After
Brain Thief
Alexander Jablokov2010
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
Same sardonic register, still cyberpunk
- pace0prose0bleak0
By the Pricking of Her Thumb
Adam Roberts2018
A private investigator in a corporate-run future searches for a missing woman. The world is built on extreme wealth inequality and digital ghosts.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Rule 34
Charles Stross2011
A detective in near-future Edinburgh tracks a killer who mimics bizarre internet memes. The narrative uses a second-person perspective.
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Dervish Is Digital
Pat Cadigan2000
A police officer investigates a murder committed in a virtual reality world where the suspect is a digital consciousness.
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Titanium Noir
Nick Harkaway2023
A detective investigates the murder of a Titan, a genetically enhanced elite who is nearly impossible to kill. It is a hardboiled mystery.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
Polar City Blues
Katharine Kerr1990
A detective investigates a murder involving an alien body on a winter-locked planet. The case uncovers a conspiracy between humans and aliens.
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
In Green's Jungles
Gene Wolfe2000
A narrator travels to different worlds while his physical form and memories shift. He recounts past voyages to prove his identity to his companions.
sardonic → elegiac
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
sardonic → clinical, still cyberpunk
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+1bleak+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.
sardonic → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
sardonic → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
Rakesfall
Vajra Chandrasekera2024
Two souls reincarnate across centuries of Sri Lankan history and a distant future. The narrative shifts through different bodies and realities.
sardonic → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
To recover
sardonic → playful, still mystery
- pace0prose-2bleak-1
Truly, Madly
Heather Webber2010
A woman with the psychic ability to find lost objects takes over her family's matchmaking business. She teams up with a cynical private investigator.
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace0prose-2bleak-1
Size 14 Is Not Fat Either
Meg Cabot
A former pop star working at a college dormitory investigates the murder of a cheerleader. She balances the case with her own personal life.
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak-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.
Same sardonic register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace0prose-2bleak-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.
sardonic → playful
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace0prose-2bleak-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.
sardonic → playful
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
Faster
sardonic → propulsive, still cyberpunk
- pace+1prose-2bleak-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.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak+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.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
sardonic → wry
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
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.
sardonic → wry
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak0
Skin Game
Jim Butcher2014
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.
sardonic → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak0
Slower
- pace-2prose+1bleak+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.
sardonic → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+1bleak0
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.
sardonic → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+1bleak0
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.
sardonic → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-2prose+1bleak0
Blood on the dining-room floor
Gertrude Stein1948
A repetitive, circular narrative about a death in a country house. It uses experimental prose to obscure the facts of a traditional mystery.
sardonic → playful, still mystery
pace-2·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-2prose+1bleak-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.
sardonic → playful
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace0prose-1bleak+2
Dr. Adder
K. W. Jeter1984
In a broken future Los Angeles, a surgeon performs extreme genital modifications for a subculture of outcasts.
sardonic → cynical, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace0prose-1bleak+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.
Same sardonic register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+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.
sardonic → bleak, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
Hellspark
Janet Kagan1988
A linguist travels to a new planet to investigate a murder. She must determine if the local species is sentient while navigating a conspiracy.
sardonic → tense, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace0prose0bleak+2
Golem100
Alfred Bester1980
In a future city, a group of women accidentally summon a psychic monster that commits acts of extreme violence while investigators track it.
Same sardonic register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak+2