LitQueuelitqueue

After

The children's hospital

Chris Adrian2006

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

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  • Absolution

    Jeff VanderMeer2024

    A prequel and sequel to the Southern Reach trilogy. It explores the early origins of Area X through multiple perspectives and decades.

    Same dreamlike register

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Empty Space

    M. John Harrison2012

    Three interlocking timelines follow a widow in London, a detective in a neon city, and a pilot in deep space. The prose is dense and surreal.

    Same dreamlike register

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Return to the Whorl

    Gene Wolfe2001

    A man returns to his home planet on a small spacecraft to find his family. The story is told through his complex, often confusing journals.

    dreamlike → elegiac

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Dhalgren

    Samuel R. Delany1975

    An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.

    Same dreamlike register

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • This Girl

    Colleen Hoover2013

    A husband retells the story of his early relationship to his wife. It uses dual timelines to revisit events from the first book in the series.

    dreamlike → earnest

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-3

  • The Score

    Elle Kennedy2016

    A college senior has a one-night stand with a hockey player to get over a breakup. They continue the arrangement as graduation approaches.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • Where Angels Go

    Debbie Macomber2007

    Three angels descend to Earth during Christmas to intervene in the lives of a lonely elderly man, a fearful woman, and a young boy.

    dreamlike → warm

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-3

Faster

3 more ↓

  • All Systems Red

    Martha Wells2017

    A self-aware security android hacks its own governor module to watch soap operas while protecting a team of scientists on a distant planet.

    dreamlike → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3

  • Skin Game

    Jim Butcher2014

    Wizard Harry Dresden joins a team of villains to rob a vault in the Underworld. It is a fast-paced heist set in a modern fantasy Chicago.

    dreamlike → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Kaiju Preservation Society

    John Scalzi2022

    A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Dandelion Wine

    Ray Bradbury1946

    A twelve-year-old boy experiences a series of vignettes over one summer in 1928 Illinois. The chapters focus on small-town life and aging.

    dreamlike → elegiac, still magical realism

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-3

  • Beelzebub's tales to his grandson

    Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff1950

    An extraterrestrial being explains the history and strange behaviors of humanity to his grandson during a long space voyage.

    dreamlike → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·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.

    dreamlike → meditative, still magical realism

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2