LitQueuelitqueue

After

Armor

John Steakley1984

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Sardonyx Net

    Elizabeth A. Lynn1981

    On a planet dependent on drug-addicted slave labor, a smuggler is captured and sentenced to serve the family that runs the starport.

    Same tense register, still space opera

    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.

    tense → meditative, still space opera

    pace0·prose+2·bleak0

  • Empty Space

    M. John Harrison2012

    Three interlocking timelines follow a widow in London, a detective in a neon city, and a pilot in deep space. The prose is dense and surreal.

    tense → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Hunter of Worlds

    C. J. Cherryh1977

    A human is abducted by the Iduve, a cold and powerful alien race, to serve as a translator and pawn in their internal political conflicts.

    tense → cold, still space opera

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Kaiju Preservation Society

    John Scalzi2022

    A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.

    tense → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Smokin' Seventeen

    Janet Evanovich2011

    A bounty hunter investigates bodies found in her boss's lot while choosing between three suitors. The story follows her daily mishaps in New Jersey.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron

    Julia Quinn2022

    A graphic novel adaptation of a fictional melodrama where an orphan flees a cruel aunt and encounters a man in a remote castle.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Android's Dream

    John Scalzi2006

    A diplomat must find a specific, genetically engineered sheep to prevent an interstellar war. The story is a fast-paced, irreverent space comedy.

    tense → playful, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    tense → playful, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    tense → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2

  • 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.

    tense → playful

    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.

    tense → bleak, still space opera

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    tense → propulsive, still space opera

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    tense → bleak, still space opera

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1