After
The Execution Channel
Ken MacLeod2007
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Golden State
Ben H. Winters2019
In a California where lying is a crime, an officer investigates a death that contradicts the official record.
Same tense register, still conspiracy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Deep Storm
Lincoln Child2006
A doctor is recruited to a secret undersea research station where scientists have discovered an inexplicable structure on the Atlantic floor.
Same tense register, still techno-thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak0
SS-GB
Len Deighton1978
A Scotland Yard detective investigates a murder in 1941 London under Nazi occupation. He is caught between the SS and the British resistance.
Same tense register, still alternate history
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Wool
Hugh Howey2011
Thousands of people live in a giant underground silo because the surface is toxic. A sheriff begins to investigate the truth about their world.
Same tense register, still science fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Vitals
Greg Bear2002
A scientist discovers a biological secret to immortality linked to ancient bacteria. He is hunted by a global conspiracy.
Same tense register, still techno-thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
tense → sardonic, still science fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
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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.
tense → dreamlike, still alternate history
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
tense → sardonic, still science fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
All Those Vanished Engines
Paul Park2014
Three linked stories follow the Park family through an alternate history where the American Civil War ended in a two-nation settlement.
tense → dreamlike, still alternate history
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak-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.
tense → meditative, still science fiction
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
To recover
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
tense → playful, still science fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Warrior Rising
P.C. Cast2008
Goddesses transport a modern woman to ancient Troy to seduce and distract Achilles. It is a lighthearted fish-out-of-water romance.
tense → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
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Digital Fortress
Dan Brown1998
The NSA's code-breaking supercomputer encounters an unbreakable algorithm. A cryptographer and a professor race to find the kill code.
tense → propulsive, still techno-thriller
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Harrison1961
A futuristic con man is caught by the Special Corps and forced to use his criminal skills to catch other lawbreakers.
tense → playful, still science fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Wielding a Red Sword
Piers Anthony1986
An Indian prince avoids an arranged marriage by accepting the supernatural office of War. He wields a sword that draws him into a conflict in Hell.
tense → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
The Lake House
James Patterson
A veterinarian and an FBI agent protect six genetically engineered children who can fly. They are pursued by a global conspiracy.
tense → propulsive, still techno-thriller
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
tense → playful, still science fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak-1
Influx
Daniel Suarez2014
A physicist invents a gravity-reflecting device and is imprisoned by a secret agency that suppresses technology. He plots a high-tech escape.
tense → propulsive, still techno-thriller
pace+1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Lost in Time
A.G. Riddle2022
A man is exiled to the Triassic period for a murder he didn't commit while his daughter tries to bring him back.
tense → propulsive, still techno-thriller
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tense → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak-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.
tense → meditative, still science fiction
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
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·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
Hav
Jan Morris2006
A travel writer describes the culture and history of a fictional Mediterranean city-state before and after a massive political upheaval.
tense → elegiac, still alternate history
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose0bleak-2
Looking Backward, 2000-1887
Edward Bellamy1888
A man falls into a hypnotic sleep in 1887 and wakes up in the year 2000 to find the United States transformed into a socialist utopia.
tense → earnest, still science fiction
pace-2·prose0·bleak-2
Heavier
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
tense → bleak, still science fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Down to a Sunless Sea
David Graham1979
A commercial pilot flies a plane full of passengers while nuclear war destroys the world below. They search for a place to land and survive.
Same tense register, still techno-thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Jaunt
Stephen King2009
A father explains the history of teleportation to his family while they wait to travel. He describes the danger of being awake during the trip.
Same tense register, still science fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Elvissey
Jack Womack1993
Travelers from a corporate dystopia visit an alternate 1954 to kidnap Elvis Presley. They find a version of him that is dangerous and unstable.
tense → bleak, still alternate history
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+1bleak+1
Hellspark
Janet Kagan1988
A linguist travels to a new planet to investigate a murder. She must determine if the local species is sentient while navigating a conspiracy.
Same tense register, still science fiction
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
