After
Implied Spaces
Walter Jon Williams2008
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Diaspora
Greg Egan1997
In the 30th century, a digital being is born into a society of software. When an astronomical disaster occurs, they seek a way to survive.
Same elegiac register, still hard sci-fi
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Star Maker
Olaf Stapledon1937
A narrator travels through space and time to observe the birth and death of civilizations across the universe.
Same elegiac register, still time travel
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
Moonseed
Stephen Baxter1998
A lunar virus reaches Earth and begins consuming the planet's crust. Scientists struggle to find a solution as the environment disintegrates.
Same elegiac register, still hard sci-fi
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Fractal Prince
Hannu Rajaniemi2012
A post-human thief is sent to Earth to steal a memory from a city made of digital ghosts. The prose uses dense, unexplained jargon.
elegiac → dreamlike, still hard sci-fi
pace0·prose0·bleak0
To recover
- pace0prose-3bleak-1
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.
elegiac → playful
pace0·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-3bleak-1
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
elegiac → propulsive
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-3bleak-1
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James2000
A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.
elegiac → earnest
pace0·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-3bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
elegiac → wry
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-3bleak-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.
elegiac → propulsive
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir2021
A man wakes up on a spaceship with amnesia and two dead crewmates. He must use scientific experiments to remember his mission and save the sun.
elegiac → propulsive, still hard sci-fi
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-3bleak-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.
elegiac → propulsive
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-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.
elegiac → wry
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-3bleak0
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.
elegiac → propulsive
pace+1·prose-3·bleak0
- pace+1prose-3bleak-1
The Kaiju Preservation Society
John Scalzi2022
A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.
elegiac → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-2prose0bleak+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.
elegiac → dreamlike
pace-2·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-2prose-1bleak-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.
elegiac → earnest, still hard sci-fi
pace-2·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose0bleak0
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.
elegiac → meditative
pace-2·prose0·bleak0
- pace-2prose0bleak0
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.
elegiac → meditative
pace-2·prose0·bleak0
- pace-2prose-1bleak-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.
Same elegiac register
pace-2·prose-1·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace0prose-2bleak+2
The Forge of God
Greg Bear1987
Scientists and government officials realize Earth is being systematically dismantled by an alien presence.
Same elegiac register, still hard sci-fi
pace0·prose-2·bleak+2
- pace0prose-2bleak+2
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.
elegiac → clinical, still hard sci-fi
pace0·prose-2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak+2
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.
elegiac → bleak, still hard sci-fi
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace0prose-1bleak+2
Beyond the Aquila Rift
Alastair Reynolds2001
A spaceship crew wakes from cold sleep to find they have overshot their destination by light-years. They must face the reality of their location.
elegiac → bleak, still hard sci-fi
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace0prose-2bleak+2
The Killing Star
Charles R. Pellegrino1995
Relativistic missiles destroy Earth without warning. The few human survivors in the solar system are hunted by an alien species using logic.
elegiac → bleak, still hard sci-fi
pace0·prose-2·bleak+2
