After
A Mask for the General
Lisa Goldstein1987
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Firebreak
Nicole Kornher-Stace2021
In a corporate-run dystopia, a gig-worker discovers a secret about the genetically engineered supersoldiers in her favorite VR game.
dreamlike → propulsive, still dystopian
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Ragamuffin
Tobias S. Buckell2007
A human pilot and a modified warrior resist an alien empire that has enslaved humanity. It features orbital combat and cybernetic tech.
dreamlike → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak+1
A Calculated Life
Anne Charnock2013
A genetically modified woman with hyper-analytical skills works as a data forecaster. She begins to question her corporate-controlled existence.
dreamlike → clinical, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Kairos
Gwyneth Jones1988
In a collapsing near-future Britain, characters navigate chemical hallucinations and a breakdown of reality caused by a new drug.
Same dreamlike register, still dystopian
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Stand on Zanzibar
John Brunner1968
A fragmented portrait of an overpopulated 2010. The story uses news feeds and slogans to track a spy and a student in a corporate-run world.
dreamlike → sardonic, still dystopian
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+2bleak+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.
dreamlike → clinical, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
Radiance
Catherynne M. Valente2015
A documentary filmmaker disappears on Venus in an alternate 1980s solar system. The story is told through scripts, interviews, and letters.
Same dreamlike register
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace1996
A sprawling narrative centered on a tennis academy, a halfway house, and a lethal film. The text includes hundreds of pages of detailed endnotes.
dreamlike → sardonic, still dystopian
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+2bleak+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.
Same dreamlike register
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Murderbot Diaries
Martha Wells2023
A self-aware security android hacks its governor module to watch soap operas while protecting humans. It navigates corporate conspiracies.
dreamlike → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
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-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
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-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-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.
dreamlike → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
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-1·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+2prose0bleak0
The Long Run
Daniel Keys Moran1989
A genetically engineered outlaw with the ability to interface with computers runs from a global police force. He attempts a final heist.
dreamlike → propulsive, still dystopian
pace+2·prose0·bleak0
- pace+2prose-1bleak-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.
dreamlike → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak+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 cyberpunk
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+2prose-1bleak0
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-1·bleak0
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
dreamlike → wry
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
dreamlike → bleak, still dystopian
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak-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.
dreamlike → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace+1prose0bleak+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.
dreamlike → sardonic, still dystopian
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace+1prose+1bleak+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.
dreamlike → bleak, still dystopian
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
Dr. Adder
K. W. Jeter1984
In a broken future Los Angeles, a surgeon performs extreme genital modifications for a subculture of outcasts.
dreamlike → cynical, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace0prose0bleak+2
The Testament of Jessie Lamb
Jane Rogers2011
A teenager decides to volunteer for a medical program that will end her life to save humanity from a biological catastrophe.
dreamlike → earnest, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood1985
In a totalitarian state with a plummeting birth rate, a woman is enslaved as a reproductive vessel. She records her daily life and memories.
dreamlike → cold, still dystopian
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
