LitQueuelitqueue

After

Lord Tophet

Gregory Frost2008

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Piranesi

    Susanna Clarke2020

    A man keeps a careful journal of a house that has an ocean in it. The pleasure is watching him notice things.

    Same dreamlike register, still mythic fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Ink

    Hal Duncan2007

    Gods and mortals clash in a shifting city where reality is written on skin. The story follows a cycle of mythic archetypes across time.

    Same dreamlike register, still mythic fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Tourmaline

    Paul Park2006

    A girl from our world navigates a magical, alternate-history Europe where Romania is a superpower. The narrative is dense and non-linear.

    Same dreamlike register, still historical fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Endless Things

    John Crowley2007

    A scholar travels to Europe to find a secret history of magic hidden within real-world myths. This is the conclusion of a four-book cycle.

    dreamlike → meditative, still historical fantasy

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Mane Event

    Shelly Laurenston2007

    A female cop reunites with a childhood friend who is now a lion-shifter. They navigate a romantic attraction while he pursues her in New York.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Mile High

    Liz Tomforde2023

    A professional hockey player and a flight attendant clash on the team's private plane during a season-long road trip.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Behind the Net

    Stephanie Archer2024

    A former musician becomes the live-in assistant for a professional hockey goalie she knew in high school.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    dreamlike → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

  • 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.

    dreamlike → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·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.

    dreamlike → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

Slower

Same dreamlike register, still mythic fiction

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    dreamlike → meditative, still historical fantasy

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    dreamlike → elegiac, still mythic fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Centaur

    Algernon Blackwood1911

    A traveler on a ship becomes obsessed with a man and his son who seem to be remnants of an older, non-human world.

    pace-1·prose0·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The sad tale of the brothers Grossbart

    Jesse Bullington2009

    Two murderous brothers travel across 14th-century Europe to rob Egyptian tombs. They encounter monsters and religious zealots along the way.

    dreamlike → sardonic, still historical fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+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.

    dreamlike → bleak

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+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.

    dreamlike → tense

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2