After
Terminal World
Alastair Reynolds2010
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Wool Omnibus
Hugh Howey2012
The last remnants of humanity live in a giant underground silo with strict rules. When the sheriff asks to go outside, the social order fractures.
Same tense register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Lucifer's Hammer
Jerry Pournelle1977
A comet strikes Earth, causing tsunamis and the collapse of civilization. A large cast of survivors fights for resources in the aftermath.
Same tense register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Dark Universe
Daniel F. Galouye1961
In a world of total darkness, a young man navigates a subterranean society that relies on sound and heat to survive.
Same tense register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Book of Koli
Mike Carey2020
A boy in a walled village of the far future finds a piece of ancient, talking technology. He is exiled into a world of lethal, mutated plants.
tense → earnest, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Mainspring
Jay Lake2007
A clockmaker's apprentice travels across a world literally built of gears to find a key that will keep the planet's mechanism winding.
tense → earnest, still steampunk
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, still science fantasy
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
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Against the Day
Thomas Pynchon2006
A massive ensemble cast navigates the globe between the 1893 World's Fair and WWI. The plot spans airships, math, and secret societies.
tense → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
tense → dreamlike, still science fantasy
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Winterlong
Elizabeth Hand1990
In a decaying, post-apocalyptic Washington D.C., a girl with empathic powers is drawn into the plots of a decadent ruling class.
tense → dreamlike, still post-apocalyptic
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
To recover
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Split Infinity
Piers Anthony1980
A man travels between a high-tech world of games and a parallel world of magic. He must master both systems to avoid being assassinated.
tense → playful, still science fantasy
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
3 more ↓ ↑
- 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
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Mile High
Liz Tomforde2023
A professional hockey player and a flight attendant clash on the team's private plane during a season-long road trip.
tense → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Behind the Net
Stephanie Archer2024
A former musician becomes the live-in assistant for a professional hockey goalie she knew in high school.
tense → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Hell Divers
Nicholas Sansbury Smith2016
Skydivers jump from massive airships to a ruined Earth to scavenge parts for humanity's survival. One team is stranded in a hostile zone.
Same tense register, still post-apocalyptic
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.
tense → propulsive, still post-apocalyptic
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-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.
tense → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- 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-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
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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·bleak0
Heavier
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Winterlong
Elizabeth Hand1990
In a decaying, post-apocalyptic Washington D.C., a girl with empathic powers is drawn into the plots of a decadent ruling class.
tense → dreamlike, still post-apocalyptic
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Zone One
Colson Whitehead2011
A sweeper squad clears Manhattan of lingering zombies and catatonic 'stragglers.' The focus is on the protagonist's memories and the city's decay.
tense → elegiac, still post-apocalyptic
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak+2
On the Beach
Nevil Shute1957
Survivors in Australia wait for a lethal radiation cloud to arrive after a nuclear war. They spend their final months in quiet, domestic routines.
tense → elegiac, still post-apocalyptic
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace0prose-1bleak+2
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.
tense → bleak, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace0prose0bleak+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.
tense → bleak, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
