A Column of Fire

A Town Like Alice

Nevil Shute1950

An Englishwoman survives a forced march in occupied Malaya and later moves to the Australian outback. She works to improve a remote cattle town.

pace0·prose0·bleak0

Absalom, Absalom!

William Faulkner1936

The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2

The Mirror and the Light

Hilary Mantel2020

Thomas Cromwell navigates the final four years of his life in Henry VIII's court. He attempts to maintain power as his allies and influence erode.

earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace-1·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.

earnest → playful

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Starter Villain

John Scalzi2023

A substitute teacher inherits his uncle's secret supervillain business, including a volcano lair and talking cats.

earnest → wry

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Playing with Fire

Gena Showalter2006

A barista gains elemental superpowers after being poisoned and must flee from a government agent. They eventually work together to escape.

earnest → playful

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Digital Fortress

Dan Brown1998

The NSA's code-breaking supercomputer encounters an unbreakable algorithm. A cryptographer and a professor race to find the kill code.

earnest → propulsive

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Protect and Defend

Vince Flynn2007

CIA operative Mitch Rapp travels to the Middle East to prevent Iranian retaliation after an Israeli strike. He works to stop a terrorist plot.

earnest → propulsive, still espionage

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Use of force

Brad Thor2017

Navy SEAL Scot Harvath is hired to track a missing terrorist after a body washes up in Italy. He works outside the law to stop a summer attack.

earnest → propulsive, still espionage

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Warriors

Ted Bell2014

Spy Alex Hawke attempts to rescue a kidnapped scientist while the United States and China move toward nuclear war.

earnest → propulsive, still espionage

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

earnest → playful

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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.

earnest → clinical

pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

Translated Accounts

James Kelman2001

Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.

earnest → bleak

pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2

The Known World

Edward P. Jones2003

A black man who was once a slave becomes a slave owner in antebellum Virginia. The story follows the fallout on the plantation after his death.

earnest → meditative, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

A Long Long Way

Sebastian Barry2005

A young Irishman joins the British Army to fight in the trenches of World War I while his home country moves toward rebellion.

earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

Brotherless Night

V. V. Ganeshananthan2023

A young woman in Sri Lanka tries to study medicine while her brothers join militant groups during the civil war. It covers a decade of conflict.

earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2