LitQueuelitqueue

After

Light

M. John Harrison2002

5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Vacuum Diagrams

    Stephen Baxter1997

    A collection of interconnected stories spanning five million years of human expansion and conflict with the alien Xeelee.

    Same cold register, still space opera

    pace0·prose-1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Walking Disaster

    Jamie McGuire2013

    This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.

    cold → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2

  • This Man

    Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

    An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.

    cold → tense

    pace+1·prose-3·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.

    cold → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens

    Alan Dean Foster2001

    A scavenger and a defecting soldier join the fight against a new galactic power. They search for a missing hero from the previous generation.

    cold → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • The Rookie

    Scott Sigler2012

    A talented but prejudiced quarterback joins a professional team of diverse alien species. He must lead them to win in a violent interstellar league.

    cold → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Skylark DuQuesne

    Edward Elmer Smith1966

    Two rival geniuses must unite their space fleets to stop an alien threat. It features planet-destroying weapons and faster-than-light travel.

    cold → earnest, still space opera

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

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

  • Looking Backward, 2000-1887

    Edward Bellamy1888

    A man falls into a hypnotic sleep in 1887 and wakes up in the year 2000 to find the United States transformed into a socialist utopia.

    cold → earnest, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • 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 ↓

  • The Jaunt

    Stephen King2009

    A father explains the history of teleportation to his family while they wait to travel. He describes the danger of being awake during the trip.

    cold → tense, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1

  • Hellspark

    Janet Kagan1988

    A linguist travels to a new planet to investigate a murder. She must determine if the local species is sentient while navigating a conspiracy.

    cold → tense, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1

  • The Running Man

    Richard Bachman

    A man enters a deadly reality show to fund medical care for his daughter. He must survive thirty days while the entire world hunts him for money.

    cold → propulsive, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak+1