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After

Pirate Freedom

Gene Wolfe2007

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Worst Ship in the Fleet

    Skyler Ramirez2023

    Same dark register

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

Denser prose

dark → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

    A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.

    dark → meditative

    pace-1·prose+3·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.

    dark → playful

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak-2

  • 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.

    dark → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Utopia

    Thomas More

    A traveler describes the customs, laws, and social structures of an ideal island nation. It is a philosophical dialogue on political theory.

    dark → sardonic, still utopian

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-2

  • For Us, the Living

    Robert A. Heinlein2003

    A 1930s pilot wakes up in the year 2086. The book consists of long dialogues explaining the social, economic, and sexual norms of the future.

    dark → earnest, still utopian

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2

  • Dream Park

    Larry Niven1981

    A security chief investigates a real murder committed inside a high-tech theme park during a live-action fantasy roleplaying game.

    dark → playful, still scifi

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Promise of Blood

    Brian McClellan2013

    A Field Marshal stages a bloody coup against his king and must defend the new government using soldiers who gain magic powers from gunpowder.

    dark → propulsive

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • A Memory of Light

    Robert Jordan2013

    The final volume of a long-running series where various nations and magical users unite for a final battle against an ancient evil.

    dark → earnest

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Whalefall

    Daniel Kraus2023

    A diver searching for his father's remains is swallowed by a sperm whale. He has one hour of oxygen to find a way out of the animal's stomach.

    dark → tense

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

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.

    dark → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak-1

  • Unfinished Tales

    J.R.R. Tolkien1980

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

    dark → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak-1

  • Looking Backward, 2000 to 1887

    Edward Bellamy2005

    A 19th-century man falls into a deep sleep and wakes up in the year 2000 to find America transformed into a socialist utopia.

    dark → earnest, still utopian

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2

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.

    dark → bleak

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    dark → cold

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    dark → bleak

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1