LitQueuelitqueue

After

Code of the Lifemaker

James P. Hogan1983

5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

    Robert A. Heinlein1966

    Lunar colonists and a sentient computer plan a revolution against Earth. The story details the logistics of orbital physics and political revolt.

    Same wry register, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

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.

    wry → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2

  • 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.

    wry → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Shadow & Claw

    Gene Wolfe1983

    A torturer travels across a far-future Earth where technology is indistinguishable from magic. He recounts his exile in dense, archaic prose.

    wry → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Accelerando

    Charles Stross2005

    Three generations of a family navigate the rapid evolution of technology toward a singularity. The pace accelerates as humanity is outpaced by AI.

    Same wry register, still hard sci-fi

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+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.

    Same wry register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    wry → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    wry → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • White Mars, or, The mind set free

    Brian W. Aldiss1999

    A group of scientists and thinkers attempts to establish a utopian society on Mars after Earth is cut off by a global catastrophe.

    wry → earnest, still hard sci-fi

    pace-2·prose+1·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.

    wry → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Forge of God

    Greg Bear1987

    Scientists and government officials realize Earth is being systematically dismantled by an alien presence.

    wry → elegiac, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak+3

  • Flood

    Stephen Baxter2008

    The sea level rises globally due to water leaking from the Earth's crust. Four former hostages watch as civilization slowly drowns over decades.

    wry → clinical, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak+3

  • Beyond the Aquila Rift

    Alastair Reynolds2001

    A spaceship crew wakes from cold sleep to find they have overshot their destination by light-years. They must face the reality of their location.

    wry → bleak, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3