LitQueuelitqueue

After

Hunter of Worlds

C. J. Cherryh1977

5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Brightness Reef

    David Brin1995

    Six alien races live illegally on a restricted planet to escape their pasts. Their isolation ends when a starship arrives from the galaxy.

    cold → propulsive, still space opera

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

To recover

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.

    cold → wry, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2

  • Surrounded by Idiots

    Thomas Erikson2014

    A guide to a four-color personality model designed to help readers categorize and communicate with different behavioral types in the workplace.

    cold → wry

    pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2

  • Star Nomad

    Lindsay Buroker2016

    A fighter pilot and a small crew of strangers attempt to escape a system-wide war in a freighter. It is a character-driven space adventure.

    cold → playful, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-3·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.

    cold → playful, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-3·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.

    cold → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-3·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.

    cold → earnest, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-2·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.

    cold → meditative

    pace-1·prose0·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.

    cold → meditative

    pace-1·prose0·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.

    cold → elegiac

    pace-1·prose-1·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.

    cold → bleak, still hard scifi

    pace+1·prose-1·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.

    cold → clinical, still space opera

    pace0·prose-1·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.

    cold → bleak, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1