LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Space Merchants

Frederik Pohl1952

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Jennifer Government

    Max Barry2003

    In a privatized world where people take their employer's name as a surname, a marketing stunt leads to murder and a corporate investigation.

    Same sardonic register, still satire

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

Same sardonic register, still satire

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    Same sardonic register

    pace-1·prose+2·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.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

sardonic → playful, still satire

3 more ↓

  • Plum Lucky

    Janet Evanovich2007

    Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum chases a man who stole a horse and a bag of money. Her grandmother and a mysterious ally join the pursuit.

    sardonic → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Medusa

    Clive Cussler2009

    The NUMA team investigates a missing undersea lab and a bathysphere attack. They uncover a corporate plot involving a deadly virus and jellyfish.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The cat who blew the whistle

    Lilian Jackson Braun1994

    A journalist and his two Siamese cats investigate a missing railroad enthusiast and a bank scandal. It is a small-town mystery.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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.

    sardonic → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Cat's Cradle

    Kurt Vonnegut1963

    A writer researches the creator of the atomic bomb and discovers a substance that freezes all water. He joins an island cult.

    Same sardonic register, still satire

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • Chain-Gang All-Stars

    Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah2023

    Prisoners in a private American penal system fight to the death in televised matches for a chance at freedom.

    sardonic → bleak, still satire

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Make Room! Make Room!

    Harry Harrison1966

    A detective investigates a murder in a 1999 New York City suffering from extreme overpopulation, food riots, and resource exhaustion.

    sardonic → bleak, still dystopia

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+2