After
A Heritage of Stars
Clifford D. Simak1977
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Road to Corlay
John Middleton Murry, Jr.1978
In a post-technological Britain, a religious cult awaits a messiah while a man in the past attempts to communicate across time.
Same meditative register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Dreamsnake
Vonda N. McIntyre1978
A healer travels a post-apocalyptic Earth using genetically engineered snakes to cure the sick. She must find a replacement when one is killed.
meditative → tender, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+2
The Visitor
Sheri S. Tepper2002
Centuries after an asteroid strike, a woman finds a scientific text that challenges her repressive society. She travels a ruined landscape.
Same meditative register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
- pace0prose0bleak0
A Choice of Gods
Clifford D. Simak1972
After humanity vanishes, a few survivors live for centuries on a quiet Earth. They eventually learn where the rest of the population went.
Same meditative register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Eternity Road
Jack McDevitt1998
Centuries after a global collapse, a group of explorers treks across North America to find a legendary library of the 'Roadmakers'.
Same meditative register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
Denser prose
- pace0prose+2bleak+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.
Same meditative register, still science fantasy
pace0·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace0prose+2bleak+2
Rakesfall
Vajra Chandrasekera2024
Two souls reincarnate across centuries of Sri Lankan history and a distant future. The narrative shifts through different bodies and realities.
meditative → dreamlike, still science fantasy
pace0·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+2bleak+2
Against the Day
Thomas Pynchon2006
A massive ensemble cast navigates the globe between the 1893 World's Fair and WWI. The plot spans airships, math, and secret societies.
meditative → playful
pace0·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace0prose+2bleak+3
Winterlong
Elizabeth Hand1990
In a decaying, post-apocalyptic Washington D.C., a girl with empathic powers is drawn into the plots of a decadent ruling class.
meditative → dreamlike, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose+2·bleak+3
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
meditative → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
Faster
- pace+2prose-1bleak+2
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.
meditative → tense, still post-apocalyptic
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+2prose-1bleak+2
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.
meditative → propulsive, still post-apocalyptic
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak0
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
meditative → wry
pace+2·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+2prose-1bleak0
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.
meditative → propulsive, still quest
pace+2·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+2prose-1bleak0
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.
meditative → wry
pace+2·prose-1·bleak0
Slower
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
meditative → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
Same meditative register
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
Same meditative register
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
meditative → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
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.
meditative → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace0prose+2bleak+3
Winterlong
Elizabeth Hand1990
In a decaying, post-apocalyptic Washington D.C., a girl with empathic powers is drawn into the plots of a decadent ruling class.
meditative → dreamlike, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose+2·bleak+3
- pace0prose+2bleak+3
Zone One
Colson Whitehead2011
A sweeper squad clears Manhattan of lingering zombies and catatonic 'stragglers.' The focus is on the protagonist's memories and the city's decay.
meditative → elegiac, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose+2·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+3
On the Beach
Nevil Shute1957
Survivors in Australia wait for a lethal radiation cloud to arrive after a nuclear war. They spend their final months in quiet, domestic routines.
meditative → elegiac, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
- pace+1prose-1bleak+3
The Walking Dead: Compendium One
Robert Kirkman2009
A sheriff wakes from a coma into a zombie apocalypse. He leads a group of survivors through various temporary shelters over several years.
meditative → bleak, still post-apocalyptic
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+3
- pace+1prose0bleak+3
One Second After
William R. Forstchen2009
An EMP strike destroys the American power grid. A history professor attempts to manage the starvation and societal collapse of his small town.
meditative → bleak, still post-apocalyptic
pace+1·prose0·bleak+3
