Station Eleven

The Dog Stars

Peter Heller2012

A pilot and his dog live at a small airport after a flu pandemic kills most of humanity. He flies his Cessna into the unknown to find a radio signal.

Same elegiac register, still post-apocalyptic

pace0·prose0·bleak+1

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.

elegiac → meditative

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

City of Saints and Madmen

Jeff Vandermeer2001

A collection of stories, histories, and pamphlets about the city of Ambergris. It uses found documents to build a surreal urban history.

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

Rakesfall

Vajra Chandrasekera2024

Two souls reincarnate across centuries of Sri Lankan history and a distant future. The narrative shifts through different bodies and realities.

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

Year zero

Reid, Robert2012

Aliens discover that Earth's music is the best in the galaxy and they owe humanity trillions in copyright fines.

elegiac → playful

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection

Carol Burnett2010

The comedian shares anecdotes from her career in television and film. The book is a series of short chronological reflections.

elegiac → warm

pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

Redshirts

John Scalzi2012

Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.

elegiac → playful

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

The Martian

Andy Weir2011

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

elegiac → wry

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-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.

elegiac → propulsive

pace+2·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.

elegiac → wry

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-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.

elegiac → meditative

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

After London

Richard Jefferies1885

Nature reclaims England after an unspecified catastrophe destroys civilization. A young man explores the toxic swamps that were once London.

Same elegiac register, still post-apocalyptic

pace-1·prose0·bleak+1

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.

Same elegiac register

pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

The Walking Dead: Compendium One

Robert Kirkman2009

A sheriff wakes from a coma into a zombie apocalypse. He leads a group of survivors through various temporary shelters over several years.

elegiac → bleak, still post-apocalyptic

pace+1·prose-2·bleak+2

One Second After

William R. Forstchen2009

An EMP strike destroys the American power grid. A history professor attempts to manage the starvation and societal collapse of his small town.

elegiac → bleak, still post-apocalyptic

pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2

The Death of Grass

John Christopher1956

A virus kills the world's grass and grain, causing total societal collapse. A family attempts to flee London for a farm in the north.

elegiac → bleak, still post-apocalyptic

pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2