LitQueuelitqueue

After

Exultant

Stephen Baxter2004

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Matriarch

    Karen Traviss2006

    Humans and aliens deal with the ecological and political fallout of a civil war on a crowded, insectoid-inhabited planet.

    Same cold register, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose-1·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    cold → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace-1·prose+1·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.

    cold → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    cold → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    cold → playful, still space opera

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Warrior Rising

    P.C. Cast2008

    Goddesses transport a modern woman to ancient Troy to seduce and distract Achilles. It is a lighthearted fish-out-of-water romance.

    cold → playful

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The time keeper

    Mitch Albom2011

    The inventor of the first clock is released from a cave to help two people in the modern world. He teaches them the value of their remaining time.

    cold → earnest

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Fortune's Pawn

    Rachel Bach

    A power-armored mercenary joins the crew of a suspicious cargo ship to earn enough money for her elite military dreams.

    cold → propulsive, still military sci-fi

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Killing of Worlds

    Scott Westerfeld2003

    Captain Laurent Zai fights a lone ship-to-ship battle against invaders while Senator Nara Oxham uncovers the Emperor's secrets.

    cold → propulsive, still military sci-fi

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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.

    cold → playful, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

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.

    cold → meditative

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1

  • White Mars, or, The mind set free

    Brian W. Aldiss1999

    A group of scientists and thinkers attempts to establish a utopian society on Mars after Earth is cut off by a global catastrophe.

    cold → earnest, still hard sci-fi

    pace-2·prose0·bleak-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.

    cold → elegiac

    pace-2·prose0·bleak-2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Forge of God

    Greg Bear1987

    Scientists and government officials realize Earth is being systematically dismantled by an alien presence.

    cold → elegiac, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    cold → clinical, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    cold → bleak, still hard sci-fi

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1