LitQueuelitqueue

After

Mountain in the Sea

Ray Nayler2022

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Empire of Bones

    Liz Williams2002

    Aliens return to India to reclaim a species they genetically seeded. They search for a 'Receiver' who can hear their communications.

    Same meditative register, still first contact

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • VAS

    Steve Tomasula2002

    A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.

    meditative → clinical, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    meditative → sardonic

    pace0·prose+1·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.

    Same meditative register

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

    John Gray1992

    A guide to heterosexual relationships that attributes communication conflicts to inherent psychological differences between men and women.

    meditative → earnest

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Wildfire

    Hannah Grace2023

    Two college students who had a one-night stand discover they are working as counselors at the same summer camp.

    meditative → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·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.

    meditative → propulsive, still cyberpunk

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

meditative → propulsive, still cyberpunk

3 more ↓

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    meditative → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • 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.

    meditative → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·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.

    meditative → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

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.

    Same meditative register

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    meditative → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-2

  • 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.

    meditative → earnest

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Blindsight

    Peter Watts2006

    A crew of specialists, including a vampire and a linguist, investigates an alien presence at the edge of the solar system.

    meditative → cold, still first contact

    pace0·prose0·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.

    meditative → sardonic, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

  • Random Acts of Senseless Violence

    Jack Womack1994

    A twelve-year-old girl records her life in a diary as New York City collapses into riots and hyperinflation. Her family falls into poverty.

    meditative → bleak, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1