LitQueuelitqueue

After

Exodus from the Long Sun

Gene Wolfe1996

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Aurora

    Kim Stanley Robinson2015

    An AI narrates the final years of a generation ship's journey. The crew attempts to colonize a moon while the ship's systems begin to fail.

    Same meditative register, still generation ship

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    Same meditative register

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • VAS

    Steve Tomasula2002

    A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.

    meditative → clinical

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    meditative → sardonic

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Vampires Are Forever

    Lynsay Sands2008

    A woman suspects her business partner is a vampire after he attempts to bite her. He tries to convince her they are fated mates.

    meditative → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • The Mane Event

    Shelly Laurenston2007

    A female cop reunites with a childhood friend who is now a lion-shifter. They navigate a romantic attraction while he pursues her in New York.

    meditative → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Mile High

    Liz Tomforde2023

    A professional hockey player and a flight attendant clash on the team's private plane during a season-long road trip.

    meditative → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    meditative → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    meditative → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

  • 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.

    meditative → playful

    pace+2·prose-2·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.

    Same meditative register

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    meditative → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

  • 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.

    meditative → earnest

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Ark

    Stephen Baxter2009

    As Earth faces a global flood, a small crew departs on a starship to find a new home. The mission spans generations and focuses on social decay.

    meditative → bleak, still generation ship

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2

  • The Handmaid's Tale

    Margaret Atwood1985

    In a totalitarian state with a plummeting birth rate, a woman is enslaved as a reproductive vessel. She records her daily life and memories.

    meditative → cold

    pace0·prose0·bleak+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.

    meditative → bleak

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+2