Emprise

Steal Across the Sky

Nancy Kress2009

Aliens take twenty-one humans to various planets to witness the consequences of an ancient genetic crime. It focuses on the ethical fallout.

pace0·prose0·bleak0

The Last Theorem

Arthur C. Clarke2008

A young mathematician solves Fermat's Last Theorem while an alien race monitors Earth's nuclear progress. It spans several decades.

pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Infinity Beach

Jack McDevitt2000

In a universe where humans have found no other life, a scientist discovers evidence of a secret mission and a possible alien encounter.

pace+1·prose0·bleak0

Rollback

Robert J. Sawyer2007

An elderly couple undergoes a rejuvenation treatment to help decode an alien signal. It works for the husband but fails for the wife.

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Incandescence

Greg Egan2008

Two parallel stories follow a galactic traveler and a primitive society living inside a rock. They use physics to understand their environment.

earnest → meditative, still hard sci-fi

pace0·prose+2·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.

earnest → dreamlike

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

The Eye of Heaven

Clive Cussler2014

Husband-and-wife treasure hunters find a Viking ship in the Arctic containing Mexican artifacts and race to find a legendary Toltec object.

earnest → playful

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Remnant Population

Elizabeth Moon1996

An elderly woman hides when her colony is evacuated, choosing to live alone on an alien planet until a new species arrives.

earnest → warm, still hard sci-fi

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Project Hail Mary

Andy Weir2021

A man wakes up on a spaceship with amnesia and two dead crewmates. He must use scientific experiments to remember his mission and save the sun.

earnest → propulsive, still hard sci-fi

pace+2·prose0·bleak-1

Ready Player One

Ernest Cline2008

A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.

earnest → propulsive

pace+2·prose-1·bleak-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.

earnest → dreamlike

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+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.

earnest → meditative

pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

Blindsight

Peter Watts2006

A crew of specialists, including a vampire and a linguist, investigates an alien presence at the edge of the solar system.

earnest → cold, still hard sci-fi

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

The Sparrow

Mary Doria Russell1996

A Jesuit priest joins a mission to a newly discovered planet. The story is told in flashbacks after he returns as the sole, traumatized survivor.

earnest → elegiac, still first contact

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2