
After
Hastur Lord
Marion Zimmer Bradley2010
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose+1bleak0
The Book of the Long Sun
Gene Wolfe1993
A priest living inside a massive generation ship receives a vision from a god. He attempts to save his parish from political and social decay.
Same meditative register, still science fantasy
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Blood of Amber
Roger Zelazny1986
Merlin, son of Corwin, escapes a magical cell and navigates shifting realities to find his father. He faces technological and magical traps.
meditative → sardonic, still science fantasy
pace+1·prose0·bleak0

- pace0prose0bleak0
Like a Mighty Army
David Weber2014
An android posing as a religious figure introduces gunpowder and maritime technology to a pre-industrial world to fight a global church.
meditative → earnest, still science fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0

- pace0prose+1bleak0
Blade of Dream
Daniel Abraham2023
A merchant's daughter and a nobleman's son fall in love amidst a city's complex social hierarchy. The story focuses on their internal choices.
Same meditative register, still court politics
pace0·prose+1·bleak0

1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Magic of Recluce
L.E. Modesitt Jr.1991
An exiled young man travels across a continent to learn how to balance order and chaos magic. The story focuses on the mechanics of woodworking.
Same meditative register
pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
The Claw of the Conciliator
Gene Wolfe1981
An exiled torturer travels with a gem that can heal the dead. The narrative uses archaic vocabulary and an unreliable perspective.
meditative → dreamlike, still science fantasy
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

- pace0prose+2bleak0
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.
meditative → dreamlike
pace0·prose+2·bleak0

3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+2bleak0
Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges1945
A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.
Same meditative register
pace0·prose+2·bleak0

- pace0prose+2bleak-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.
meditative → playful
pace0·prose+2·bleak-1

- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
Same meditative register
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover
- pace0prose0bleak-1
The White Dragon
Anne McCaffrey1978
A young nobleman accidentally bonds with a stunted white dragon. He must balance his duties as a leader with his life as a dragonrider.
meditative → earnest, still science fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak-1

- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Split Infinity
Piers Anthony1980
A man travels between a high-tech world of games and a parallel world of magic. He must master both systems to avoid being assassinated.
meditative → playful, still science fantasy
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Royally Screwed
Emma Chase2016
A crown prince visiting Manhattan pursues a bakery worker who threw a pie at him. The story follows their class-clash courtship.
meditative → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Whiskey in a Teacup
Reese Witherspoon2018
Reese Witherspoon shares recipes, interior design tips, and personal stories centered on Southern lifestyle and hospitality.
meditative → warm
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
Grunge
Larry Correia2016
A Marine killed in a bombing is resurrected to hunt supernatural creatures. He joins a private company that kills monsters for government bounties.
meditative → sardonic
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster
- pace+2prose-1bleak0
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.
meditative → sardonic, still science fantasy
pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

- pace+2prose-1bleak-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.
meditative → playful
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak0
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.
meditative → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

- pace+2prose-1bleak0
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.
meditative → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

- pace+2prose-1bleak0
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.
meditative → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

Slower
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
Same meditative register
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
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.
meditative → elegiac
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
meditative → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Unfinished Tales
J.R.R. Tolkien1980
A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.
Same meditative register
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
meditative → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier
- pace+1prose+1bleak+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.
meditative → bleak, still science fantasy
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2

- pace0prose+1bleak+2
The Unconquered Country: A Life History
Geoff Ryman1986
A woman lives through the colonization and industrial destruction of her country by magical invaders. It mirrors the history of the Vietnam War.
meditative → elegiac, still science fantasy
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
Blade of Tyshalle
Matthew Woodring Stover2001
A retired assassin returns to a parallel fantasy world to save his wife from corporate and divine enemies. He navigates two realities.
meditative → sardonic, still science fantasy
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2

- pace+1prose0bleak+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.
meditative → tense
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

- pace+1prose0bleak+2
The Poppy War
R.F. Kuang2018
A war orphan enters a military academy and discovers shamanic powers. She leads a unit into a total war inspired by 20th-century Chinese history.
meditative → bleak
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
