LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Long Run

Daniel Keys Moran1989

5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster

More like it

Same propulsive register, still cyberpunk

1 more ↓

  • Daemon

    Leinad Zeraus2006

    A deceased game designer leaves behind a computer program that begins killing people and restructuring society. It is a high-tech manhunt.

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Naked Lunch: The Restored Text

    William S. Burroughs

    A series of nonlinear vignettes follow a drug addict's hallucinations and travels. The prose is fragmented and satirical.

    propulsive → sardonic, still dystopian

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2

  • VAS

    Steve Tomasula2002

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

    propulsive → clinical, still cyberpunk

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+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.

    propulsive → dreamlike

    pace-3·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Split Infinity

    Piers Anthony1980

    A man travels between a high-tech world of games and a parallel world of magic. He must master both systems to avoid being assassinated.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon

    Kimberly Lemming2021

    A spice trader saves a demon while intoxicated and joins his quest to kill a witch. The story features frequent sexual content and humor.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    propulsive → playful, still heist

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Stand on Zanzibar

    John Brunner1968

    A fragmented portrait of an overpopulated 2010. The story uses news feeds and slogans to track a spy and a student in a corporate-run world.

    propulsive → sardonic, still cyberpunk

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak+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.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-3·prose+2·bleak0

  • Translated Accounts

    James Kelman2001

    Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.

    propulsive → bleak, still dystopian

    pace-3·prose+2·bleak+2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Dr. Adder

    K. W. Jeter1984

    In a broken future Los Angeles, a surgeon performs extreme genital modifications for a subculture of outcasts.

    propulsive → cynical, still cyberpunk

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Testament of Jessie Lamb

    Jane Rogers2011

    A teenager decides to volunteer for a medical program that will end her life to save humanity from a biological catastrophe.

    propulsive → earnest, still dystopian

    pace-2·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    propulsive → cold, still dystopian

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak+2