After
Le Morte d'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table
Thomas Malory
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
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The Secret Commonwealth
Philip Pullman2019
A twenty-year-old Lyra travels across Europe and Asia while estranged from her daemon. The story explores the philosophical nature of Dust.
Same elegiac register, still quest
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Assassin's Quest
Robin Hobb1997
After being resurrected, Fitz travels across a wilderness to find his lost king. The story follows a long, grueling journey on foot.
Same elegiac register, still quest
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- pace0prose0bleak-1
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights
John Steinbeck1976
A retelling of Malory's Morte d'Arthur in modern English prose, focusing on the human motivations of the knights and queens.
elegiac → earnest, still arthurian
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The Crystal Cave
Mary Stewart1970
Merlin grows from a bastard child in 5th-century Britain to a prophet. He navigates political chaos while discovering his clairvoyant abilities.
Same elegiac register, still arthurian
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1 more ↓ ↑
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Rhinegold
Stephan Grundy1994
A retelling of the Sigurd and Fafnir myth set in a grounded Germanic landscape. It follows the hero from his birth to his cursed end.
Same elegiac register, still tragic hero
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Denser prose
elegiac → dreamlike
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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.
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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.
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3 more ↓ ↑
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Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges1945
A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.
elegiac → meditative
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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
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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.
elegiac → meditative
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To recover
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A Girl's Guide to Vampires
Katie MacAlister2003
An American woman travels to a Goth festival in the Czech Republic and meets a man she believes is a vampire. A mystery involving a killer unfolds.
elegiac → playful
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Pawn of Prophecy
David Eddings1982
A farm boy travels with a storyteller and a sorceress to recover a stolen magical orb. It is a traditional quest through various kingdoms.
elegiac → earnest, still quest
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3 more ↓ ↑
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Being a Green Mother
Piers Anthony1987
Orb, the daughter of Fate, assumes the role of Nature. She uses her magical songs to manage the world's ecology and confront a demonic threat.
elegiac → earnest
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Warrior Rising
P.C. Cast2008
Goddesses transport a modern woman to ancient Troy to seduce and distract Achilles. It is a lighthearted fish-out-of-water romance.
elegiac → playful
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In a Holidaze
Christina Lauren2020
A woman stuck in a time loop relives the same Christmas vacation at a Utah cabin. She tries to fix her mistakes and win over a long-time crush.
elegiac → warm
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Faster
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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
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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
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3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
elegiac → propulsive
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- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
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.
elegiac → propulsive
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- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
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.
elegiac → propulsive
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Slower
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The Book of Merlyn
T. H. White1977
An aged King Arthur meets with Merlyn and a council of animals in a badger's sett to debate the nature of humanity and war.
Same elegiac register, still arthurian
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- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
elegiac → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
Same elegiac register
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- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
elegiac → dreamlike
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- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
Among Others
Jo Walton2011
A teenage girl at a 1970s boarding school copes with her twin's death through books and subtle magic. It is written as a series of diary entries.
elegiac → tender
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Heavier
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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.
elegiac → bleak
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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.
elegiac → tense
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3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
elegiac → bleak
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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.
elegiac → cold
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Song of Kali
Dan Simmons1985
An American poet travels to Calcutta to find a manuscript by a dead writer. He encounters a cult that worships the goddess of destruction.
elegiac → bleak
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
