After
Nine Minds
Daniel Tammet2024
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Brother. do. you. love. me
Manni Coe2022
A man moves to a cottage to care for his brother who has Down syndrome. They navigate daily life and reconnect through art and nature.
tense → tender, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Shroud
John Banville2002
An aging scholar with a stolen identity meets a woman who knows his secret. They travel to Turin to confront his past.
tense → cold, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
Trust Exercise
Susan Choi2019
Students at a performing arts high school navigate a manipulative acting teacher. The narrative shifts perspective to reframe the first half.
Same tense register, still literary fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
Second Place
Rachel Cusk2021
A woman invites a famous artist to stay at her remote coastal home. The story follows her internal reactions to his presence and his indifference.
Same tense register, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
Martyr!
Kaveh Akbar2024
A newly sober poet travels to New York to interview a dying artist about his mother's past. He examines his family's history of grief and war.
tense → earnest, still literary fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-3bleak-1
Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
tense → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
tense → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-1
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James2000
A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.
tense → earnest
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tense → wry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
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.
tense → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
Dial A for Aunties
Jesse Q. Sutanto2021
A photographer accidentally kills her blind date. Her mother and aunties help hide the body during a massive luxury wedding.
tense → playful
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak+1
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
Same tense register
pace+2·prose-2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak0
Candide
Voltaire
A naive young man travels the world while his tutor insists that everything is for the best. He encounters a series of global catastrophes.
tense → sardonic
pace+2·prose-2·bleak0
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
tense → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tense → wry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-1prose0bleak0
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, still literary fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose-1bleak0
Orbital
Samantha Harvey2024
Six astronauts orbit Earth over twenty-four hours. The narrative focuses on their routine tasks and observations of the planet below.
tense → meditative, still literary fiction
pace-1·prose-1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose-1bleak+1
Blackouts
Justin Torres2023
A young man cares for a dying elder in a medical facility. They use a 1930s study on homosexuality to reconstruct their personal histories.
tense → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace-1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose-1bleak0
The Waters of Kronos
Conrad Richter1960
An elderly man travels back in time to his childhood Pennsylvania town, which in his present day is submerged beneath a reservoir.
tense → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace-1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace-1prose-1bleak+2
The story of a brief marriage
Anuk Arudpragasam2016
Two refugees enter an arranged marriage in a Sri Lankan camp during the final days of the civil war. It focuses on the physical details of survival.
tense → meditative, still literary fiction
pace-1·prose-1·bleak+2
Heavier
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
Girls Burn Brighter
Shobha Rao2018
Two girls in India are separated by a brutal act of violence. They endure trafficking and labor across continents to find each other.
tense → bleak, still literary fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace-1prose-1bleak+2
The story of a brief marriage
Anuk Arudpragasam2016
Two refugees enter an arranged marriage in a Sri Lankan camp during the final days of the civil war. It focuses on the physical details of survival.
tense → meditative, still literary fiction
pace-1·prose-1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak+2
A Distant Shore
Caryl Phillips2003
A retired teacher and an African refugee form a quiet bond in a xenophobic English village. Their past traumas emerge through alternating stories.
tense → bleak, still literary fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace0prose-1bleak+2
A Little Life
Hanya Yanagihara2015
Four friends in New York over thirty years. One of them is being destroyed, and the book does not look away.
tense → bleak, still literary fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
The Nickel Boys
Colson Whitehead2019
A studious black teenager in 1960s Florida is sent to a brutal reform school where physical abuse is systemic.
tense → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
