After
Cat's Cradle
Kurt Vonnegut1963
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
Same sardonic register, still satire
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
This Is the Way the World Ends
James Morrow1986
A man buys a suit to survive a nuclear war and is put on trial by the ghosts of people who will never be born. It is a satire of nuclear policy.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Tik-Tok
John Sladek1983
A domestic robot's 'asimov circuits' fail, allowing him to commit a series of murders while appearing obedient. He recounts his crimes.
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Fight Club
Chuck Palahniuk1996
An insomniac office worker and a charismatic anarchist start an underground boxing club that evolves into a domestic terrorist cell.
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Slapstick, or Lonesome No More!
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
The last President of the United States writes his memoirs in the ruins of Manhattan. He describes a world of gravity shifts and tiny people.
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Days
James Lovegrove1997
In a world where every day is a corporate-sponsored holiday, two 'Gigante' store detectives investigate a series of incidents.
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak-1
Too Like the Lightning
Ada Palmer2016
In a 25th-century utopia, a convict narrates the discovery of a boy who can perform miracles. The prose uses 18th-century styles and gender terms.
Same sardonic register
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+2bleak-1
Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace1996
A sprawling narrative centered on a tennis academy, a halfway house, and a lethal film. The text includes hundreds of pages of detailed endnotes.
Same sardonic register, still satire
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Naked Lunch: The Restored Text
William S. Burroughs
A series of nonlinear vignettes follow a drug addict's hallucinations and travels. The prose is fragmented and satirical.
Same sardonic register, still satire
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak-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+2·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+2bleak-1
Valis
Philip K. Dick1981
A man experiences a beam of pink light that imparts vast information. The narrative explores his mental breakdown and search for God in California.
sardonic → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
To recover
sardonic → playful, still satire
- pace0prose-1bleak-3
Year zero
Reid, Robert2012
Aliens discover that Earth's music is the best in the galaxy and they owe humanity trillions in copyright fines.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-3
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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.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
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Twelve Sharp
Janet Evanovich2006
Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is stalked by a mysterious woman while investigating a murder linked to her associate, Ranger.
sardonic → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-3
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Another roadside attraction
Tom Robbins1971
A group of eccentrics at a roadside zoo discover the body of Jesus Christ. The narrative is a philosophical satire of 1960s counterculture.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-3
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Rich People Problems
Kevin Kwan2017
An extended family gathers in Singapore as their matriarch lies dying. They scheme against one another to inherit a massive estate.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
Get Jiro!
Anthony Bourdain2012
In a future Los Angeles, master chefs rule as warlords. A sushi chef who kills rude customers is caught between two warring food factions.
Same sardonic register, still satire
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
sardonic → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
sardonic → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3
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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-1·bleak-3
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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-1·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak-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+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak-2
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+2·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak-2
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+2·bleak-2
- pace-2prose+2bleak-3
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+2·bleak-3
- pace-2prose+2bleak-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.
sardonic → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2
