After
Shattered Minds
L. R. Lam2017
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
False Hearts
L. R. Lam2016
Conjoined twins are separated and raised in a cult. Years later, one sister must impersonate the other to investigate a murder in a neon city.
Same tense register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Deadline
Seanan McGuire2011
A grieving journalist investigates a conspiracy involving a faked death and the origins of the zombie virus.
Same tense register, still thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak0
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.
tense → clinical, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Mindkiller
Spider Robinson1982
A professor discovers a technique for wireheading—direct electronic stimulation of the brain's pleasure center. A conspiracy unfolds.
Same tense register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Jericho Iteration
Allen Steele1994
A journalist investigates a corporate conspiracy in a St. Louis devastated by an earthquake and patrolled by robotic peacekeepers.
Same tense register, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
In Green's Jungles
Gene Wolfe2000
A narrator travels to different worlds while his physical form and memories shift. He recounts past voyages to prove his identity to his companions.
tense → elegiac
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
tense → clinical, still cyberpunk
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace1996
A sprawling narrative centered on a tennis academy, a halfway house, and a lethal film. The text includes hundreds of pages of detailed endnotes.
tense → sardonic
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Play
Kylie Scott2014
A drummer for a famous rock band hires a woman to pose as his girlfriend to improve his public image. They live together to sell the lie.
tense → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-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.
tense → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Better Off Dead
Lee Child2021
Jack Reacher investigates a staged car crash in Arizona and infiltrates a dangerous local crew to find a missing woman.
tense → propulsive, still thriller
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Vampires Are Forever
Lynsay Sands2008
A woman suspects her business partner is a vampire after he attempts to bite her. He tries to convince her they are fated mates.
tense → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
The Mane Event
Shelly Laurenston2007
A female cop reunites with a childhood friend who is now a lion-shifter. They navigate a romantic attraction while he pursues her in New York.
tense → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
tense → propulsive, still cyberpunk
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+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-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tense → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose+1bleak0
Accelerando
Charles Stross2005
Three generations of a family navigate the rapid evolution of technology toward a singularity. The pace accelerates as humanity is outpaced by AI.
tense → wry, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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.
tense → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
tense → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
tense → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
The Dervish House
Ian McDonald2010
Six characters navigate a week of political and technological intrigue in a near-future Istanbul. The story centers on an old dervish house.
tense → meditative, still cyberpunk
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
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.
tense → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace0prose0bleak+2
Dr. Adder
K. W. Jeter1984
In a broken future Los Angeles, a surgeon performs extreme genital modifications for a subculture of outcasts.
tense → cynical, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
- pace0prose0bleak+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.
tense → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+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.
tense → bleak, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose+1bleak+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.
Same tense register, still cyberpunk
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+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.
tense → sardonic, still cyberpunk
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2