LitQueuelitqueue

After

Rim

Alexander Besher1994

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Noor

    Nnedi Okorafor2021

    A heavily augmented woman and a nomadic herdsman flee across a high-tech Nigeria. They are pursued by a corporation that monitors everything.

    Same propulsive register, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose-1·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Neuromancer

    William Gibson1984

    A washed-up data thief is hired for one last job in a high-tech underworld. The prose is dense with technical jargon.

    propulsive → cold, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose+1·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.

    propulsive → clinical, still cyberpunk

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+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.

    propulsive → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Modern Romance

    Aziz Ansari2015

    A comedian and a sociologist analyze how technology and culture have changed dating. It uses data and interviews to compare eras.

    propulsive → playful

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Building a Second Brain

    Tiago Forte2022

    A guide to a digital organization system designed to store and retrieve ideas, notes, and information for long-term projects.

    propulsive → earnest

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

  • The Last Question

    Isaac Asimov2007

    A short story told in seven vignettes spanning billions of years. Humanity asks a supercomputer if the heat death of the universe can be avoided.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

Faster

Same propulsive register, still cyberpunk

3 more ↓

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

    A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

    propulsive → wry

    pace+1·prose-2·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

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-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.

    Same propulsive register

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak0

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+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    propulsive → elegiac

    pace-2·prose0·bleak-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.

    propulsive → earnest

    pace-2·prose-1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    propulsive → bleak, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose0·bleak+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.

    propulsive → tense, still cyberpunk

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+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.

    propulsive → sardonic, still cyberpunk

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2