After
Doctor Who
Jacqueline Rayner2006
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
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·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
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·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Cowl
Neal Asher2004
A woman from a dystopian future and a beast from the past are caught in a chase through time. A superhuman entity seeks to rewrite history.
Same propulsive register, still space opera
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak0
Up the Line
Robert Silverberg1969
A time-travel courier takes tourists to historical events but risks paradoxes by pursuing a woman in the past. It is a satirical look at causality.
propulsive → wry, still time travel
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Millennium
John Varley1983
Time travelers from a dying future kidnap passengers from doomed airplanes to repopulate their timeline.
propulsive → tense, still time travel
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
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·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
The Citadel of the Autarch
Gene Wolfe1983
Severian reaches the front lines of a war and fulfills his prophecy. The story concludes his journey through a dying, far-future Earth.
propulsive → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
Perhaps the Stars
Ada Palmer2021
A global war between ideological factions reaches its conclusion. The story is told through a dense, 18th-century style narrative voice.
propulsive → meditative, still space opera
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Empty Space
M. John Harrison2012
Three interlocking timelines follow a widow in London, a detective in a neon city, and a pilot in deep space. The prose is dense and surreal.
propulsive → dreamlike, still space opera
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
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
To recover
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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.
propulsive → wry, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Ten Big Ones
Janet Evanovich2004
Stephanie Plum witnesses a gang hit and becomes a target herself. She balances the threat with her ongoing romantic indecision.
propulsive → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Another fine myth
Robert Asprin1978
A magician's apprentice accidentally summons a demon from another dimension. The two form a partnership to navigate a series of mishaps.
propulsive → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
A Girl's Guide to Vampires
Katie MacAlister2003
An American woman travels to a Goth festival in the Czech Republic and meets a man she believes is a vampire. A mystery involving a killer unfolds.
propulsive → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
Farm Fresh Murder
Paige Shelton2010
A jam maker in a small town investigates a murder to clear her friend's name.
propulsive → warm
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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.
propulsive → wry, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
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-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
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-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
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-1
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
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
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
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
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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
Heavier
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
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+2
- pace-1prose0bleak+2
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+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
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+2
- pace-1prose0bleak+2
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+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
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+2
