After
Looking Backward, 2000 to 1887
Edward Bellamy2005
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from, nothing slower
More like it
- pace0prose-1bleak0
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 utopian
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
Ecotopia
Ernest Callenbach1975
A journalist visits the Pacific Northwest, which has seceded to form an ecological society. He records their social and technical innovations.
Same earnest register, still utopian
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Looking Backward
Edward Bellamy2007
A 19th-century man falls into a deep sleep and wakes up in the year 2000. He discovers a socialist utopia where all industry is nationalized.
Same earnest register, still fish out of water
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Mizora
Mary E. Bradley Lane1890
A Russian noblewoman escapes Siberian exile and discovers an all-female civilization at the North Pole. It is a detailed utopian travelogue.
Same earnest register, still utopian
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak0
The Goblin Emperor
Katherine Addison2014
An exiled, half-goblin son unexpectedly inherits the throne. He must navigate a complex court of strangers who likely killed his family.
Same earnest register, still fish out of water
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
earnest → dreamlike
- pace+1prose+1bleak+1
In the Night Garden
Catherynne M. Valente2006
A girl with tattooed eyelids tells a prince interlocking stories of monsters and folklore. The narrative is a series of nested myths.
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
The Claw of the Conciliator
Gene Wolfe1981
An exiled torturer travels with a gem that can heal the dead. The narrative uses archaic vocabulary and an unreliable perspective.
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose+1bleak+1
Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges1945
A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.
earnest → meditative
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+1bleak0
At Swim-Two-Birds
Flann O'Brien1939
A student writes a story about a man whose own characters rebel and plot against him. It incorporates Irish myth and multiple layers of fiction.
earnest → playful
pace+1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Love & Sleep
John Crowley1994
Pierce Moffett researches the history of magic while living in a small town. The narrative shifts between his life and the Renaissance.
earnest → meditative
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
Faster
- pace+3prose-2bleak+1
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Matt Dinniman2020
Earth is converted into an 18-level televised death game. A man and a cat must navigate traps and monsters to survive.
earnest → sardonic
pace+3·prose-2·bleak+1
- pace+3prose-2bleak0
The Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Harrison1961
A futuristic con man is caught by the Special Corps and forced to use his criminal skills to catch other lawbreakers.
earnest → playful
pace+3·prose-2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+3prose-2bleak+1
Mind's Eye
Douglas E. Richards2014
A man discovers he has the ability to access the internet and process data directly with his mind. He is hunted by a secret organization.
earnest → propulsive
pace+3·prose-2·bleak+1
- pace+3prose-2bleak+1
The Atlantis Gene
A.G. Riddle2013
A geneticist and a counter-terrorism agent uncover a global conspiracy involving human evolution and an ancient Antarctic discovery.
earnest → propulsive
pace+3·prose-2·bleak+1
- pace+3prose-2bleak+1
Monster Hunter International
Larry Correia2007
An accountant kills his boss, who has become a werewolf, and is recruited by a private company that hunts monsters for government bounties.
earnest → propulsive
pace+3·prose-2·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace+2prose0bleak+3
The Fifth Season
N. K. Jemisin2015
A mother searches for her daughter across a continent undergoing a tectonic apocalypse. Some chapters address the reader in the second person.
earnest → bleak
pace+2·prose0·bleak+3
- pace+2prose-1bleak+3
Pet Sematary
Stephen King1983
A family moves to Maine and discovers a burial ground that can return the dead to life. They use it, and the consequences are absolute.
earnest → tense
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak+3
The Poppy War
R.F. Kuang2018
A war orphan enters a military academy and discovers shamanic powers. She leads a unit into a total war inspired by 20th-century Chinese history.
earnest → bleak
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+3
- pace+2prose0bleak+3
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Seth Dickinson2015
An accountant infiltrates the empire that conquered her home to destroy it from within. She uses economics and politics as her primary weapons.
earnest → cold
pace+2·prose0·bleak+3
- pace+2prose0bleak+3
Song of Kali
Dan Simmons1985
An American poet travels to Calcutta to find a manuscript by a dead writer. He encounters a cult that worships the goddess of destruction.
earnest → bleak
pace+2·prose0·bleak+3
