Marianne, the Magus, and the Manticore

Larque on the Wing

Nancy Springer1994

A middle-aged woman creates a physical manifestation of her ten-year-old self, who helps her transform into a young man.

Same playful register, still contemporary fantasy

pace0·prose0·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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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

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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.

playful → meditative

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It Starts with Us

Colleen Hoover2022

A single mother navigates a new relationship with her first love while managing a jealous ex-husband. The story alternates perspectives.

playful → earnest

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Assistant to the Villain

Hannah Nicole Maehrer2023

A woman takes a job as an administrative assistant to a local villain to support her family. She manages his office while ignoring his evil deeds.

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

The Marriage Bargain

Jennifer Probst2012

A bookstore owner enters a one-year contract marriage with a billionaire to save her family's land. They must follow a set of rules to stay platonic.

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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

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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

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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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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

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Tam Lin

Pamela Dean1991

A college student in the 1970s joins a group of classics majors and discovers their theater troupe is tied to a faerie blood sacrifice.

playful → meditative, still contemporary fantasy

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.

playful → meditative

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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.

playful → bleak

pace+1·prose0·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.

playful → cold

pace+1·prose+1·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.

playful → bleak

pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2