After
Looking Backward, 2000-1887
Edward Bellamy1888
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from, nothing slower
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
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.
Same earnest register, still fish out of water
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose+1bleak0
Looking Backward from 2000 to 1887
Edward Bellamy1945
A man falls into a hypnotic sleep in 1887 and wakes up in the year 2000 to find America transformed into a socialist utopia.
Same earnest register, still science fiction
pace+1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Changelings
Anne McCaffrey2005
Twin children born on a sentient planet demonstrate the ability to shapeshift into seals while their parents defend their world from explorers.
Same earnest register, still science fiction
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
The Unincorporated Man
Dani Kollin2009
A billionaire is resurrected in a future where every person is a corporation owned by shareholders. He refuses to be incorporated.
Same earnest register, still science fiction
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Speaker for the Dead
Orson Scott Card1986
Decades after a galactic war, a man travels to a colony to investigate the death of a scientist killed by a local alien species.
Same earnest register, still science fiction
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
Denser prose
- pace+1prose+2bleak+2
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.
earnest → sardonic, still science fiction
pace+1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace+1prose+2bleak+2
Against the Day
Thomas Pynchon2006
A massive ensemble cast navigates the globe between the 1893 World's Fair and WWI. The plot spans airships, math, and secret societies.
earnest → playful
pace+1·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
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.
earnest → meditative, still science fiction
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+2bleak+2
Nova Express
William S. Burroughs1964
An experimental narrative uses the cut-up technique to depict a war between intergalactic criminals and the police. It is a collage of imagery.
earnest → sardonic, still science fiction
pace+1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace0prose+2bleak+2
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.
earnest → dreamlike
pace0·prose+2·bleak+2
Faster
- pace+3prose-1bleak0
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.
earnest → playful, still science fiction
pace+3·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+3prose-1bleak+1
The Lake House
James Patterson
A veterinarian and an FBI agent protect six genetically engineered children who can fly. They are pursued by a global conspiracy.
earnest → propulsive, still science fiction
pace+3·prose-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+3prose-1bleak0
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
earnest → wry
pace+3·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+3prose-1bleak0
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.
earnest → propulsive
pace+3·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+3prose-1bleak0
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.
earnest → wry
pace+3·prose-1·bleak0
Heavier
- pace+1prose+1bleak+3
Hard to be a god
Аркадий Стругацкий2014
An observer from a technologically advanced Earth lives undercover on a planet stuck in a medieval state. He must watch atrocities without helping.
earnest → bleak, still science fiction
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace+2prose0bleak+3
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.
earnest → tense, still science fiction
pace+2·prose0·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+3prose+1bleak+3
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.
earnest → tense, still science fiction
pace+3·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace+3prose0bleak+3
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.
earnest → propulsive, still science fiction
pace+3·prose0·bleak+3
- pace+1prose+1bleak+3
Strangers
Gardner Dozois1978
An artist living among the alien Cian on a distant planet falls in love with a local woman and attempts to navigate their incompatible biology.
earnest → elegiac, still science fiction
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+3
