After
Lost in a Good Book
Jasper Fforde2002
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
Same playful register, still comic fantasy
- pace0prose+1bleak0
One of Our Thursdays Is Missing
Jasper Fforde2011
A character from a book series investigates the disappearance of the real-world author. The story takes place inside a world made of literature.
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Colour of Magic
Terry Pratchett1983
A failed wizard and a naive tourist travel across a flat world carried by a turtle. The story parodies fantasy tropes and clichés.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Crewel Lye: A Caustic Yarn
Piers Anthony1984
A ghost tells the story of his life and his quest to find the woman he loved. The world is built entirely on puns and wordplay.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Bloodsucking Fiends
Christopher Moore1995
A woman is turned into a vampire in San Francisco and recruits a night-shift worker to help her survive. It is a comedy about urban nightlife.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
A Sudden Wild Magic
Diana Wynne Jones1992
A group of modern British witches travels to a parallel world to stop a parasitic society from stealing Earth's ideas.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+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.
Same playful register, still comic fantasy
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Tours of the Black Clock
Steve Erickson1989
A ghostwriter for Hitler's private pornography lives in a surreal version of the 20th century where history and memory blur.
playful → dreamlike, still alternate history
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+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.
playful → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+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.
playful → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+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.
playful → elegiac
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
Faster
- pace+1prose-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.
playful → sardonic
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-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.
Same playful register
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-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.
playful → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+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.
playful → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+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.
playful → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
Slower
- pace-2prose+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.
playful → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+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.
playful → elegiac
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+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.
playful → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose0bleak+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.
playful → tender
pace-2·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+1bleak+1
Tehanu
Ursula K. Le Guin1990
A widow cares for an aging mage who has lost his magic. The story focuses on domestic life and the aftermath of past adventures.
playful → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
Heavier
playful → sardonic, still alternate history
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
Jack Faust
Michael Swanwick1997
A scholar receives modern scientific knowledge from a demon in the 16th century. He uses it to force an industrial revolution on the world.
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
A Man Lies Dreaming
Lavie Tidhar2014
A Jewish writer in a concentration camp imagines a world where Hitler is a disgraced private eye in London. The two narratives intertwine.
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+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.
playful → bleak
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace0prose0bleak+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.
playful → tense
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
- pace0prose0bleak+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.
playful → bleak
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
