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After

Dead to the World

Charlaine Harris2004

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same playful register, still urban fantasy

1 more ↓

  • The Darkest Pleasure

    Gena Showalter2008

    A warrior possessed by a demon of pain pursues a mortal woman while she and her family flee immortal hunters. It is a paranormal romance.

    playful → propulsive, still urban fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Ink

    Hal Duncan2007

    Gods and mortals clash in a shifting city where reality is written on skin. The story follows a cycle of mythic archetypes across time.

    playful → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+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.

    playful → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+3·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.

    Same playful register

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak-1

To recover

Same playful register, still urban fantasy

3 more ↓

  • Where the Wild Things Bite

    Molly Harper2016

    An archivist and a vampire survive a plane crash in the woods. They must trek to a small town while avoiding a pilot who wants to rob them.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Howl at the Moon

    Christine Warren2007

    A human soldier goes undercover to investigate a werewolf scientist and falls for her best friend, a high-ranking pack assistant.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Samson's Lovely Mortal

    Tina Folsom

    A bachelor vampire who has lost his lust for life meets a mortal woman he is driven to protect. He must keep her safe from his enemies.

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Faster

playful → propulsive, still urban fantasy

3 more ↓

  • Ill Wind

    Rachel Caine2003

    A weather warden on the run from the law uses her ability to control storms to protect people from rogue elemental forces.

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Battle Ground

    Jim Butcher2020

    A wizard leads the supernatural defense of Chicago against an invading army led by a Titan. The book is a single, continuous battle.

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Wicked All Night

    Jeaniene Frost2021

    A vampire and a siren enter a marriage of convenience to protect her from a supernatural threat. They hunt a dark god across the globe.

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

Slower

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.

    playful → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

  • Unfinished Tales

    J.R.R. Tolkien1980

    A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.

    playful → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

  • Moonwise

    Greer Gilman1991

    Two women are pulled into a world created by their own folk-tales. The narrative uses dense, archaic language to describe a shifting landscape.

    playful → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • A Matter of Blood

    Sarah Pinborough2010

    A detective investigates a serial killer in a London plagued by a failing economy and a supernatural virus. The tone is consistently grim.

    playful → bleak, still urban fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·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

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Pet Sematary

    Stephen King1983

    A family moves to Maine and discovers a burial ground that can return the dead to life. They use it, and the consequences are absolute.

    playful → tense

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2