LitQueuelitqueue

After

Protector (Known Space)

Larry Niven

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • A Fire Upon the Deep

    Vernor Vinge1992

    Humans and a pack-mind alien species attempt to stop a galactic threat. The physics of the universe change based on distance from the core.

    clinical → propulsive, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    clinical → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+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

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • The Fractal Prince

    Hannu Rajaniemi2012

    A post-human thief is sent to Earth to steal a memory from a city made of digital ghosts. The prose uses dense, unexplained jargon.

    clinical → dreamlike, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    clinical → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Smokin' Seventeen

    Janet Evanovich2011

    A bounty hunter investigates bodies found in her boss's lot while choosing between three suitors. The story follows her daily mishaps in New Jersey.

    clinical → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron

    Julia Quinn2022

    A graphic novel adaptation of a fictional melodrama where an orphan flees a cruel aunt and encounters a man in a remote castle.

    clinical → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Chilling Effect

    Valerie Valdes2019

    A spaceship captain completes dangerous missions to pay off a ransom for her kidnapped sister. The crew includes a pilot who is a sentient plant.

    clinical → playful, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Project Hail Mary

    Andy Weir2021

    A man wakes up on a spaceship with amnesia and two dead crewmates. He must use scientific experiments to remember his mission and save the sun.

    clinical → propulsive, still hard sci-fi

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Star Kings

    Edmond Hamilton1949

    A 20th-century man swaps bodies with a prince 200,000 years in the future. He must lead a galactic empire against a tyrant's fleet.

    clinical → propulsive, 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.

    clinical → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • Children of Memory

    Adrian Tchaikovsky2023

    Advanced humans and uplifted animals observe a failing colony on a harsh planet. The story explores memory and the nature of consciousness.

    clinical → meditative, still hard sci-fi

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • White Mars, or, The mind set free

    Brian W. Aldiss1999

    A group of scientists and thinkers attempts to establish a utopian society on Mars after Earth is cut off by a global catastrophe.

    clinical → earnest, still hard sci-fi

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Flood

    Stephen Baxter2008

    The sea level rises globally due to water leaking from the Earth's crust. Four former hostages watch as civilization slowly drowns over decades.

    Same clinical register, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • Echopraxia

    Peter Watts2014

    A biologist is caught on a mission toward the sun alongside a pilot and a group of transhuman monks. It explores consciousness and evolution.

    clinical → bleak, still hard sci-fi

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Beyond the Aquila Rift

    Alastair Reynolds2001

    A spaceship crew wakes from cold sleep to find they have overshot their destination by light-years. They must face the reality of their location.

    clinical → bleak, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2