After
Nova Express
William S. Burroughs1964
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The ticket that exploded
William S. Burroughs1962
An experimental narrative using the cut-up technique to describe a conspiracy of mind control via language and images.
Same sardonic register, still science fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak0
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.
Same sardonic register, still science fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace1996
A sprawling narrative centered on a tennis academy, a halfway house, and a lethal film. The text includes hundreds of pages of detailed endnotes.
Same sardonic register, still satire
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Past Master
R. A. Lafferty1968
In the year 2535, leaders of a failing utopia travel back in time to retrieve Thomas More. They hope he can save their society from collapse.
Same sardonic register, still science fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak0
The Remaking of Sigmund Freud
Barry N. Malzberg1985
In a future where the dead are reconstructed, Sigmund Freud is brought back to life to treat a galaxy-wide neurosis.
Same sardonic register, still satire
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
This Man
Jodi Ellen Malpas2013
An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.
sardonic → tense
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Fifty Shades Darker
E.L. James2011
A young woman resumes her relationship with a wealthy businessman while starting a new job. They navigate his past and his specific sexual needs.
sardonic → earnest
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
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.
sardonic → playful, still science fiction
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Hardline
Meredith Wild2015
A software executive and a billionaire navigate a relationship complicated by corporate takeover attempts and sexual power dynamics.
sardonic → tense
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Play
Kylie Scott2014
A drummer for a famous rock band hires a woman to pose as his girlfriend to improve his public image. They live together to sell the lie.
sardonic → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
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.
sardonic → playful, still science fiction
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
Get Jiro!
Anthony Bourdain2012
In a future Los Angeles, master chefs rule as warlords. A sushi chef who kills rude customers is caught between two warring food factions.
Same sardonic register, still satire
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
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.
sardonic → propulsive, still science fiction
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
sardonic → wry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-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.
sardonic → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
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.
sardonic → meditative, still science fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-2bleak-2
Looking Backward, 2000-1887
Edward Bellamy1888
A man falls into a hypnotic sleep in 1887 and wakes up in the year 2000 to find the United States transformed into a socialist utopia.
sardonic → earnest, still science fiction
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Dhalgren
Samuel R. Delany1975
An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.
sardonic → dreamlike
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose-1bleak-2
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.
sardonic → elegiac
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose-2bleak-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.
sardonic → earnest
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-2
Heavier
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The ticket that exploded
William S. Burroughs1962
An experimental narrative using the cut-up technique to describe a conspiracy of mind control via language and images.
Same sardonic register, still science fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
A Clockwork Orange
Anthony Burgess1962
A teenage gang leader is imprisoned and subjected to state-mandated psychological conditioning. The story is told in a slang called Nadsat.
Same sardonic register, still satire
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak+1
The Stepford Wives
Ira Levin1972
A photographer moves to a suburb where the wives are unnervingly submissive. She investigates whether the local men are replacing them with robots.
sardonic → tense, still satire
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1
- pace0prose-1bleak+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.
sardonic → bleak, still science fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-2bleak+1
Cat's Cradle
Kurt Vonnegut1963
A writer researches the creator of the atomic bomb and discovers a substance that freezes all water. He joins an island cult.
Same sardonic register, still satire
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1
