After
The Gone-Away World
Nick Harkaway2008
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Sky Is Yours
Chandler Klang Smith2018
Three wealthy youths navigate a decaying city while two dragons circle overhead. The prose is dense and focuses on the grotesque and the absurd.
Same playful register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Angelmaker
Nick Harkaway2012
A clockmaker repairs a mechanical device that triggers a 1950s doomsday weapon. He is pursued by government agents and a monk-led secret society.
Same playful register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Wetware
Rudy Rucker1988
In a future where robots have gained independence, a bopper attempts to create a biological hybrid. It is a satire of evolution and corporate greed.
Same playful register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Computer Connection
Alfred Bester1975
A group of immortals recruits a physicist to help them hijack the supercomputer that runs Earth's mechanical systems.
Same playful register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Arcadia
Iain Pears2015
A girl enters a portal in 1960s Oxford, linking a fantasy world, a dystopian future, and her own time. The plot moves between three timelines.
Same playful register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+1bleak+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.
playful → dreamlike, still unreliable narrator
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
playful → elegiac, still unreliable narrator
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
VAS
Steve Tomasula2002
A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.
playful → clinical
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
playful → sardonic, still unreliable narrator
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
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.
playful → meditative, still unreliable narrator
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
To recover
playful → wry
- pace+1prose-2bleak-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.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace0prose-2bleak-1
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
Mindy Kaling2011
A collection of essays about the author's childhood, her career in comedy, and her observations on friendship.
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
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Someday, Someday, Maybe
Lauren Graham2013
A young actress in 1990s New York City gives herself a three-year deadline to find professional success before her money runs out.
Same playful register
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace0prose-2bleak-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.
Same playful register
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace0prose-2bleak-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.
Same playful register
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+1prose-2bleak+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.
playful → tense, still post-apocalyptic
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-2bleak+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.
playful → propulsive, still post-apocalyptic
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
playful → wry
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-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.
playful → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-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.
playful → wry
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-2prose+1bleak+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.
playful → dreamlike, still unreliable narrator
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+1bleak0
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.
playful → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+1bleak0
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.
playful → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-2prose0bleak+1
After London
Richard Jefferies1885
Nature reclaims England after an unspecified catastrophe destroys civilization. A young man explores the toxic swamps that were once London.
playful → elegiac, still post-apocalyptic
pace-2·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-2prose0bleak-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.
playful → elegiac
pace-2·prose0·bleak-1
Heavier
playful → elegiac, still post-apocalyptic
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace-1prose-1bleak+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.
pace-1·prose-1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak+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.
playful → bleak, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose-2·bleak+2
- pace0prose-1bleak+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.
playful → bleak, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace0prose-1bleak+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.
playful → bleak, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2
