She Who Became the Sun

The City of Brass

Shannon Ali Chakraborty2017

A con artist in 18th-century Cairo accidentally summons a djinn warrior. He takes her to a hidden city of brass built on tribal politics.

Same propulsive register, still historical fantasy

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Ficciones

Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

propulsive → meditative

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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.

propulsive → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

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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.

propulsive → dreamlike

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Girl, Wash Your Face

Rachel Hollis2018

The author lists twenty common lies she once believed about herself and provides personal anecdotes and advice to dismantle them.

propulsive → earnest

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Unfinished

Priyanka Chopra Jonas2021

The actress details her childhood in India, her time in American schools, and her transition from pageantry to a global film career.

propulsive → earnest

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Weekends Required

Sydney Landon2013

An assistant performs a burlesque routine for her boss at a bachelor party, changing their professional dynamic into a romantic pursuit.

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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.

Same propulsive register

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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.

Same propulsive register

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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.

Same propulsive register

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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.

propulsive → elegiac

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Cloud & Ashes: Three Winter's Tales

Greer Gilman2009

A triptych of stories set in a mythic Yorkshire, told in dense, archaic dialect. It follows the intersections of folk magic and celestial myth.

propulsive → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

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Unfinished Tales

J.R.R. Tolkien1980

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

propulsive → meditative

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Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu

Andrus Kivirähk2015

A boy in medieval Estonia learns the ancient language of snakes to command animals as his forest culture is erased by Christian invaders.

propulsive → elegiac, still historical fantasy

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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.

propulsive → sardonic, still historical fantasy

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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.

propulsive → bleak

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