LitQueuelitqueue

After

Bound for Glory

Woody Guthrie1943

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Dune

    Frank Herbert1965

    A young nobleman moves to a desert planet to manage the universe's most valuable resource. He must survive a coup and join the native population.

    melancholy → tense, still science fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak-2

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Confessions

    Augustine of Hippo

    A 4th-century bishop writes a spiritual autobiography addressed to God. He recounts his sinful youth and his eventual conversion to Christianity.

    melancholy → meditative

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-3

  • Antifragile

    Nassim Nicholas Taleb2012

    A philosophical exploration of systems that thrive under stress and disorder. It argues against fragility in economics and personal life.

    melancholy → reflective

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2

  • How to Read a Book

    Mortimer J. Adler1940

    This is a guide to active reading techniques for different genres. It outlines levels of reading from basic literacy to syntopical analysis.

    melancholy → mysterious

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2

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.

    melancholy → playful, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • Translation State

    Ann Leckie2023

    Three people from different cultures search for a missing diplomat in a galaxy of rigid social hierarchies. It focuses on biological identity.

    melancholy → tender, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-3

  • The Last Question

    Isaac Asimov2007

    A short story told in seven vignettes spanning billions of years. Humanity asks a supercomputer if the heat death of the universe can be avoided.

    melancholy → meditative, still science fiction

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-3

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Rookie

    Scott Sigler2012

    A talented but prejudiced quarterback joins a professional team of diverse alien species. He must lead them to win in a violent interstellar league.

    melancholy → propulsive, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Skylark DuQuesne

    Edward Elmer Smith1966

    Two rival geniuses must unite their space fleets to stop an alien threat. It features planet-destroying weapons and faster-than-light travel.

    melancholy → earnest, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3

  • 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.

    melancholy → wry, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

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.

    melancholy → meditative, still science fiction

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2

  • Confessions

    Augustine of Hippo

    A 4th-century bishop writes a spiritual autobiography addressed to God. He recounts his sinful youth and his eventual conversion to Christianity.

    melancholy → meditative

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-3

  • How to Read a Book

    Mortimer J. Adler1940

    This is a guide to active reading techniques for different genres. It outlines levels of reading from basic literacy to syntopical analysis.

    melancholy → mysterious

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2