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After

Crandolin

Anna Tambour2012

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Things Invisible to See

    Nancy Willard1985

    In 1940s Michigan, a man accidentally paralyzes a girl with a baseball and later bets his soul in a game against Death to save her.

    playful → dreamlike, still magical realism

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

playful → meditative, still magical realism

3 more ↓

  • Soldier of Sidon

    Gene Wolfe2006

    A mercenary in ancient Egypt loses his memory every time he sleeps. He records his days in a scroll while interacting with gods and spirits.

    playful → meditative, still historical fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    playful → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    playful → dreamlike, still magical realism

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative

    Austin Kleon

    A short guide to creativity through remixing and influence. It uses illustrations and lists to explain how to find and use inspiration.

    Same playful register

    pace+2·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.

    playful → warm

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Embrace Your Weird

    Felicia Day2019

    A guide to personal creativity featuring memoir fragments and interactive exercises. It focuses on overcoming internal barriers like anxiety.

    Same playful register

    pace+1·prose-2·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.

    playful → 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.

    playful → 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.

    playful → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    playful → tender, still magical realism

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    playful → 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.

    playful → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    playful → 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.

    playful → sardonic, still historical fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Fifth Season

    N. K. Jemisin2015

    A mother searches for her daughter across a continent undergoing a tectonic apocalypse. Some chapters address the reader in the second person.

    playful → bleak

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2