LitQueuelitqueue

After

Mother of Storms

John Barnes1994

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • January Fifteenth

    Rachel Swirsky2022

    Four women experience the day the Universal Basic Income is distributed. The story follows their differing social and economic perspectives.

    tense → earnest, still cli-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → sardonic

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Valis

    Philip K. Dick1981

    A man experiences a beam of pink light that imparts vast information. The narrative explores his mental breakdown and search for God in California.

    tense → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Shadow & Claw

    Gene Wolfe1983

    A torturer travels across a far-future Earth where technology is indistinguishable from magic. He recounts his exile in dense, archaic prose.

    tense → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

tense → playful

3 more ↓

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    tense → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Comfort Book

    Matt Haig2021

    A collection of short reflections, lists, and anecdotes intended to provide mental support. It is a non-linear book of philosophy and memoir.

    tense → warm

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Odessa Sea

    Clive Cussler2016

    Dirk Pitt investigates a ghost ship in the Black Sea and discovers a conspiracy involving a lost Romanov secret. It is a high-speed adventure.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Skin Game

    Jim Butcher2014

    Wizard Harry Dresden joins a team of villains to rob a vault in the Underworld. It is a fast-paced heist set in a modern fantasy Chicago.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    tense → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Sheep Look Up

    John Brunner1972

    The United States collapses under total environmental toxicity and corporate greed. It follows several characters through a series of disasters.

    tense → bleak, still cli-fi

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Flood

    Stephen Baxter2008

    The sea level rises globally due to water leaking from the Earth's crust. Four former hostages watch as civilization slowly drowns over decades.

    tense → clinical, still apocalyptic

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Kalki

    Gore Vidal1978

    A female pilot is hired to investigate a Vietnam veteran who claims to be the Hindu god Kalki. He plans to end the human race with biological agents.

    tense → sardonic, still apocalyptic

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1