LitQueuelitqueue

After

Man Plus

Frederik Pohl1976

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Brass Man

    Neal Asher2005

    An agent pursues a cyborg enemy across star systems while a scientist uncovers the truth about a lethal, ancient alien technology.

    Same cold register, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

Denser prose

cold → sardonic, still science fiction

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.

    cold → meditative, still science fiction

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    cold → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·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.

    cold → clinical, still cyberpunk

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • 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, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    cold → playful, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Sea of Greed

    Clive Cussler2018

    Kurt Austin investigates the destruction of oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. The trail leads to a billionaire with a plan to end the oil age.

    cold → propulsive

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    cold → propulsive, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    cold → propulsive, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

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-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    cold → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2

  • 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.

    cold → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Dr. Adder

    K. W. Jeter1984

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

    cold → cynical, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • 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.

    cold → bleak, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    cold → sardonic, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1