LitQueuelitqueue

After

City of Golden Shadow

Tad Williams1996

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Computer Connection

    Alfred Bester1975

    A group of immortals recruits a physicist to help them hijack the supercomputer that runs Earth's mechanical systems.

    propulsive → playful, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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-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, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Against the Day

    Thomas Pynchon2006

    A massive ensemble cast navigates the globe between the 1893 World's Fair and WWI. The plot spans airships, math, and secret societies.

    propulsive → playful, still ensemble cast

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Murderbot Diaries

    Martha Wells2023

    A self-aware security android hacks its governor module to watch soap operas while protecting humans. It navigates corporate conspiracies.

    propulsive → sardonic, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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+2·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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+2·prose-2·bleak+1

  • The Lake House

    James Patterson

    A veterinarian and an FBI agent protect six genetically engineered children who can fly. They are pursued by a global conspiracy.

    Same propulsive register, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-1·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.

    propulsive → earnest, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    propulsive → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Dr. Adder

    K. W. Jeter1984

    In a broken future Los Angeles, a surgeon performs extreme genital modifications for a subculture of outcasts.

    propulsive → cynical, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2

  • Hard to be a god

    Аркадий Стругацкий2014

    An observer from a technologically advanced Earth lives undercover on a planet stuck in a medieval state. He must watch atrocities without helping.

    propulsive → bleak, still science fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+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.

    propulsive → sardonic, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2