LitQueuelitqueue

After

A Civil Campaign

Lois McMaster Bujold1999

5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from

More like it

Same playful register, still space opera

1 more ↓

  • Galaxy blues

    Allen M. Steele2008

    A disgraced pilot joins a freighter crew to avoid prison. He must navigate alien politics and a mission involving a black hole.

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Perhaps the Stars

    Ada Palmer2021

    A global war between ideological factions reaches its conclusion. The story is told through a dense, 18th-century style narrative voice.

    playful → meditative, still space opera

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Sometimes a Great Notion

    Ken Kesey1964

    A family of independent loggers in Oregon refuses to join a local strike. The perspective shifts rapidly between characters, often mid-paragraph.

    playful → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • In Green's Jungles

    Gene Wolfe2000

    A narrator travels to different worlds while his physical form and memories shift. He recounts past voyages to prove his identity to his companions.

    playful → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Chilling Effect

    Valerie Valdes2019

    A spaceship captain completes dangerous missions to pay off a ransom for her kidnapped sister. The crew includes a pilot who is a sentient plant.

    Same playful register, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • The Star Kings

    Edmond Hamilton1949

    A 20th-century man swaps bodies with a prince 200,000 years in the future. He must lead a galactic empire against a tyrant's fleet.

    playful → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • The Star Wars Trilogy

    George Lucas2018

    A farm boy joins a rebellion against a galactic empire. He learns to use a mystical force under the guidance of an exiled knight.

    playful → earnest, still space opera

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    playful → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+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.

    Same playful register

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    Same playful register

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story

    Stephen R. Donaldson

    A space pirate, a victim, and a police officer are trapped in a cycle of abuse and betrayal. The narrative shifts perspectives to reveal lies.

    playful → bleak, still space opera

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3

  • Dark Age

    Pierce Brown2019

    An outlawed revolutionary fights a losing war on Mercury while an exiled heir attempts to reclaim a space empire. It is a violent military epic.

    playful → propulsive, still space opera

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3

  • Star Wars - Legacy of the Force - Sacrifice

    Karen Traviss2007

    Jacen Solo hunts his own parents during a galactic civil war. He commits increasingly ruthless acts to secure his power as a Sith apprentice.

    playful → bleak, still space opera

    pace0·prose0·bleak+3