After
Skylark DuQuesne
Edward Elmer Smith1966
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from, nothing faster
More like it
Same earnest register, still space opera
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Freedom's ransom
Anne McCaffrey2002
A group of former slaves on the planet Botany must negotiate with their former oppressors to obtain necessary supplies for survival.
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
The Foundation Trilogy
Isaac Asimov1950
A psychohistorian uses mathematical models to guide a small colony as the Galactic Empire collapses over several centuries.
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak+1
Sandworms of Dune
Kevin J. Anderson1994
Refugees on a starship flee an artificial intelligence while a planet-sized sandworm is bred. It concludes the original series' major plot arcs.
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-1prose0bleak+1
Star Wars Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
Jason Fry2018
A novelization of the film following Rey's Jedi training and the Resistance's flight from the First Order. It includes expanded internal monologue.
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak+1
Stardoc
S.L. Viehl
A surgeon flees Earth to work at a multi-species medical facility on a remote planet. She must treat alien biology while hiding her past.
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
Too Like the Lightning
Ada Palmer2016
In a 25th-century utopia, a convict narrates the discovery of a boy who can perform miracles. The prose uses 18th-century styles and gender terms.
earnest → sardonic, still science fiction
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
Hunter of Worlds
C. J. Cherryh1977
A human is abducted by the Iduve, a cold and powerful alien race, to serve as a translator and pawn in their internal political conflicts.
earnest → cold, still space opera
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
Shadow & Claw
Gene Wolfe1983
A torturer travels across a far-future Earth where technology is indistinguishable from magic. He recounts his exile in dense, archaic prose.
earnest → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
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.
earnest → dreamlike, still space opera
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-3prose+2bleak+1
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.
earnest → meditative, still science fiction
pace-3·prose+2·bleak+1
Slower
- pace-3prose+2bleak+1
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.
earnest → meditative, still science fiction
pace-3·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-3prose+2bleak+2
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.
earnest → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+2bleak+1
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.
earnest → meditative
pace-3·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+1bleak+2
The Rise of Endymion
Dan Simmons1997
A man protects a young messiah from a galactic church that uses resurrection to control humanity. It concludes a four-book series.
earnest → elegiac, still space opera
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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.
earnest → playful
pace-3·prose+2·bleak0
Heavier
- pace-1prose+1bleak+3
Consider Phlebas
Iain Banks1987
A shape-shifting mercenary works for an alien empire to retrieve a rogue AI during a galactic war. He faces a series of deadly set-pieces.
earnest → bleak, still space opera
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace-2prose+1bleak+3
Hard to be a god
Аркадий Стругацкий2014
An observer from a technologically advanced Earth lives undercover on a planet stuck in a medieval state. He must watch atrocities without helping.
earnest → bleak, still science fiction
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak+3
The Jaunt
Stephen King2009
A father explains the history of teleportation to his family while they wait to travel. He describes the danger of being awake during the trip.
earnest → tense, still science fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak+3
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
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.
earnest → tense, still science fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace0prose0bleak+3
The Running Man
Richard Bachman
A man enters a deadly reality show to fund medical care for his daughter. He must survive thirty days while the entire world hunts him for money.
earnest → propulsive, still science fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
