LitQueuelitqueue

After

Ocean's Echo

Everina Maxwell2022

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same propulsive register, still space opera

1 more ↓

  • The Cole Protocol

    Tobias S. Buckell2008

    Lieutenant Jacob Keyes and a team of Spartans go behind enemy lines to prevent Earth's location from falling into alien hands.

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Radiance

    Catherynne M. Valente2015

    A documentary filmmaker disappears on Venus in an alternate 1980s solar system. The story is told through scripts, interviews, and letters.

    propulsive → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Naked Lunch: The Restored Text

    William S. Burroughs

    A series of nonlinear vignettes follow a drug addict's hallucinations and travels. The prose is fragmented and satirical.

    propulsive → sardonic

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Empty Space

    M. John Harrison2012

    Three interlocking timelines follow a widow in London, a detective in a neon city, and a pilot in deep space. The prose is dense and surreal.

    propulsive → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Fifty Shades Freed

    E.L. James2011

    The final entry in a trilogy following a newly married couple as they navigate their erotic life and a threat from the past.

    propulsive → earnest

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Megan's Mark

    Lora Leigh2006

    A sheriff's deputy with psychic empathy tracks a killer alongside a genetically engineered feline-human hybrid who claims her as his mate.

    propulsive → earnest

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-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.

    propulsive → wry, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Fortune's Pawn

    Rachel Bach

    A power-armored mercenary joins the crew of a suspicious cargo ship to earn enough money for her elite military dreams.

    Same propulsive register, still space opera

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • The Killing of Worlds

    Scott Westerfeld2003

    Captain Laurent Zai fights a lone ship-to-ship battle against invaders while Senator Nara Oxham uncovers the Emperor's secrets.

    Same propulsive register, still space opera

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • The Android's Dream

    John Scalzi2006

    A diplomat must find a specific, genetically engineered sheep to prevent an interstellar war. The story is a fast-paced, irreverent space comedy.

    propulsive → playful, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·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.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • An Exchange of Hostages

    Susan R. Matthews1997

    A surgeon is drafted into a space empire's corps of torturers. He tries to maintain his ethics while being trained to inflict pain.

    propulsive → clinical, still space opera

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Kaleidoscope Century

    John Barnes1995

    A mercenary wakes every ten years to a new body and a changing world. He uncovers his own history of atrocities across the 21st century.

    propulsive → bleak, still military sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story

    Stephen R. Donaldson

    A space pirate, a victim, and a police officer are trapped in a cycle of abuse and betrayal. The narrative shifts perspectives to reveal lies.

    propulsive → bleak, still space opera

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2