After
The Fuzzy Papers
H. Beam Piper1962
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The wave
Walter Mosley2005
A man receives a phone call from his dead father and discovers an alien entity is reanimating the deceased using their DNA.
warm → meditative, still scifi
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Mickey7
Edward Ashton2022
An expendable clone on an ice planet survives a mission he was meant to die in, only to find his replacement has already been grown.
warm → wry, still scifi
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The green brain
Frank Herbert1966
In an overpopulated future, humans use chemical and sonic weapons to exterminate insects. The insects develop a collective intelligence to fight back.
warm → tense, still scifi
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak0
Fuzzy Nation
John Scalzi2011
A prospector on a corporate-owned planet discovers a species of small, fuzzy creatures that might be sentient. He uses the law to protect them.
warm → wry, still first contact
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Homegoing
Frederik Pohl1989
A human raised by aliens returns to Earth with his adoptive family. He struggles to reconcile his human identity with his alien upbringing.
Same warm register, still scifi
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace0prose+2bleak+2
Seven Surrenders
Ada Palmer2017
The leaders of global Hives struggle to maintain a centuries-long peace as secrets emerge. The narrator is biased and uses archaic language.
warm → sardonic
pace0·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Rakesfall
Vajra Chandrasekera2024
Two souls reincarnate across centuries of Sri Lankan history and a distant future. The narrative shifts through different bodies and realities.
warm → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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.
warm → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
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.
warm → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Valis
Philip K. Dick1981
A man experiences a beam of pink light that imparts vast information. The narrative explores his mental breakdown and search for God in California.
warm → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
Artemis
Andy Weir2017
A porter and smuggler on a lunar colony takes a high-stakes sabotage job to pay off a debt. She uses technical knowledge to solve problems.
warm → propulsive, still scifi
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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.
warm → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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.
warm → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Skin Game
Jim Butcher2014
Wizard Harry Dresden joins a team of villains to rob a vault in the Underworld. It is a fast-paced heist set in a modern fantasy Chicago.
warm → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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.
warm → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
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.
warm → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- 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.
warm → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- 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.
warm → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
warm → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
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.
warm → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
The Fifth Science
Exurb1a2019
Twelve stories trace the rise and fall of a human empire through the discovery of a science of the mind. It spans 100,000 years of history.
warm → elegiac, still scifi
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace-1prose+1bleak+3
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood1985
In a totalitarian state with a plummeting birth rate, a woman is enslaved as a reproductive vessel. She records her daily life and memories.
warm → cold
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak+3
Doomsday Book
Connie Willis1992
A student travels to 14th-century England while a virus spreads in the present. She arrives during the Black Death due to a technical error.
warm → bleak
pace-1·prose0·bleak+3
- pace-1prose+2bleak+3
Perdido Street Station
China Miéville2000
A scientist in a sprawling, industrial city agrees to help a winged refugee fly again. His research accidentally unleashes a psychic predator.
warm → bleak
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+3
- pace-1prose+1bleak+3
The Sparrow
Mary Doria Russell1996
A Jesuit priest joins a mission to a newly discovered planet. The story is told in flashbacks after he returns as the sole, traumatized survivor.
warm → elegiac
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+3
