After
HARM
Brian Aldiss2007
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Chain-Gang All-Stars
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah2023
Prisoners in a private American penal system fight to the death in televised matches for a chance at freedom.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak0
Naked Lunch: The Restored Text
William S. Burroughs
A series of nonlinear vignettes follow a drug addict's hallucinations and travels. The prose is fragmented and satirical.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
A Scanner Darkly
Philip K. Dick1977
An undercover narcotics agent in a near-future California becomes addicted to the drug he is investigating and begins to spy on himself.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Salt
Adam Roberts2000
Two groups of colonists with opposing ideologies settle on a salt-covered planet, leading to a total breakdown of their society.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak-1
The Wanting Seed
Anthony Burgess1962
In an overpopulated future, a couple navigates a society that enforces infertility. The state eventually collapses into cannibalism and war.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
Denser prose
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
- pace0prose+1bleak0
Naked Lunch: The Restored Text
William S. Burroughs
A series of nonlinear vignettes follow a drug addict's hallucinations and travels. The prose is fragmented and satirical.
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak-1
Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace1996
A sprawling narrative centered on a tennis academy, a halfway house, and a lethal film. The text includes hundreds of pages of detailed endnotes.
pace0·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose+1bleak0
A Clockwork Orange
Anthony Burgess1962
A teenage gang leader is imprisoned and subjected to state-mandated psychological conditioning. The story is told in a slang called Nadsat.
pace+1·prose+1·bleak0
- 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.
bleak → dreamlike, still unreliable narrator
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace0prose+1bleak-1
In Green's Jungles
Gene Wolfe2000
A narrator travels to different worlds while his physical form and memories shift. He recounts past voyages to prove his identity to his companions.
bleak → elegiac, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose+1·bleak-1
To recover
bleak → playful
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
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.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
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.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
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.
bleak → playful, still satire
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
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.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
Behind the Net
Stephanie Archer2024
A former musician becomes the live-in assistant for a professional hockey goalie she knew in high school.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+2prose-2bleak-2
Get Jiro!
Anthony Bourdain2012
In a future Los Angeles, master chefs rule as warlords. A sushi chef who kills rude customers is caught between two warring food factions.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
bleak → wry
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
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.
bleak → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
Red Rising
Pierce Brown2014
A laborer on Mars discovers his caste is being lied to and undergoes surgery to infiltrate the ruling elite. He joins a brutal war games academy.
bleak → propulsive, still dystopian
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
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.
bleak → wry
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3
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.
bleak → dreamlike, still unreliable narrator
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-2
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.
bleak → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak-2
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.
bleak → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak-3
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.
bleak → elegiac
pace-1·prose0·bleak-3
