After
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell
Neal Stephenson2019
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Air
Geoff Ryman2004
A village woman becomes the first to test a brain-integrated internet technology. She must prepare her rural community for its forced arrival.
Same meditative register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Permutation City
Greg Egan1994
Digital copies of humans attempt to build a permanent civilization within a computer simulation. It explores the math and logic of virtual existence.
Same meditative register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Solitaire
Kelley Eskridge2002
A woman groomed for global leadership is framed for a crime and sentenced to years of solitary confinement in a virtual reality cell.
Same meditative register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak0
Harvest of Stars
Poul Anderson1993
A pilot and a digital consciousness attempt to save a corporation from a global dictatorship. It covers space travel and mind uploading.
Same meditative register, still hard scifi
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Integral Trees
Larry Niven1984
Humans live in a gas torus around a neutron star, inhabiting free-falling trees that are 100 kilometers long. There is no ground or gravity.
Same meditative register, still hard scifi
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
Same meditative register
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
meditative → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+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, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+1bleak+1
Star Maker
Olaf Stapledon1937
A narrator travels through space and time to observe the birth and death of civilizations across the universe.
meditative → elegiac, still speculative fiction
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
To recover
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
The Last Question
Isaac Asimov2007
A short story told in seven vignettes spanning billions of years. Humanity asks a supercomputer if the heat death of the universe can be avoided.
Same meditative register, still hard scifi
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
On a Pale Horse
Piers Anthony1983
After accidentally killing the personification of Death, a man must take over the office. He navigates the bureaucracy of the afterlife.
meditative → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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.
meditative → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace0prose-2bleak-1
Tuesdays with Morrie
Mitch Albom1994
A journalist reconnects with his dying college professor for weekly lessons on life. They discuss aging, regret, and love as the professor declines.
meditative → tender
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
Murderbot Diaries
Martha Wells2023
A self-aware security android hacks its governor module to watch soap operas while protecting humans. It navigates corporate conspiracies.
meditative → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
Faster
meditative → propulsive, still cyberpunk
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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.
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak+1
Akira, Vol. 1
Katsuhiro Ōtomo1984
In a rebuilt post-WWIII Tokyo, two teenage bikers get caught in a government conspiracy after one develops psychic powers.
pace+2·prose-2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
meditative → wry
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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.
meditative → wry
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak0
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
Slower
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
meditative → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
Same meditative register
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
His Master's Voice
Stanisław Lem2018
A mathematician works at a secret facility to decode a neutrino signal from space. The book is a philosophical essay disguised as a memoir.
meditative → clinical, still hard scifi
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose0bleak+1
After London
Richard Jefferies1885
Nature reclaims England after an unspecified catastrophe destroys civilization. A young man explores the toxic swamps that were once London.
meditative → elegiac, still speculative fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace0prose0bleak+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, still speculative fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
Titan
Stephen Baxter1997
A crew of astronauts embarks on a one-way mission to Saturn's moon. The narrative details the technical and psychological decay of the mission.
meditative → cold, still hard scifi
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
Dr. Adder
K. W. Jeter1984
In a broken future Los Angeles, a surgeon performs extreme genital modifications for a subculture of outcasts.
meditative → cynical, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
The Postmortal
Drew Magary2011
A lawyer records his life after a cure for aging is discovered. Society slowly collapses under the weight of overpopulation and eternal life.
meditative → sardonic, still speculative fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
Market Forces
Richard K. Morgan2004
In a future where executives duel in armored cars for promotions, Chris Faulkner joins a firm that profits from civil wars. It is a corporate satire.
meditative → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
