After
The ticket that exploded
William S. Burroughs1962
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier, nothing denser
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak-1
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.
Same sardonic register, still experimental fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-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, still science fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Dying Inside
Robert Silverberg1972
A middle-aged man who has always been able to read minds realizes his telepathic power is fading. He must learn to live as an ordinary person.
Same sardonic register, still science fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace1996
A sprawling narrative centered on a tennis academy, a halfway house, and a lethal film. The text includes hundreds of pages of detailed endnotes.
Same sardonic register
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Interlibrary Loan
Gene Wolfe2020
A clone containing a writer's consciousness is checked out of a library to help a girl and her mother. He soon discovers his original self is alive.
Same sardonic register, still science fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
To recover
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
The Kaiju Preservation Society
John Scalzi2022
A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.
sardonic → playful, still science fiction
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
This Man
Jodi Ellen Malpas2013
An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.
sardonic → tense
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
Hardline
Meredith Wild2015
A software executive and a billionaire navigate a relationship complicated by corporate takeover attempts and sexual power dynamics.
sardonic → tense
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
Fifty Shades Darker
E.L. James2011
A young woman resumes her relationship with a wealthy businessman while starting a new job. They navigate his past and his specific sexual needs.
sardonic → earnest
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
Play
Kylie Scott2014
A drummer for a famous rock band hires a woman to pose as his girlfriend to improve his public image. They live together to sell the lie.
sardonic → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
The Kaiju Preservation Society
John Scalzi2022
A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.
sardonic → playful, still science fiction
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
The Lake House
James Patterson
A veterinarian and an FBI agent protect six genetically engineered children who can fly. They are pursued by a global conspiracy.
sardonic → propulsive, still science fiction
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
sardonic → wry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
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+2·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
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+2·prose-3·bleak-3
Slower
- pace-1prose0bleak-2
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, still science fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak-2
- pace-1prose-2bleak-3
Looking Backward, 2000-1887
Edward Bellamy1888
A man falls into a hypnotic sleep in 1887 and wakes up in the year 2000 to find the United States transformed into a socialist utopia.
sardonic → earnest, still science fiction
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak-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.
sardonic → dreamlike
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-1bleak-3
Dandelion Wine
Ray Bradbury1946
A twelve-year-old boy experiences a series of vignettes over one summer in 1928 Illinois. The chapters focus on small-town life and aging.
sardonic → elegiac
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-3
- pace-1prose-2bleak-3
For Us, the Living
Robert A. Heinlein2003
A 1930s pilot wakes up in the year 2086. The book consists of long dialogues explaining the social, economic, and sexual norms of the future.
sardonic → earnest
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-3
