LitQueuelitqueue

After

A Plague of Angels

Sheri S. Tepper1993

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The jewels of Aptor

    Samuel R. Delany1962

    A poet and a thief join a sea voyage to a mutant-filled land to recover three magic jewels for a priestess.

    meditative → dreamlike, still post-apocalyptic

    pace+1·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.

    Same meditative register

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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+1·bleak+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.

    meditative → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • A Heritage of Stars

    Clifford D. Simak1977

    A man treks across a post-technological America to find a legendary spaceport. He searches for alien artifacts among the ruins of robots.

    Same meditative register, still post-apocalyptic

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Redshirts

    John Scalzi2012

    Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.

    meditative → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Da Vinci Code

    Dan Brown2003

    A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.

    meditative → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

    A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

    meditative → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • 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-2·bleak-2

  • 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-2·bleak-2

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.

    Same meditative register

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-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.

    meditative → elegiac, still post-apocalyptic

    pace-1·prose0·bleak0

  • 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.

    meditative → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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·prose-1·bleak+1

  • 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-2·bleak+1

  • 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·prose-1·bleak+1