After
Star Trek Deep Space Nine - The 34th Rule
Armin Shimerman1999
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
Same earnest register, still space opera
- pace0prose0bleak0
Jaran
Kate Elliott1992
The sister of a galactic ruler is stranded on a planet of nomadic horse-warriors and must adapt to their culture while hiding her identity.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Star Trek Discovery - The Way to the Stars
Una McCormack2019
A sixteen-year-old Sylvia Tilly navigates life at a high-pressure academy before the events of the television series.
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Star Wars - Fate of the Jedi - Outcast
Aaron Allston2009
Following a civil war, Luke Skywalker is arrested by the Galactic Alliance. He and his son Ben are exiled to investigate a madness affecting Jedi.
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Star Wars - Milennium Falcon
James Luceno2008
Han Solo and Leia Organa trace the history of their starship through its previous owners. The story spans decades of galactic history.
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Memory of Earth
Orson Scott Card1992
An AI controlling a human colony begins to fail, selecting a family to return to a long-abandoned Earth to find a solution.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace0prose+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.
earnest → dreamlike, still space opera
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+2bleak+1
Seven Surrenders
Ada Palmer2017
The leaders of global Hives struggle to maintain a centuries-long peace as secrets emerge. The narrator is biased and uses archaic language.
earnest → sardonic, still political fiction
pace+1·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
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.
earnest → dreamlike, still space opera
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+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.
earnest → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
Valis
Philip K. Dick1981
A man experiences a beam of pink light that imparts vast information. The narrative explores his mental breakdown and search for God in California.
earnest → meditative
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
The case of the beautiful beggar
Erle Stanley Gardner1960
Perry Mason helps a woman whose uncle's bank account has been drained. When the uncle is committed to a sanitarium, Mason enters the courtroom.
earnest → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Two-Dollar bill
Stuart Woods2005
Attorney Stone Barrington deals with a flamboyant Texas con man who is being pursued by the CIA.
earnest → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
A Galaxy Unknown
Thomas DePrima2010
An ensign uses her tactical skills to rise through the ranks of a space navy while fighting pirates and internal bureaucracy.
Same earnest register, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Secrets in Death
J.D. Robb2017
Lt. Eve Dallas investigates the murder of a professional gossip columnist in a futuristic New York City.
earnest → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
Ghost Ship
Clive Cussler2014
Kurt Austin survives a yacht sinking but suffers from conflicting memories. He investigates a global cybercrime conspiracy to find the truth.
earnest → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+2prose-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.
earnest → wry, still space opera
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
The Android's Dream
John Scalzi2006
A diplomat must find a specific, genetically engineered sheep to prevent an interstellar war. The story is a fast-paced, irreverent space comedy.
earnest → playful, still space opera
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
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.
earnest → playful, still space opera
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose0bleak+1
Star Wars - The New Jedi Order - Edge of Victory I - Conquest
J. Gregory Keyes2001
Anakin Solo travels to the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 to rescue students from an invading fleet of Yuuzhan Vong warriors.
earnest → propulsive, still space opera
pace+2·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-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.
earnest → propulsive, still space opera
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-1prose+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.
earnest → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+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.
earnest → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+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.
earnest → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
earnest → bleak, still political fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+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.
earnest → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
Star Wars - Legacy of the Force - Sacrifice
Karen Traviss2007
Jacen Solo hunts his own parents during a galactic civil war. He commits increasingly ruthless acts to secure his power as a Sith apprentice.
earnest → bleak, still space opera
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
Star Wars - The New Jedi Order - Star by Star
Troy Denning2001
Jedi strike teams infiltrate enemy space to destroy a biological weapon that tracks Force-users. The plot focuses on a high-stakes mission.
earnest → tense, still space opera
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
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+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
We the Living
Ayn Rand1936
A woman tries to study engineering and survive in the early Soviet Union. She enters a love triangle with a communist official and an aristocrat.
earnest → melancholy, still political fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
Dark Age
Pierce Brown2019
An outlawed revolutionary fights a losing war on Mercury while an exiled heir attempts to reclaim a space empire. It is a violent military epic.
earnest → propulsive, still space opera
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
