After
Rakesfall
Vajra Chandrasekera2024
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Winterlong
Elizabeth Hand1990
In a decaying, post-apocalyptic Washington D.C., a girl with empathic powers is drawn into the plots of a decadent ruling class.
Same dreamlike register, still science fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Radix
A. A. Attanasio1981
A social outcast undergoes a series of physical and mental transformations on a future Earth mutated by cosmic radiation.
Same dreamlike register, still science fantasy
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Hearts, Hands and Voices
Ian McDonald1992
A girl with the power to manipulate biological matter grows up during a civil war. The technology is organic, using living tissue and bone.
Same dreamlike register, still science fantasy
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
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.
Same dreamlike register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak0
The Warrior Who Carried Life
Geoff Ryman1985
A woman magically transforms into a man to seek revenge and find a way to bring the dead back to life. It is a surreal quest through a mythic land.
Same dreamlike register, still science fantasy
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → earnest
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
The Duke and I
Julia Quinn2000
A duke and a debutante enter a fake courtship to avoid social pressure. They navigate Regency London's marriage market while hiding their deal.
dreamlike → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
On Dublin Street
Samantha Young2012
An American woman in Scotland enters a sex-only arrangement with her roommate's brother to avoid emotional intimacy. It is a contemporary romance.
dreamlike → warm
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Night Pleasures
Sherrilyn Kenyon2002
An immortal warrior and a skeptical accountant are handcuffed together while being hunted by supernatural predators.
dreamlike → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Split Infinity
Piers Anthony1980
A man travels between a high-tech world of games and a parallel world of magic. He must master both systems to avoid being assassinated.
dreamlike → playful, still science fantasy
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
dreamlike → 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.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → wry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
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.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- 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.
dreamlike → playful
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
Hav
Jan Morris2006
A travel writer describes the culture and history of a fictional Mediterranean city-state before and after a massive political upheaval.
dreamlike → elegiac, still literary
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- 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.
Same dreamlike register
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- 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.
dreamlike → elegiac
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose-1bleak0
A Passage North
Anuk Arudpragasam2021
Krishan travels by train from Colombo to a funeral in northern Sri Lanka. He spends the journey reflecting on a past love and the civil war.
dreamlike → meditative, still literary
pace-1·prose-1·bleak0
- 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.
dreamlike → earnest
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-2
Heavier
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
The Fifth Science
Exurb1a2019
Twelve stories trace the rise and fall of a human empire through the discovery of a science of the mind. It spans 100,000 years of history.
dreamlike → elegiac, still literary
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
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.
dreamlike → sardonic, still science fantasy
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Seed to Harvest (Patternist, #1-4)
Octavia E. Butler
An immortal man breeds telepaths over centuries to create a master race. The story follows the evolution and eventual conflict of his descendants.
dreamlike → cold, still science fantasy
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Sugar Rain
Paul Park1989
During a revolution against a theocracy, a doctor in exile tries to protect his family while a new, pragmatic faith rises.
dreamlike → bleak, still science fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Winterlong
Elizabeth Hand1990
In a decaying, post-apocalyptic Washington D.C., a girl with empathic powers is drawn into the plots of a decadent ruling class.
Same dreamlike register, still science fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak+1