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After

Star Wars - Legacy of the Force - Exile

Aaron Allston2007

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Star Wars - Death Star

    Michael Reaves2007

    Same tense register, still space opera

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Sometimes a Great Notion

    Ken Kesey1964

    A family of independent loggers in Oregon refuses to join a local strike. The perspective shifts rapidly between characters, often mid-paragraph.

    tense → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    tense → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → playful, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Star Wars: The Last Command

    Timothy Zahn

    Grand Admiral Thrawn launches a final offensive against the New Republic while a Jedi clone descends into madness.

    tense → propulsive, still space opera

    pace0·prose0·bleak-2

  • A Veiled Deception

    Annette Blair2009

    A vintage shop owner investigates a murder during her sister's wedding preparations to clear her family's name.

    tense → playful

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → playful, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    tense → playful, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    tense → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-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-2

  • Ulysses

    James Joyce1914

    Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → bleak, still space opera

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • An Exchange of Hostages

    Susan R. Matthews1997

    A surgeon is drafted into a space empire's corps of torturers. He tries to maintain his ethics while being trained to inflict pain.

    tense → clinical, still space opera

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story

    Stephen R. Donaldson

    A space pirate, a victim, and a police officer are trapped in a cycle of abuse and betrayal. The narrative shifts perspectives to reveal lies.

    tense → bleak, still space opera

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1