LitQueuelitqueue

After

Irontown Blues

John Varley2018

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same sardonic register, still noir

1 more ↓

  • Software

    Rudy Rucker1982

    An aging man is offered immortality by robots on the moon if he allows them to upload his consciousness. It is a foundational cyberpunk story.

    Same sardonic register, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Winterlong

    Elizabeth Hand1990

    In a decaying, post-apocalyptic Washington D.C., a girl with empathic powers is drawn into the plots of a decadent ruling class.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • 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.

    sardonic → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Nova Swing

    M. John Harrison2006

    In a city bordering a reality-warping zone, a travel agent and a detective deal with illegal artifacts. The prose is dense and non-linear.

    sardonic → cold, still noir

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

sardonic → playful

3 more ↓

  • She Went All the Way

    Meg Cabot2002

    A screenwriter and an actor survive a helicopter crash in the Alaskan wilderness and must hike to safety while being pursued by a killer.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Murderbot Diaries

    Martha Wells2023

    A self-aware security android hacks its governor module to watch soap operas while protecting humans. It navigates corporate conspiracies.

    Same sardonic register, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

sardonic → propulsive, still cyberpunk

3 more ↓

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    sardonic → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Accelerando

    Charles Stross2005

    Three generations of a family navigate the rapid evolution of technology toward a singularity. The pace accelerates as humanity is outpaced by AI.

    sardonic → wry, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    sardonic → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

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.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → bleak, still noir

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Watchmen

    Dave Gibbons1986

    Retired costumed vigilantes investigate a conspiracy after one of their own is murdered. The story uses a comic-within-a-comic and backmatter.

    sardonic → cold, still noir

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Market Forces

    Richard K. Morgan2004

    In a future where executives duel in armored cars for promotions, Chris Faulkner joins a firm that profits from civil wars. It is a corporate satire.

    Same sardonic register, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2