After
Amberlough
Lara Elena Donnelly2017
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Ring Shout
P. Djèlí Clark2020
In 1920s Georgia, resistance fighters hunt Ku Klux Klan members who are transforming into literal monsters. It uses a supernatural lens for history.
Same tense register, still historical fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Underground Airlines
Ben H. Winters2016
In an alternate present where slavery remains legal in four states, a Black bounty hunter tracks a runaway. He uncovers a deep conspiracy.
Same tense register, still double agent
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
A Deepness in the Sky
Vernor Vinge1999
Two human factions compete to exploit an alien civilization emerging from its dark age. The plot involves deep-cover agents and slow-burn tension.
Same tense register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Ninefox Gambit
Yoon Ha Lee2016
A disgraced captain must retake a space fortress by sharing her mind with the ghost of a brilliant, genocidal tactician.
Same tense register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Half a Crown
Jo Walton2008
In a 1960s Britain that made peace with Hitler, a debutante and a secret police commander navigate fascist politics.
Same tense register, still double agent
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+1bleak0
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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
tense → sardonic
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
tense → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
tense → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
To recover
- pace0prose-2bleak-2
The Sentinel
Lee Child2020
A drifter helps an IT manager targeted by criminals after a cyberattack. He uses physical force to protect the man and uncover a conspiracy.
tense → propulsive
pace0·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace0prose-2bleak-2
On a Pale Horse
Piers Anthony1983
After accidentally killing the personification of Death, a man must take over the office. He navigates the bureaucracy of the afterlife.
tense → playful, still fantasy
pace0·prose-2·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak-2
The Rooster Bar
John Grisham2017
Three law students realize their school is a scam and drop out to pose as lawyers. They steal identities to survive and pay off their debts.
tense → sardonic
pace0·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace0prose-2bleak-2
Thraxas
Martin Millar
An overweight, beer-drinking private investigator with minor magical abilities solves crimes in a corrupt fantasy city.
tense → wry
pace0·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace0prose-2bleak-2
Ace of Hearts
Chantal Fernando2018
A woman finds herself drawn to a member of a motorcycle club after a chance encounter leads to a series of dates.
tense → propulsive
pace0·prose-2·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
Warbound
Larry Correia2013
In an alternate 1930s, people with magical abilities fight a war against a trans-dimensional threat. It is the final book in a trilogy.
tense → propulsive, still historical fantasy
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tense → wry
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-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.
tense → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-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.
tense → wry
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-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.
tense → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-2prose+1bleak0
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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-2prose+1bleak-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.
tense → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+1bleak-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.
tense → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
Love & Sleep
John Crowley1994
Pierce Moffett researches the history of magic while living in a small town. The narrative shifts between his life and the Renaissance.
tense → meditative, still historical fantasy
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
The Habitation of the Blessed
Catherynne M. Valente2010
A priest finds the lost kingdom of Prester John. The story is told through three nested layers of journals, myths, and historical accounts.
tense → dreamlike, still historical fantasy
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace-1prose0bleak+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.
tense → cold
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-1prose-1bleak+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.
tense → bleak
pace-1·prose-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
tense → bleak
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose0bleak+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.
tense → elegiac
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+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.
tense → bleak
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
