The Cyberiad

The Cool War

Frederik Pohl1981

In a future of extreme energy shortages, a minister is blackmailed into becoming a saboteur. He travels the world to undermine rival nations.

Same wry register, still science fiction

pace0·prose-1·bleak0

Továrna na absolutno

Karel Čapek1922

An inventor creates a machine that provides free energy but releases the 'Absolute' as a byproduct, causing a global religious war.

wry → sardonic, still science fiction

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Trips to the Moon

Lucian of Samosata1887

A traveler is blown to the moon by a whirlwind and encounters warring alien empires. It is a 2nd-century satire of travel tall tales.

Same wry register, still science fiction

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Red Side Story

Jasper Fforde2024

Edward Russet faces a capital hearing in a dystopian society governed by color perception. This is a direct sequel to the novel Shades of Grey.

Same wry register, still satire

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Nova Express

William S. Burroughs1964

An experimental narrative uses the cut-up technique to depict a war between intergalactic criminals and the police. It is a collage of imagery.

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

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.

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

The Last Question

Isaac Asimov2007

A short story told in seven vignettes spanning billions of years. Humanity asks a supercomputer if the heat death of the universe can be avoided.

wry → meditative, still science fiction

pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

The Kaiju Preservation Society

John Scalzi2022

A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.

wry → playful, still science fiction

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

The Kaiju Preservation Society

John Scalzi2022

A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.

wry → playful, still science fiction

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Get Jiro!

Anthony Bourdain2012

In a future Los Angeles, master chefs rule as warlords. A sushi chef who kills rude customers is caught between two warring food factions.

wry → sardonic, still satire

pace+1·prose-2·bleak0

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.

wry → meditative, still science fiction

pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

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.

wry → dreamlike

pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1

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.

wry → bleak, still science fiction

pace-1·prose0·bleak+2

A Clockwork Orange

Anthony Burgess1962

A teenage gang leader is imprisoned and subjected to state-mandated psychological conditioning. The story is told in a slang called Nadsat.

wry → sardonic, still satire

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2