Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town

Half-Off Ragnarok

Seanan McGuire2014

A cryptozoologist studying gorgons in Ohio must investigate a series of local murders. It is the third book in the InCryptid urban fantasy series.

Same playful register, still urban fantasy

pace+1·prose0·bleak0

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, still magical realism

pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

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.

playful → meditative

pace0·prose+2·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.

playful → dreamlike

pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

The Pioneer Woman

Ree Drummond2011

A city woman moves to a remote cattle ranch after falling in love with a cowboy. She details her transition to country life and farm chores.

playful → warm

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Going Cowboy Crazy

Katie Lane2011

A woman travels to a small Texas town to find her secret twin sister and is mistaken for her by the local residents and her sister's ex-flame.

Same playful register

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Marrying Mr. Wrong

Claire Kingsley

Two rivals wake up married in Las Vegas and decide to stay together to help their respective careers.

Same playful register

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Battle Ground

Jim Butcher2020

A wizard leads the supernatural defense of Chicago against an invading army led by a Titan. The book is a single, continuous battle.

pace+2·prose0·bleak+1

Blood Engines

Tim Pratt2007

A sorceress who uses blood magic to power her spells defends her city from a rival. She makes ruthless choices to maintain her power.

playful → sardonic, still urban fantasy

pace+2·prose0·bleak+1

Sandman Slim

Richard Kadrey2009

A magician crawls out of Hell to hunt the people who murdered his girlfriend in Los Angeles. He uses black magic and a stolen shotgun.

playful → sardonic, still urban fantasy

pace+2·prose0·bleak0

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-1·prose+2·bleak+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-1·prose+2·bleak0

Invisible Cities

Italo Calvino1972

Marco Polo describes fifty-five imaginary cities to Kublai Khan. The book is a series of short, prose-poem meditations on urban existence.

playful → meditative, still magical realism

pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

Was

Geoff Ryman1992

Three timelines connect a Kansas girl in the 1880s, Judy Garland on set, and a dying man in the 1980s. It examines the reality behind the Oz myth.

playful → elegiac, still magical realism

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

A Matter of Blood

Sarah Pinborough2010

A detective investigates a serial killer in a London plagued by a failing economy and a supernatural virus. The tone is consistently grim.

playful → bleak, still urban fantasy

pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

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

pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2