LitQueuelitqueue

After

God's Demon

Wayne Douglas Barlowe2007

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same elegiac register, still dark fantasy

1 more ↓

  • The Trials of Empire

    Richard Swan2024

    Justice Sir Konrad Vonvalt and his protégée Helena face the collapse of the Empire as religious and political factions war. It ends the trilogy.

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

elegiac → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Dæmonomania

    John Crowley2000

    In the third book of the Aegypt cycle, characters in the 1970s and the Renaissance navigate secret histories and alchemy. It is a slow study.

    elegiac → meditative

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

    A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.

    elegiac → meditative

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    elegiac → playful

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-2

To recover

elegiac → earnest

3 more ↓

  • Walking Disaster

    Jamie McGuire2013

    This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.

    elegiac → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • And One Last Thing...

    Molly Harper2010

    After a public divorce, a woman moves to a small town to start over and finds herself pursued by a local deputy.

    elegiac → wry

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Where Angels Go

    Debbie Macomber2007

    Three angels descend to Earth during Christmas to intervene in the lives of a lonely elderly man, a fearful woman, and a young boy.

    elegiac → warm

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    elegiac → sardonic

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • 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.

    elegiac → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

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.

    elegiac → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Unfinished Tales

    J.R.R. Tolkien1980

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

    elegiac → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    elegiac → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • We Dream of Gods

    Devin Madson2022

    Four protagonists navigate the collapse of empires as a god returns to the world. The story concludes a series defined by total war and betrayal.

    elegiac → bleak, still dark fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • Forge of darkness

    Steven Erikson2012

    A civil war begins in an ancient realm of darkness. The narrative follows aristocrats and soldiers as their society fractures into factions.

    Same elegiac register, still dark fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Queen of the Conquered

    Kacen Callender2019

    A noblewoman with mind-control powers enters a royal competition to kill the colonizers who murdered her family.

    elegiac → bleak, still dark fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1