After
Black Dog
Dave McKean2016
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
A God in Ruins
Kate Atkinson2015
A former RAF pilot lives through the decades following WWII. The narrative jumps between his combat years and his elderly present.
dreamlike → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Sister Noon
Karen Joy Fowler2001
In 1890s San Francisco, a spinster volunteer befriends a notorious voodoo practitioner to escape her restrictive social circle.
dreamlike → wry, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Beside the Ocean of Time
George Mackay Brown1994
A boy on an Orkney island spends his time daydreaming about the Vikings and historical figures of the past. The prose is rhythmic and lyrical.
Same dreamlike register, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace+1prose0bleak-1
Utopia Avenue
David Mitchell2020
A British band rises through the 1960s music scene, following the individual lives of the four members as they find fame.
dreamlike → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
The moon in the palace
Weina Dai Randel2016
A young girl enters the Tang Dynasty court as a concubine. She navigates the hierarchies and dangers of the palace to gain the Emperor's favor.
dreamlike → earnest, still historical fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
Denser prose
- pace0prose+1bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → playful
pace0·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
dreamlike → elegiac
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
Endless Things
John Crowley2007
A scholar travels to Europe to find a secret history of magic hidden within real-world myths. This is the conclusion of a four-book cycle.
dreamlike → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace0prose+1bleak0
The Light and the Dark
Mikhail Shishkin2013
Two lovers exchange letters that transcend time and space. One writes from a domestic life while the other writes from the front lines of a war.
dreamlike → elegiac
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak-1
In the Night Garden
Catherynne M. Valente2006
A girl with tattooed eyelids tells a prince interlocking stories of monsters and folklore. The narrative is a series of nested myths.
Same dreamlike register
pace0·prose+1·bleak-1
To recover
- pace+1prose-2bleak-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.
dreamlike → earnest
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
The Duke and I
Julia Quinn2000
A duke and a debutante enter a fake courtship to avoid social pressure. They navigate Regency London's marriage market while hiding their deal.
dreamlike → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
On Dublin Street
Samantha Young2012
An American woman in Scotland enters a sex-only arrangement with her roommate's brother to avoid emotional intimacy. It is a contemporary romance.
dreamlike → warm
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
Night Pleasures
Sherrilyn Kenyon2002
An immortal warrior and a skeptical accountant are handcuffed together while being hunted by supernatural predators.
dreamlike → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace0prose-2bleak-2
Honeysuckle Summer
Sherryl Woods2010
A woman with severe anxiety and agoraphobia after an abusive marriage finds support from a local deputy. He helps her re-enter the world.
dreamlike → warm
pace0·prose-2·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Matt Dinniman2020
Earth is converted into an 18-level televised death game. A man and a cat must navigate traps and monsters to survive.
dreamlike → sardonic
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-2
The Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Harrison1961
A futuristic con man is caught by the Special Corps and forced to use his criminal skills to catch other lawbreakers.
dreamlike → playful
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
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.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
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.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
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.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
A Month in the Country
J. L. Carr1980
A WWI veteran spends a summer in a quiet village restoring a medieval mural in a church. He reflects on his trauma while observing local life.
dreamlike → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
Kolyma tales
Varlam SHALAMOV1980
Short stories documenting daily life and survival in a Soviet labor camp. The prose is detached and focuses on the physical reality of starvation.
dreamlike → clinical, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner1936
The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.
dreamlike → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+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.
dreamlike → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
dreamlike → elegiac
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
Heavier
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Pride of Baghdad
Brian K. Vaughan2006
Four lions escape the Baghdad Zoo during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The graphic novel follows their perspective as they navigate the city.
dreamlike → bleak, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Vengeance of Rome
Michael Moorcock2006
Pyat, an unreliable narrator and Nazi sympathizer, travels through the 1930s. He observes the rise of fascism while remaining self-deluded.
dreamlike → sardonic, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Was
Geoff Ryman1992
Three timelines connect a Kansas girl in the 1880s, Judy Garland on set, and a dying man in the 1980s. It examines the reality behind the Oz myth.
dreamlike → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
A Fine Balance
Rohinton Mistry1995
Four people from different castes share a small apartment during the 1975 Indian Emergency. Their lives are upended by state-sanctioned violence.
dreamlike → bleak, still historical fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Confessions of Nat Turner
William Styron1967
A fictionalized confession of the leader of an 1831 slave revolt while he awaits execution in a Virginia jail cell.
dreamlike → bleak, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
