LitQueuelitqueue

After

Ariosto

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro1980

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Stars Dispose

    Michaela Roessner1997

    In Renaissance Florence, a young cook works for Catherine de' Medici amidst political schemes and occult rituals. The pace is slow and deliberate.

    Same meditative register, still historical fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

Same meditative register, still historical fantasy

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    meditative → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • At Swim-Two-Birds

    Flann O'Brien1939

    A student writes a story about a man whose own characters rebel and plot against him. It incorporates Irish myth and multiple layers of fiction.

    meditative → playful, still story within a story

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Tours of the Black Clock

    Steve Erickson1989

    A ghostwriter for Hitler's private pornography lives in a surreal version of the 20th century where history and memory blur.

    meditative → dreamlike, still alternate history

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Backstage Pass

    Olivia Cunning2010

    A psychologist joins a heavy metal band's tour to help their guitarist find his inspiration. Their relationship is primarily sexual.

    meditative → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • The Artist's Way

    Julia Cameron1992

    A twelve-week program designed to recover a person's creativity. It prescribes daily long-hand writing and solo weekly expeditions.

    meditative → warm

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Throne of Jade

    Naomi Novik2006

    A British captain and his dragon travel to China to resolve a diplomatic crisis. Much of the book takes place aboard a ship during the long voyage.

    meditative → warm, still alternate history

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Mind's Eye

    Douglas E. Richards2014

    A man discovers he has the ability to access the internet and process data directly with his mind. He is hunted by a secret organization.

    meditative → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

  • The Atlantis Gene

    A.G. Riddle2013

    A geneticist and a counter-terrorism agent uncover a global conspiracy involving human evolution and an ancient Antarctic discovery.

    meditative → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

  • Monster Hunter International

    Larry Correia2007

    An accountant kills his boss, who has become a werewolf, and is recruited by a private company that hunts monsters for government bounties.

    meditative → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Boneland

    Alan Garner2012

    An adult Colin searches for his lost sister while an ancient shaman performs rituals in the same landscape. The two timelines mirror one another.

    meditative → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Cloud & Ashes: Three Winter's Tales

    Greer Gilman2009

    A triptych of stories set in a mythic Yorkshire, told in dense, archaic dialect. It follows the intersections of folk magic and celestial myth.

    meditative → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Among Others

    Jo Walton2011

    A teenage girl at a 1970s boarding school copes with her twin's death through books and subtle magic. It is written as a series of diary entries.

    meditative → tender

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • A Man Lies Dreaming

    Lavie Tidhar2014

    A Jewish writer in a concentration camp imagines a world where Hitler is a disgraced private eye in London. The two narratives intertwine.

    meditative → sardonic, still alternate history

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu

    Andrus Kivirähk2015

    A boy in medieval Estonia learns the ancient language of snakes to command animals as his forest culture is erased by Christian invaders.

    meditative → elegiac, still historical fantasy

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+2

  • The sad tale of the brothers Grossbart

    Jesse Bullington2009

    Two murderous brothers travel across 14th-century Europe to rob Egyptian tombs. They encounter monsters and religious zealots along the way.

    meditative → sardonic, still historical fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2