After
Intrigues (Collegium Chronicles #2)
Mercedes Lackey2010
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
Same earnest register, still fantasy
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Curse of Chalion
Lois McMaster Bujold2001
A middle-aged man, broken by years of slavery, becomes a tutor to a princess. He must navigate a cursed court to protect his charges.
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Brothers in Arms (Dragonlance
Margaret Weis1999
Twin brothers work as mercenaries while their half-sister rises in the Dark Queen's army. It follows their early military experiences.
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Thief's Magic
Trudi Canavan2014
A student finds a sentient book in a world powered by magic, while a girl in a different land secretly practices forbidden sorcery.
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Phoenix Extravagant
Yoon Ha Lee2020
An artist is recruited by an occupying government to paint sigils on a robotic war machine. They decide to steal the dragon instead.
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
City of Dragons
Robin Hobb2012
The third book in a series about malformed dragons and their keepers. The group reaches the ancient city of Kelsingra and tries to reclaim it.
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
Denser prose
earnest → dreamlike
- pace0prose+2bleak+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.
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+2bleak+2
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.
pace0·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges1945
A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.
earnest → meditative
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+2bleak0
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.
earnest → playful
pace0·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
earnest → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
Faster
- pace+2prose0bleak+1
How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying
Django Wexler2023
A woman stuck in a time loop decides to stop trying to save the kingdom and instead attempts to become its villain. She uses past lives to plan.
earnest → sardonic, still fantasy
pace+2·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+2prose0bleak+2
Awake in the Night Land
John C. Wright2014
Four novellas set in a dying world where the sun has gone out. Humans survive in a metal pyramid while monsters wait in the darkness.
earnest → tense, still fantasy
pace+2·prose0·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak+1
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.
earnest → sardonic
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+2prose-1bleak0
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.
earnest → playful
pace+2·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+2prose-1bleak+1
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.
earnest → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1
Slower
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
A Prisoner in Fairyland
Algernon Blackwood1913
A retired businessman returns to his childhood home and enters a dreamlike world through the collective imagination of children.
earnest → dreamlike, still fantasy
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
earnest → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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.
earnest → elegiac
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
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.
earnest → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
A Slow Regard of Silent Things
Patrick Rothfuss2013
A young woman lives alone in the tunnels beneath a university, finding meaning in discarded objects and daily rituals.
earnest → tender, still fantasy
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
Heavier
- pace+1prose+1bleak+3
- pace+1prose+1bleak+3
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.
earnest → bleak
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak+3
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.
earnest → tense
pace+1·prose0·bleak+3
- pace+1prose0bleak+3
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.
earnest → bleak
pace+1·prose0·bleak+3
- pace+1prose+1bleak+3
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Seth Dickinson2015
An accountant infiltrates the empire that conquered her home to destroy it from within. She uses economics and politics as her primary weapons.
earnest → cold
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+3
