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After

The Crystal City

Orson Scott Card2003

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same earnest register, still historical fantasy

1 more ↓

  • Throne of Jade

    Naomi Novik2006

    A British captain and his dragon travel to China to resolve a diplomatic crisis. Much of the book takes place aboard a ship during the long voyage.

    earnest → warm, still historical fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

earnest → meditative, still historical fantasy

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.

    earnest → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Tours of the Black Clock

    Steve Erickson1989

    A ghostwriter for Hitler's private pornography lives in a surreal version of the 20th century where history and memory blur.

    earnest → dreamlike, still alternate history

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

    earnest → meditative

    pace0·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

earnest → warm

3 more ↓

  • Things We Never Got Over

    Lucy Score2022

    A runaway bride arrives in a small Virginia town and meets a local barber. She must deal with her twin sister's theft and a fake relationship.

    earnest → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Paradise Valley

    Robyn Carr2009

    A disfigured Marine returns to Virgin River to heal while a newcomer with a criminal past tries to find a place in the community.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund

    Blaize Clement2007

    A pet sitter and her dachshund find a body during a walk. The killer pursues her because they believe she can identify them.

    earnest → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    earnest → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    earnest → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    earnest → propulsive, still chosen one

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    earnest → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

    pace-1·prose+2·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.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • A Man Lies Dreaming

    Lavie Tidhar2014

    A Jewish writer in a concentration camp imagines a world where Hitler is a disgraced private eye in London. The two narratives intertwine.

    earnest → sardonic, still alternate history

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • 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.

    earnest → elegiac, still historical fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    earnest → sardonic, still historical fantasy

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2