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The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson1875

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The dark other

    Stanley G. Weinbaum1950

    A man fears he is developing a second, predatory personality. He attempts to protect the woman he loves from his own subconscious.

    dark → tense, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Nova Express

    William S. Burroughs1964

    An experimental narrative uses the cut-up technique to depict a war between intergalactic criminals and the police. It is a collage of imagery.

    dark → sardonic, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

  • 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.

    dark → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

  • 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.

    dark → meditative

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Rendezvous with Rama

    Arthur C. Clarke1973

    A human crew intercepts and explores a giant, hollow alien cylinder passing through the solar system. It is a technical study of the unknown.

    dark → clinical, still science fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-2

  • Translation State

    Ann Leckie2023

    Three people from different cultures search for a missing diplomat in a galaxy of rigid social hierarchies. It focuses on biological identity.

    dark → tender, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2

  • Out of the Silent Planet

    C. S. Lewis1938

    A philologist is kidnapped by scientists and taken to Mars to be a sacrifice, but he escapes to explore the planet's alien cultures.

    dark → meditative, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Influx

    Daniel Suarez2014

    A physicist invents a gravity-reflecting device and is imprisoned by a secret agency that suppresses technology. He plots a high-tech escape.

    dark → propulsive, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens

    Alan Dean Foster2001

    A scavenger and a defecting soldier join the fight against a new galactic power. They search for a missing hero from the previous generation.

    dark → propulsive, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • The Rookie

    Scott Sigler2012

    A talented but prejudiced quarterback joins a professional team of diverse alien species. He must lead them to win in a violent interstellar league.

    dark → propulsive, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    dark → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak-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.

    dark → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak-2

  • 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.

    dark → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream

    Harlan Ellison2009

    A sentient supercomputer keeps the last five humans alive to torture them eternally. It is a short story about absolute power and spite.

    dark → bleak, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Negative Space

    B.R. Yeager2020

    Four teenagers in a decaying New Hampshire town use a drug made from local parasites. They navigate hallucinations and a string of suicides.

    dark → bleak, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • The Jaunt

    Stephen King2009

    A father explains the history of teleportation to his family while they wait to travel. He describes the danger of being awake during the trip.

    dark → tense, still science fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1