Chronosequence

The Chronoliths

Robert Charles Wilson2001

Monuments from the future appear in the present to commemorate military victories that haven't happened yet. A man tracks their arrival over decades.

pace0·prose-1·bleak+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, still science fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

City of Saints and Madmen

Jeff Vandermeer2001

A collection of stories, histories, and pamphlets about the city of Ambergris. It uses found documents to build a surreal urban history.

meditative → dreamlike

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

L' Êve future

Auguste comte de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam1909

A fictionalized Thomas Edison builds a perfect female android for a heartbroken friend. The book explores the philosophy of artificial life.

Same meditative register, still science fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

The Stainless Steel Rat

Harry Harrison1961

A futuristic con man is caught by the Special Corps and forced to use his criminal skills to catch other lawbreakers.

meditative → playful, still science fiction

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

The Lost Symbol

Dan Brown2009

Symbologist Robert Langdon follows a trail of Masonic puzzles through Washington D.C. monuments to save his kidnapped mentor.

meditative → propulsive

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

Walking Disaster

Jamie McGuire2013

This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.

meditative → propulsive

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Logan's run

William F. Nolan1967

In a future where everyone is executed at age 21, an enforcer becomes a fugitive. He attempts to reach a rumored sanctuary.

meditative → tense, still science fiction

pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1

Influx

Daniel Suarez2014

A physicist invents a gravity-reflecting device and is imprisoned by a secret agency that suppresses technology. He plots a high-tech escape.

meditative → propulsive, still science fiction

pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens

Alan Dean Foster2001

A scavenger and a defecting soldier join the fight against a new galactic power. They search for a missing hero from the previous generation.

meditative → propulsive, still science fiction

pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

Looking Backward, 2000-1887

Edward Bellamy1888

A man falls into a hypnotic sleep in 1887 and wakes up in the year 2000 to find the United States transformed into a socialist utopia.

meditative → earnest, still science fiction

pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

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

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Dandelion Wine

Ray Bradbury1946

A twelve-year-old boy experiences a series of vignettes over one summer in 1928 Illinois. The chapters focus on small-town life and aging.

meditative → elegiac

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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 science fiction

pace+2·prose0·bleak+2

The Running Man

Richard Bachman

A man enters a deadly reality show to fund medical care for his daughter. He must survive thirty days while the entire world hunts him for money.

meditative → propulsive, still science fiction

pace+2·prose-1·bleak+2

Strangers

Gardner Dozois1978

An artist living among the alien Cian on a distant planet falls in love with a local woman and attempts to navigate their incompatible biology.

meditative → elegiac, still science fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak+2