After

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

Becky Chambers2021

pace
prose
structure
bleakness

5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from

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Denser prose

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tender → dreamlike
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A documentary filmmaker disappears on Venus in an alternate 1980s solar system. The story is told through scripts, interviews, and letters.
tender → dreamlike
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Faster

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A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tender → wry
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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.
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Slower

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Heavier

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A Jesuit priest joins a mission to a newly discovered planet. The story is told in flashbacks after he returns as the sole, traumatized survivor.
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Retired masked vigilantes investigate the murder of a former teammate. The story takes place in an alternate 1985 on the brink of nuclear war.
tender → bleak
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