Eversion

Luna: New Moon

Ian McDonald2015

Five corporate dynasties fight for control of the Moon's resources. Life is a commodity where oxygen and water must be purchased.

pace0·prose0·bleak+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.

tense → meditative, still space opera

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

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.

tense → meditative, still unreliable narrator

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

City of Saints and Madmen

Jeff Vandermeer2001

A collection of stories, histories, and pamphlets about the city of Ambergris. It uses found documents to build a surreal urban history.

tense → dreamlike, still unreliable narrator

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

Redshirts

John Scalzi2012

Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.

tense → playful, still space opera

pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

Foundation's Edge

Isaac Asimov1982

Two factions search for a hidden planet and the origin of humanity. The plot follows political maneuvering and scientific deduction.

tense → propulsive, still hard sci-fi

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Walking Disaster

Jamie McGuire2013

This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.

tense → propulsive

pace0·prose-2·bleak-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.

tense → playful, still space opera

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

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.

tense → propulsive, still hard sci-fi

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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.

tense → propulsive, still space opera

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.

tense → meditative

pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

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.

tense → meditative

pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

Children of Memory

Adrian Tchaikovsky2023

Advanced humans and uplifted animals observe a failing colony on a harsh planet. The story explores memory and the nature of consciousness.

tense → meditative, still hard sci-fi

pace-1·prose0·bleak0

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.

tense → clinical, still hard sci-fi

pace0·prose-1·bleak+2

Echopraxia

Peter Watts2014

A biologist is caught on a mission toward the sun alongside a pilot and a group of transhuman monks. It explores consciousness and evolution.

tense → bleak, still hard sci-fi

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

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.

tense → bleak, still hard sci-fi

pace0·prose0·bleak+2