After
China Mountain Zhang
Maureen F. McHugh1992
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Air
Geoff Ryman2004
A village woman becomes the first to test a brain-integrated internet technology. She must prepare her rural community for its forced arrival.
Same meditative register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Dervish House
Ian McDonald2010
Six characters navigate a week of political and technological intrigue in a near-future Istanbul. The story centers on an old dervish house.
Same meditative register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Permutation City
Greg Egan1994
Digital copies of humans attempt to build a permanent civilization within a computer simulation. It explores the math and logic of virtual existence.
Same meditative register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
In Ascension
Martin MacInnes2023
A microbiologist studies ancient life in a deep-sea trench before joining a space mission. The focus is on biology and the scale of the universe.
Same meditative register, still literary sci-fi
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Broken God
David Zindell1993
A young man joins a spacefaring order of monks and mathematicians. He navigates complex social hierarchies and philosophical conflicts.
Same meditative register, still coming of age
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace0prose+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.
meditative → clinical, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+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.
meditative → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Nova Express
William S. Burroughs1964
An experimental narrative uses the cut-up technique to depict a war between intergalactic criminals and the police. It is a collage of imagery.
meditative → sardonic
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+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.
meditative → elegiac
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+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.
meditative → sardonic
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
To recover
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
King of Pride
Ana Huang2023
A buttoned-up billionaire heir falls for an impulsive bartender while trying to secure a CEO position. They navigate a forbidden workplace romance.
meditative → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-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.
meditative → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-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.
meditative → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-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.
meditative → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-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.
meditative → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
Faster
meditative → propulsive, still cyberpunk
- pace+2prose-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+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-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+2·prose-2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
meditative → wry
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-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.
meditative → wry
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-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.
meditative → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak0
Slower
- pace-1prose+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.
meditative → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+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.
Same meditative register
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+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.
Same meditative register
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+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.
meditative → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
meditative → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
Heavier
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
Dr. Adder
K. W. Jeter1984
In a broken future Los Angeles, a surgeon performs extreme genital modifications for a subculture of outcasts.
meditative → cynical, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace0prose0bleak+2
Under the skin
Michel Faber2000
A woman picks up hitchhikers in the Scottish Highlands for a corporate harvesting operation. The prose is clinical and detached.
meditative → clinical, still literary sci-fi
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-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.
meditative → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose0bleak+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.
meditative → bleak, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace+2prose0bleak+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.
meditative → tense, still cyberpunk
pace+2·prose0·bleak+2
