After
Time and Time Again
Ben Elton2014
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak-1
A Murder in Time
Julie McElwain2016
An FBI agent is transported from a modern crime scene to 1815 London. She must use 21st-century forensics to catch a serial killer.
Same propulsive register, still fish out of water
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Peacemaker
James Swallow2007
The Doctor and Martha Jones arrive in the 1880s American West to investigate a salesman using alien technology to cure townspeople.
Same propulsive register, still fish out of water
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
If I Never Get Back
Darryl Brock1990
A modern reporter travels back to 1869 and joins the first professional baseball team. He navigates the sport and life in the post-Civil War era.
propulsive → warm, still historical
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
From Time to Time
Jack Finney1995
A man travels back in time to 1911 to prevent the sinking of the Titanic and alter the course of the twentieth century.
propulsive → elegiac, still historical
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak-1
Queen of Candesce
Karl Schroeder2007
In a world of floating cities, a woman named Venera Fanning survives a fall and plots to regain power. It is set in the Virga universe.
Same propulsive register, still fish out of water
pace0·prose+1·bleak-1
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
propulsive → sardonic
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
propulsive → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
propulsive → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
propulsive → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
To recover
propulsive → playful
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Warrior Rising
P.C. Cast2008
Goddesses transport a modern woman to ancient Troy to seduce and distract Achilles. It is a lighthearted fish-out-of-water romance.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Wielding a Red Sword
Piers Anthony1986
An Indian prince avoids an arranged marriage by accepting the supernatural office of War. He wields a sword that draws him into a conflict in Hell.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
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.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
Same propulsive register
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
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.
propulsive → earnest
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
propulsive → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
Same propulsive register
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
propulsive → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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.
Same propulsive register
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
propulsive → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
Umbrella
Will Self2013
A psychiatrist in 1971 treats a woman who has been catatonic for decades. The prose shifts between eras and consciousnesses without paragraph breaks.
propulsive → clinical, still historical
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
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.
propulsive → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak-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-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak-2
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.
propulsive → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2
Heavier
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
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
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose0bleak+1
Doomsday Book
Connie Willis1992
A student travels to 14th-century England while a virus spreads in the present. She arrives during the Black Death due to a technical error.
propulsive → bleak, still fish out of water
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Perdido Street Station
China Miéville2000
A scientist in a sprawling, industrial city agrees to help a winged refugee fly again. His research accidentally unleashes a psychic predator.
propulsive → bleak
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
The Sparrow
Mary Doria Russell1996
A Jesuit priest joins a mission to a newly discovered planet. The story is told in flashbacks after he returns as the sole, traumatized survivor.
propulsive → elegiac
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Watchmen
Alan Moore1986
Retired masked vigilantes investigate the murder of a former teammate. The story takes place in an alternate 1985 on the brink of nuclear war.
propulsive → bleak
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
