Dragonquest

Dragonsblood

Todd McCaffrey2005

A plague threatens the dragons of Pern. A young woman travels back in time to find a cure before the planet's defenses fail.

pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

earnest → dreamlike

pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

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.

earnest → sardonic

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

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.

earnest → meditative

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

Twelve Fair Kingdoms

Suzette Haden Elgin1981

Responsible Brightwater travels through a world governed by magic and social ritual to stop a conspiracy. It is the first of the Ozark trilogy.

earnest → playful, still science fantasy

pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

Sugar Cookie Murder

Joanne Fluke2003

During a community Christmas buffet in Minnesota, a man's ex-wife is found stabbed to death. A bakery owner investigates while sharing recipes.

earnest → playful

pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

Secondhand Spirits

Juliet Blackwell2009

A vintage shop owner who can feel the history of clothes uses her magic to solve a murder. She must find a killer while hiding her identity.

earnest → playful

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

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.

earnest → propulsive

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

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.

earnest → wry

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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.

earnest → propulsive

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

earnest → meditative

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Gödel, Escher, Bach

Douglas R. Hofstadter1979

An exploration of how cognition emerges from hidden neurological patterns. It uses math, art, and music to explain self-referential systems.

earnest → playful

pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Ulysses

James Joyce1914

Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

earnest → playful

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Sugar Rain

Paul Park1989

During a revolution against a theocracy, a doctor in exile tries to protect his family while a new, pragmatic faith rises.

earnest → bleak, still science fantasy

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

Winterlong

Elizabeth Hand1990

In a decaying, post-apocalyptic Washington D.C., a girl with empathic powers is drawn into the plots of a decadent ruling class.

earnest → dreamlike, still science fantasy

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

Salt

Adam Roberts2000

Two groups of colonists with opposing ideologies settle on a salt-covered planet, leading to a total breakdown of their society.

earnest → bleak, still planetary romance

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2