City Come A-Walkin'

Crossover

Joel Shepherd2001

An android super-soldier attempts to live a civilian life on a space station while being hunted by political factions.

pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

propulsive → dreamlike

pace-2·prose+2·bleak+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.

propulsive → sardonic

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+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.

propulsive → meditative

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

On a Pale Horse

Piers Anthony1983

After accidentally killing the personification of Death, a man must take over the office. He navigates the bureaucracy of the afterlife.

propulsive → playful, still urban fantasy

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Night Pleasures

Sherrilyn Kenyon2002

An immortal warrior and a skeptical accountant are handcuffed together while being hunted by supernatural predators.

propulsive → playful, still urban fantasy

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

The Sentinel

Lee Child2020

A drifter helps an IT manager targeted by criminals after a cyberattack. He uses physical force to protect the man and uncover a conspiracy.

Same propulsive register

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Warbound

Larry Correia2013

In an alternate 1930s, people with magical abilities fight a war against a trans-dimensional threat. It is the final book in a trilogy.

Same propulsive register, still urban fantasy

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

Same propulsive register, still cyberpunk

pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

The Martian

Andy Weir2011

A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

propulsive → wry

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

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.

propulsive → meditative

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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.

propulsive → playful

pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

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.

propulsive → playful

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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.

propulsive → bleak, still cyberpunk

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

Perdido Street Station

China Miéville2000

A scientist in a sprawling, industrial city agrees to help a winged refugee fly again. His research accidentally unleashes a psychic predator.

propulsive → bleak, still urban fantasy

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+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.

propulsive → tense, still cyberpunk

pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2