LitQueuelitqueue

After

Madouc

Jack Vance1989

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Outside the Dog Museum

    Jonathan Carroll1991

    An eccentric architect is hired by a wealthy sultan to design a museum for dogs and discovers a hidden magical world.

    Same wry register

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Soldier of Sidon

    Gene Wolfe2006

    A mercenary in ancient Egypt loses his memory every time he sleeps. He records his days in a scroll while interacting with gods and spirits.

    wry → meditative

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    wry → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    wry → playful

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    wry → warm

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Stardust

    Neil Gaiman1999

    A young man crosses a magical border to retrieve a fallen star for his beloved. He discovers the star is a woman being hunted by witches.

    wry → playful, still fairy tale

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • To the nines

    Janet Evanovich2003

    A bounty hunter travels to Las Vegas to track down a missing person while being targeted by a serial killer. The tone is comedic.

    wry → playful

    pace+2·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.

    wry → 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.

    wry → 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.

    wry → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    wry → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Unfinished Tales

    J.R.R. Tolkien1980

    A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.

    wry → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    wry → tender, still fairy tale

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    wry → bleak

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2

  • 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.

    wry → cold

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    wry → bleak

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2