LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Devil's Only Friend

Dan Wells2015

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Prince of Thorns

    Mark Lawrence2011

    A teenage prince leads a band of violent outlaws across a post-apocalyptic landscape to reclaim his throne through any means necessary.

    Same cold register

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • In the Night Garden

    Catherynne M. Valente2006

    A girl with tattooed eyelids tells a prince interlocking stories of monsters and folklore. The narrative is a series of nested myths.

    cold → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

    cold → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    cold → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-2

To recover

cold → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • This Man

    Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

    An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.

    cold → tense

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

    A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

    cold → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Ready Player One

    Ernest Cline2008

    A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Hellsing

    Kohta Hirano2003

    A secret British organization uses a powerful vampire to fight a supernatural Nazi uprising. The Vatican intervenes as London is besieged.

    cold → sardonic, still dark fantasy

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • Final Destination I

    Natasha Rhodes2006

    After surviving a plane crash they were destined to die in, a group of teenagers is hunted by an invisible, lethal force.

    cold → tense, still supernatural thriller

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

  • Something is Killing the Children, Book One

    James Tynion IV2021

    A monster hunter arrives in a town where children are being eaten by invisible creatures. It is a graphic novel about systemic violence.

    cold → tense, still dark fantasy

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Slower

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.

    cold → dreamlike

    pace-2·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.

    cold → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Moonwise

    Greer Gilman1991

    Two women are pulled into a world created by their own folk-tales. The narrative uses dense, archaic language to describe a shifting landscape.

    cold → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

cold → bleak, still dark fantasy

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    cold → tense, still horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Song of Kali

    Dan Simmons1985

    An American poet travels to Calcutta to find a manuscript by a dead writer. He encounters a cult that worships the goddess of destruction.

    cold → bleak, still horror

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Empire of the Damned

    Jay Kristoff2024

    A vampire hunter protects the Holy Grail while navigating a war between rival vampire bloodlines. The world is trapped in a permanent night.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1