Lamb

The alchemist's code

Dave Duncan2008

Nostradamus and his apprentice Alfeo hunt a foreign spy in 16th-century Venice. They use ciphers and occult methods to solve the case.

Same playful register, still historical fantasy

pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

playful → meditative, still historical fantasy

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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.

Same playful register, still satire

pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

Ficciones

Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

playful → meditative

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The Da Vinci Code

Dan Brown2003

A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.

playful → propulsive

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Ten Big Ones

Janet Evanovich2004

Stephanie Plum witnesses a gang hit and becomes a target herself. She balances the threat with her ongoing romantic indecision.

Same playful register

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Another fine myth

Robert Asprin1978

A magician's apprentice accidentally summons a demon from another dimension. The two form a partnership to navigate a series of mishaps.

Same playful register

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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.

playful → propulsive

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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.

playful → propulsive

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

playful → propulsive

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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.

playful → elegiac

pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

Cloud & Ashes: Three Winter's Tales

Greer Gilman2009

A triptych of stories set in a mythic Yorkshire, told in dense, archaic dialect. It follows the intersections of folk magic and celestial myth.

playful → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

pace-2·prose+2·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.

playful → meditative

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The Burning God

R.F. Kuang2020

A general leads a peasant army in a civil war across a fantasy version of China. She grapples with her sanity and the influence of a fire god.

playful → bleak, still historical fantasy

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

The Sub: A Study in Witchcraft

Thomas M. Disch1999

A substitute teacher discovers she has the power of witchcraft. She uses her abilities to manipulate her small town as her sanity deteriorates.

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu

Andrus Kivirähk2015

A boy in medieval Estonia learns the ancient language of snakes to command animals as his forest culture is erased by Christian invaders.

playful → elegiac, still historical fantasy

pace-1·prose0·bleak+2