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After

Gardens of the Sun

Paul J. McAuley2009

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Finity's End

    C. J. Cherryh1997

    A teenager raised on a planet is forced to join his family's merchant starship. He learns the technical and social customs of the spacer culture.

    clinical → meditative, still hard scifi

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • The golden age

    John C. Wright2002

    In a far-future utopia, an immortal man discovers he has had his memories erased. He searches for his identity while defying a collective mind.

    clinical → meditative, still hard scifi

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Radiance

    Catherynne M. Valente2015

    A documentary filmmaker disappears on Venus in an alternate 1980s solar system. The story is told through scripts, interviews, and letters.

    clinical → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    clinical → meditative, still space opera

    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.

    clinical → playful, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Ringworld

    Larry Niven1970

    Four explorers travel to a massive artificial ring around a distant star. The story focuses on the mechanics and scale of the structure.

    clinical → playful, still hard scifi

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Foundation

    Isaac Asimov1951

    A mathematician predicts the fall of a galactic empire and sets up a colony to preserve knowledge. The story spans centuries of political shifts.

    Same clinical register, still hard scifi

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    clinical → playful, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • 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.

    clinical → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Star Wars Trilogy

    George Lucas2018

    A farm boy joins a rebellion against a galactic empire. He learns to use a mystical force under the guidance of an exiled knight.

    clinical → earnest, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    clinical → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    clinical → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    clinical → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Maelstrom

    Peter Watts2001

    A bio-engineered virus spreads through the global network while a woman navigates a flooded, post-apocalyptic landscape.

    clinical → bleak, still hard scifi

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • An Exchange of Hostages

    Susan R. Matthews1997

    A surgeon is drafted into a space empire's corps of torturers. He tries to maintain his ethics while being trained to inflict pain.

    Same clinical register, still space opera

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story

    Stephen R. Donaldson

    A space pirate, a victim, and a police officer are trapped in a cycle of abuse and betrayal. The narrative shifts perspectives to reveal lies.

    clinical → bleak, still space opera

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1