LitQueuelitqueue

After

Kairos

Gwyneth Jones1988

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Glamour

    Christopher Priest2005

    An amnesiac man recovers from a bombing and learns about a group of people who are invisible to others. He reconstructs his past through diaries.

    Same dreamlike register, still slipstream

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

dreamlike → sardonic, still dystopian

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    Same dreamlike register

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • VAS

    Steve Tomasula2002

    A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.

    dreamlike → clinical, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    dreamlike → sardonic

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

    Malcolm Gladwell

    Gladwell examines instances where perceived disadvantages, like dyslexia or small size, become the primary drivers of success.

    dreamlike → earnest

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Murderbot Diaries

    Martha Wells2023

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

    dreamlike → sardonic, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Speaking for Myself: Faith, Freedom, and the Fight of Our Lives Inside the Trump White House

    Sarah Huckabee Sanders

    The former Press Secretary recounts her time in the Trump administration. She describes daily operations and her defense of the president's policies.

    dreamlike → earnest

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Akira, Vol. 1

    Katsuhiro Ōtomo1984

    In a rebuilt post-WWIII Tokyo, two teenage bikers get caught in a government conspiracy after one develops psychic powers.

    dreamlike → propulsive, still cyberpunk

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

  • 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.

    dreamlike → sardonic, still dystopian

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    dreamlike → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·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.

    dreamlike → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·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.

    dreamlike → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-2

  • For Us, the Living

    Robert A. Heinlein2003

    A 1930s pilot wakes up in the year 2086. The book consists of long dialogues explaining the social, economic, and sexual norms of the future.

    dreamlike → earnest

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Man Who Melted

    Jack Dann1984

    A man searches a chaotic, future Europe for his wife while a telepathic virus causes people to lose their identities.

    Same dreamlike register, still dystopian

    pace0·prose0·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.

    dreamlike → cold, still dystopian

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Dr. Adder

    K. W. Jeter1984

    In a broken future Los Angeles, a surgeon performs extreme genital modifications for a subculture of outcasts.

    dreamlike → cynical, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1