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Surface Detail

Banks, Iain M
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science fiction hard science fiction with space opera elements past tense third limited POV ~822 pp high worldbuilding
features extracted 2026-04-12

Vibe

oppressive cosmic grim

A dark science fiction. Expect rich worldbuilding, dense, literary prose, epic scope. Ends on an unresolved note. Contains notable violence, sexual content.

Style Fingerprint

Prose density 75
sparsedense
Pacing 40
slow burnpropulsive
Emotional tone 20
darkhopeful
Worldbuilding 95
minimalmaximal
Char / plot 60
character-drivenplot-driven
Interiority 50
externalintrospective
Ending 10
unresolvedcathartic
Stakes 90
intimateepic

Content

Violence 90%
noneextreme
Sexual content 60%
noneexplicit
Humor 30%
seriouscomedic
Romance 40%
nonecentral
Speculative hardness soft/vibes → hard sci-fi / rigorous magic

Structure & Cast

Structure
Word count205,585
Page count~822 pp
Prologue
Epilogue
Tensepast
Cast & World
POVthird limited

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