After
The Quantum Rose
Catherine Asaro2000
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Bones Beneath My Skin
T. J. Klune2018
A disgraced journalist finds a man and a girl with supernatural abilities hiding in his family cabin. They go on the run from the government.
Same tender register, still sci-fi romance
pace0·prose0·bleak0
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The Red Scholar's Wake
Aliette de Bodard2022
A captured scavenger enters an arranged marriage with a sentient pirate ship to solve a murder within a space-faring fleet.
Same tender register, still space opera
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Collapsing Empire
John Scalzi2017
An interstellar empire relies on a dimension called the Flow that is beginning to disappear. Three people race to manage the impending collapse.
tender → wry, still space opera
pace0·prose0·bleak0
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Mirror Dance
Lois McMaster Bujold1994
A clone hijacks a mercenary fleet to liberate a laboratory, forcing his brother to stage a rescue. It deals with identity and physical trauma.
tender → tense, still space opera
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
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Provenance
Ann Leckie2017
Ingray attempts to secure her family status by orchestrating a prison break to recover stolen cultural artifacts.
tender → playful, still space opera
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
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.
tender → dreamlike, still space opera
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
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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.
tender → sardonic
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
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Shadow & Claw
Gene Wolfe1983
A torturer travels across a far-future Earth where technology is indistinguishable from magic. He recounts his exile in dense, archaic prose.
tender → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
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Empty Space
M. John Harrison2012
Three interlocking timelines follow a widow in London, a detective in a neon city, and a pilot in deep space. The prose is dense and surreal.
tender → dreamlike, still space opera
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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.
tender → sardonic
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
To recover
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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.
tender → wry, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
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Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
tender → playful, still space opera
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
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It Starts with Us
Colleen Hoover2022
A single mother navigates a new relationship with her first love while managing a jealous ex-husband. The story alternates perspectives.
tender → earnest
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James2000
A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.
tender → earnest
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
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You Can Heal Your Life
Louise L. Hay1984
The author argues that physical illness is caused by mental patterns and provides affirmations to change one's internal dialogue.
tender → warm
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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.
tender → wry, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
The Android's Dream
John Scalzi2006
A diplomat must find a specific, genetically engineered sheep to prevent an interstellar war. The story is a fast-paced, irreverent space comedy.
tender → playful, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
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Chilling Effect
Valerie Valdes2019
A spaceship captain completes dangerous missions to pay off a ransom for her kidnapped sister. The crew includes a pilot who is a sentient plant.
tender → playful, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
The Star Kings
Edmond Hamilton1949
A 20th-century man swaps bodies with a prince 200,000 years in the future. He must lead a galactic empire against a tyrant's fleet.
tender → propulsive, still space opera
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
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The Star Wars Trilogy
George Lucas2018
A farm boy joins a rebellion against a galactic empire. He learns to use a mystical force under the guidance of an exiled knight.
tender → earnest, still space opera
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
tender → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
tender → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
tender → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
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.
tender → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
tender → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
Heavier
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
Consider Phlebas
Iain Banks1987
A shape-shifting mercenary works for an alien empire to retrieve a rogue AI during a galactic war. He faces a series of deadly set-pieces.
tender → bleak, still space opera
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
An Exchange of Hostages
Susan R. Matthews1997
A surgeon is drafted into a space empire's corps of torturers. He tries to maintain his ethics while being trained to inflict pain.
tender → clinical, still space opera
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
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The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story
Stephen R. Donaldson
A space pirate, a victim, and a police officer are trapped in a cycle of abuse and betrayal. The narrative shifts perspectives to reveal lies.
tender → bleak, still space opera
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
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Dark Age
Pierce Brown2019
An outlawed revolutionary fights a losing war on Mercury while an exiled heir attempts to reclaim a space empire. It is a violent military epic.
tender → propulsive, still space opera
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose0bleak+2
Star Wars - Legacy of the Force - Sacrifice
Karen Traviss2007
Jacen Solo hunts his own parents during a galactic civil war. He commits increasingly ruthless acts to secure his power as a Sith apprentice.
tender → bleak, still space opera
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
