LitQueuelitqueue

After

Frankenstein in Baghdad

Ahmed Saadawi2013

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Flight

    Sherman Alexie2003

    A foster kid about to commit a mass shooting is transported through time into the bodies of people from different eras of American history.

    Same sardonic register, still magical realism

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    Same sardonic register

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Two for the dough

    Janet Evanovich1996

    An inexperienced bounty hunter tracks a man who jumped bail for shooting his friend. She competes with a vice cop to find him first.

    sardonic → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Better Off Dead

    Lee Child2021

    Jack Reacher investigates a staged car crash in Arizona and infiltrates a dangerous local crew to find a missing woman.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Death by Darjeeling

    Laura Childs2001

    Theodosia Browning hosts a tea party where a guest is poisoned. She must find the killer among the local socialites of Charleston.

    sardonic → warm

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Kaiju Preservation Society

    John Scalzi2022

    A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.

    sardonic → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-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.

    sardonic → meditative, still magical realism

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Dandelion Wine

    Ray Bradbury1946

    A twelve-year-old boy experiences a series of vignettes over one summer in 1928 Illinois. The chapters focus on small-town life and aging.

    sardonic → elegiac, still magical realism

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Rise of the Governor

    Jay Bonansinga2018

    Philip Blake seeks shelter in a zombie-infested Georgia. The story tracks his transformation into a ruthless authoritarian leader.

    sardonic → bleak, still horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Tender Is the Flesh

    Agustina Bazterrica2012

    In a world where animal meat is poisonous, humans are bred and slaughtered for consumption. A tannery worker manages this livestock.

    sardonic → clinical, still horror

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Hater

    David Moody2006

    A sudden epidemic causes ordinary people to commit extreme acts of violence against others. A father tries to protect his family as society collapses.

    sardonic → bleak, still horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1