
wry → propulsive, still thriller
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
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.
wry → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
Better Off Dead
Lee Child2021
Jack Reacher investigates a staged car crash in Arizona and infiltrates a dangerous local crew to find a missing woman.
wry → propulsive, still thriller
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
Walking Disaster
Jamie McGuire2013
This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.
wry → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
This Man
Jodi Ellen Malpas2013
An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.
wry → tense
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
Faster
wry → propulsive, still cyberpunk
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
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.
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak+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.
pace+2·prose-2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
Same wry register
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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.
Same wry register
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak0
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.
wry → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak0
Slower
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
wry → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
wry → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
wry → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
Gödel, Escher, Bach
Douglas R. Hofstadter1979
An exploration of how cognition emerges from hidden neurological patterns. It uses math, art, and music to explain self-referential systems.
wry → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
Ulysses
James Joyce1914
Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.
wry → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
Heavier
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
Dr. Adder
K. W. Jeter1984
In a broken future Los Angeles, a surgeon performs extreme genital modifications for a subculture of outcasts.
wry → cynical, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
Market Forces
Richard K. Morgan2004
In a future where executives duel in armored cars for promotions, Chris Faulkner joins a firm that profits from civil wars. It is a corporate satire.
wry → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
Random Acts of Senseless Violence
Jack Womack1994
A twelve-year-old girl records her life in a diary as New York City collapses into riots and hyperinflation. Her family falls into poverty.
wry → bleak, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace+2prose0bleak+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.
wry → tense, still cyberpunk
pace+2·prose0·bleak+2
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
Golem100
Alfred Bester1980
In a future city, a group of women accidentally summon a psychic monster that commits acts of extreme violence while investigators track it.
wry → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2