The alchemist's code

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

Shannon Ali Chakraborty2023

A retired pirate captain returns to the sea for one final job to rescue a comrade's daughter. She faces supernatural threats and old enemies.

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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, still historical fantasy

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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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Druid's Blood

Esther Friesner1988

A Victorian detective and his assistant search for a stolen book of druidic magic. It is a magical reimagining of Sherlock Holmes.

Same playful register, still historical fantasy

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Dark Lover

J. R. Ward2005

A vampire king seeks revenge against the slayers who killed his parents while protecting a woman discovering her own supernatural heritage.

playful → propulsive

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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.

Same playful register

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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.

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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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

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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.

playful → 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.

playful → meditative

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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.

playful → 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.

playful → bleak

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Pet Sematary

Stephen King1983

A family moves to Maine and discovers a burial ground that can return the dead to life. They use it, and the consequences are absolute.

playful → tense

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