After
Cowl
Neal Asher2004
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Doctor Who
Jacqueline Rayner2006
The Doctor and Rose travel to Ancient Rome to investigate a 2,000-year-old statue that looks exactly like Rose.
Same propulsive register, still space opera
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
The paradox men
Charles L. Harness1955
An amnesiac thief in a future dictatorship discovers he is part of a time-loop involving a sun-bound spaceship.
Same propulsive register, still space opera
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Doctor Who
George Mann2011
The Doctor investigates psychic aliens called the Squall across two different centuries in London. The story involves a 1910 thief and an android.
Same propulsive register, still space opera
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak0
Inherit the Stars
James P. Hogan1977
Scientists find a 50,000-year-old human corpse on the moon. The story follows their attempt to solve the biological and temporal puzzle.
propulsive → dark, still space opera
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Pegasus in Flight
Anne McCaffrey1990
Telepaths and telekinetics work to build a space station while a streetwise girl with a gift for languages is recruited into their ranks.
propulsive → tense, still space opera
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Hunter of Worlds
C. J. Cherryh1977
A human is abducted by the Iduve, a cold and powerful alien race, to serve as a translator and pawn in their internal political conflicts.
propulsive → cold, still space opera
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
propulsive → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Radiance
Catherynne M. Valente2015
A documentary filmmaker disappears on Venus in an alternate 1980s solar system. The story is told through scripts, interviews, and letters.
propulsive → dreamlike, still space opera
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Naked Lunch: The Restored Text
William S. Burroughs
A series of nonlinear vignettes follow a drug addict's hallucinations and travels. The prose is fragmented and satirical.
propulsive → sardonic
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Electric Idol
Katee Robert2022
In a modern-day Olympus, Eros is ordered to kill Psyche but chooses to enter a fake marriage with her to protect her from his mother.
propulsive → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose0bleak-2
Skylark DuQuesne
Edward Elmer Smith1966
Two rival geniuses must unite their space fleets to stop an alien threat. It features planet-destroying weapons and faster-than-light travel.
propulsive → earnest, still space opera
pace+1·prose0·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Star Nomad
Lindsay Buroker2016
A fighter pilot and a small crew of strangers attempt to escape a system-wide war in a freighter. It is a character-driven space adventure.
propulsive → playful, still space opera
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
propulsive → wry, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Kaiju Preservation Society
John Scalzi2022
A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.
propulsive → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
propulsive → wry, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Android's Dream
John Scalzi2006
A diplomat must find a specific, genetically engineered sheep to prevent an interstellar war. The story is a fast-paced, irreverent space comedy.
propulsive → playful, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Lost in Time
A.G. Riddle2022
A man is exiled to the Triassic period for a murder he didn't commit while his daughter tries to bring him back.
Same propulsive register, still time travel
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
Chilling Effect
Valerie Valdes2019
A spaceship captain completes dangerous missions to pay off a ransom for her kidnapped sister. The crew includes a pilot who is a sentient plant.
propulsive → playful, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Star Kings
Edmond Hamilton1949
A 20th-century man swaps bodies with a prince 200,000 years in the future. He must lead a galactic empire against a tyrant's fleet.
Same propulsive register, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak-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.
propulsive → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak-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·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
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-2·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-2prose0bleak-2
For Us, the Living
Robert A. Heinlein2003
A 1930s pilot wakes up in the year 2086. The book consists of long dialogues explaining the social, economic, and sexual norms of the future.
propulsive → earnest
pace-2·prose0·bleak-2
Heavier
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Consider Phlebas
Iain Banks1987
A shape-shifting mercenary works for an alien empire to retrieve a rogue AI during a galactic war. He faces a series of deadly set-pieces.
propulsive → bleak, still space opera
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose0bleak+1
Doomsday Book
Connie Willis1992
A student travels to 14th-century England while a virus spreads in the present. She arrives during the Black Death due to a technical error.
propulsive → bleak, still time travel
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
Behold the Man
Michael Moorcock1968
A man uses a time machine to travel to 28 AD to meet Jesus. Finding only a disabled man who cannot fulfill the gospels, he takes the role himself.
propulsive → bleak, still time travel
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose0bleak+1
The Year of the Quiet Sun
Wilson Tucker1970
A social scientist travels forward in time to document the collapse of the United States through racial conflict and nuclear war.
propulsive → bleak, still time travel
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
An Exchange of Hostages
Susan R. Matthews1997
A surgeon is drafted into a space empire's corps of torturers. He tries to maintain his ethics while being trained to inflict pain.
propulsive → clinical, still space opera
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
