LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Lives of Tao

Wesley Chu2013

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Bone Dance

    Emma Bull1991

    In a post-apocalyptic city, a video dealer gets caught between warring telepaths. The protagonist discovers their own body is not what it seems.

    Same wry register, still urban fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • VAS

    Steve Tomasula2002

    A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.

    wry → clinical

    pace-1·prose+3·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.

    wry → sardonic

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+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.

    wry → meditative

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

To recover

wry → playful, still urban fantasy

3 more ↓

  • Dark Lover

    J. R. Ward2005

    A vampire king seeks revenge against the slayers who killed his parents while protecting a woman discovering her own supernatural heritage.

    wry → propulsive, still urban fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • Warping Minds & Other Misdemeanors

    Annette Marie2020

    A telepathic thief is blackmailed into working for a magical guild. He must use his mental powers to navigate a series of supernatural heists.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Nice Dragons Finish Last

    Rachel Aaron2014

    The smallest, weakest dragon in a ruthless family is cast out into Detroit. He must survive using diplomacy instead of fire.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

Faster

wry → propulsive, still urban fantasy

3 more ↓

  • Warbound

    Larry Correia2013

    In an alternate 1930s, people with magical abilities fight a war against a trans-dimensional threat. It is the final book in a trilogy.

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • Claimed By Shadow (Cassandra Palmer Series, Book 2)

    Karen Chance2007

    A clairvoyant who can travel through time is magically bound to a master vampire while various factions try to seize her power.

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Project Hail Mary

    Andy Weir2021

    A man wakes up on a spaceship with amnesia and two dead crewmates. He must use scientific experiments to remember his mission and save the sun.

    wry → propulsive

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

  • 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.

    wry → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak-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.

    wry → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    wry → bleak

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • 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.

    wry → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Watchmen

    Alan Moore1986

    Retired masked vigilantes investigate the murder of a former teammate. The story takes place in an alternate 1985 on the brink of nuclear war.

    wry → bleak

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2