LitQueuelitqueue

After

Infinity Hold

Barry B. Longyear1989

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still military sci-fi

1 more ↓

  • Deepsix

    Jack McDevitt2000

    A pilot leads a team to a planet that will be destroyed by a rogue moon in three weeks. They must find artifacts before the collision.

    Same tense register, still planetary romance

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Too Like the Lightning

    Ada Palmer2016

    In a 25th-century utopia, a convict narrates the discovery of a boy who can perform miracles. The prose uses 18th-century styles and gender terms.

    tense → sardonic

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Valis

    Philip K. Dick1981

    A man experiences a beam of pink light that imparts vast information. The narrative explores his mental breakdown and search for God in California.

    tense → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    tense → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Texas Ranger

    Diana Palmer2001

    A Texas Ranger and a junior investigator work a high-profile murder case. They must cooperate despite a past accusation that drove them apart.

    tense → earnest

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Ghost Ship

    Clive Cussler2014

    Kurt Austin survives a yacht sinking but suffers from conflicting memories. He investigates a global cybercrime conspiracy to find the truth.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • A Galaxy Unknown

    Thomas DePrima2010

    An ensign uses her tactical skills to rise through the ranks of a space navy while fighting pirates and internal bureaucracy.

    tense → earnest, still military sci-fi

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Lines of Departure

    Marko Kloos2014

    An officer fights an interstellar war against alien giants while Earth collapses into poverty. It follows military campaigns across space.

    Same tense register, still military sci-fi

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

    A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

    tense → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Gödel, Escher, Bach

    Douglas R. Hofstadter1979

    An exploration of how cognition emerges from hidden neurological patterns. It uses math, art, and music to explain self-referential systems.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2

  • Ulysses

    James Joyce1914

    Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Salt

    Adam Roberts2000

    Two groups of colonists with opposing ideologies settle on a salt-covered planet, leading to a total breakdown of their society.

    tense → bleak, still planetary romance

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    tense → cold

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Doomsday Book

    Connie Willis1992

    A student travels to 14th-century England while a virus spreads in the present. She arrives during the Black Death due to a technical error.

    tense → bleak

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+1