After
Null States
Malka Older2017
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Distress
Greg Egan1995
A journalist investigates a new mental illness and a physics conference where scientists attempt to find a Theory of Everything.
Same clinical register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Pattern Recognition
William Gibson2003
A woman with a physical sensitivity to branding tracks the origin of mysterious film clips across the globe. It is a tech-focused corporate mystery.
Same clinical register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Islands in the Net
Bruce Sterling1988
A corporate PR specialist travels to data-haven islands to investigate a murder. She becomes entangled in global political and economic sabotage.
Same clinical register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Star Fraction
Ken MacLeod1995
A mercenary in a balkanized future London gets caught in a revolution involving sentient software. The plot focuses on radical political theory.
clinical → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Multireal
David Louis Edelman2008
In a future where people can run simulations of their own choices, a tech entrepreneur faces corporate and political fallout over his invention.
Same clinical register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
Rakesfall
Vajra Chandrasekera2024
Two souls reincarnate across centuries of Sri Lankan history and a distant future. The narrative shifts through different bodies and realities.
clinical → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
VAS
Steve Tomasula2002
A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.
Same clinical register, still cyberpunk
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
All Those Vanished Engines
Paul Park2014
Three linked stories follow the Park family through an alternate history where the American Civil War ended in a two-nation settlement.
clinical → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+1bleak+1
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.
clinical → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
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.
clinical → sardonic
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
To recover
- pace+1prose-2bleak-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.
clinical → propulsive, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace0prose-2bleak-1
Murderbot Diaries
Martha Wells2023
A self-aware security android hacks its governor module to watch soap operas while protecting humans. It navigates corporate conspiracies.
clinical → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak-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.
clinical → playful
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-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.
clinical → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace0prose-2bleak-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.
clinical → earnest
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
Faster
clinical → propulsive, still cyberpunk
- pace+1prose-2bleak-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.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak+1
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.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
clinical → wry
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
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.
clinical → wry
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak0
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.
clinical → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak0
Slower
- pace-2prose+1bleak+1
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.
clinical → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+1bleak0
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.
clinical → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+1bleak0
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.
clinical → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-2prose0bleak-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.
clinical → elegiac
pace-2·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-2prose-1bleak-1
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.
clinical → earnest
pace-2·prose-1·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace0prose-1bleak+2
Dr. Adder
K. W. Jeter1984
In a broken future Los Angeles, a surgeon performs extreme genital modifications for a subculture of outcasts.
clinical → cynical, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace0prose-1bleak+2
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.
clinical → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+2
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.
clinical → bleak, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
Hellspark
Janet Kagan1988
A linguist travels to a new planet to investigate a murder. She must determine if the local species is sentient while navigating a conspiracy.
clinical → tense, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace0prose0bleak+2
Golem100
Alfred Bester1980
In a future city, a group of women accidentally summon a psychic monster that commits acts of extreme violence while investigators track it.
clinical → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak+2