After
The Doves Necklace
Raja Alem2014
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
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.
Same dreamlike register, still magical realism
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
The Third Policeman
Flann O'Brien1967
A murderer wanders through a surreal countryside and a two-dimensional police station. He discusses eccentric theories about bicycles and souls.
Same dreamlike register, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Novelas y Cuentos (Berenice / Cask of Amontillado / Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar / Four Beasts in One / Hop-Frog / Ligeia / Masque of the Red Death / Murders in the Rue Morgue / Mystery of Marie Roget / Oval Portrait / Pit and the Pendulum / Purloined Letter / System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether)
Edgar Allan Poe2017
A collection of short stories featuring premature burial, revenge, and gothic horror. The prose is dense and the narrators are often unstable.
Same dreamlike register, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Shadow of the Torturer
Gene Wolfe1980
An apprentice torturer is exiled for showing mercy to a prisoner. He travels across a far-future Earth where technology is mistaken for magic.
Same dreamlike register, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Briefing for a Descent into Hell
Doris Lessing1971
A man is found wandering London and placed in a psychiatric ward. The narrative shifts between the hospital and his internal cosmic hallucinations.
Same dreamlike register, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose0·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
The time keeper
Mitch Albom2011
The inventor of the first clock is released from a cave to help two people in the modern world. He teaches them the value of their remaining time.
dreamlike → earnest, still magical realism
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
The Sentinel
Lee Child2020
A drifter helps an IT manager targeted by criminals after a cyberattack. He uses physical force to protect the man and uncover a conspiracy.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
On a Pale Horse
Piers Anthony1983
After accidentally killing the personification of Death, a man must take over the office. He navigates the bureaucracy of the afterlife.
dreamlike → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
The Rooster Bar
John Grisham2017
Three law students realize their school is a scam and drop out to pose as lawyers. They steal identities to survive and pay off their debts.
dreamlike → sardonic
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
The Last Question
Isaac Asimov2007
A short story told in seven vignettes spanning billions of years. Humanity asks a supercomputer if the heat death of the universe can be avoided.
dreamlike → meditative
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
The Housemaid's Secret
Freida McFadden2023
A housemaid with a criminal record takes a job for a wealthy couple. She becomes obsessed with the wife she is forbidden from seeing.
dreamlike → propulsive, still unreliable narrator
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
Behind Closed Doors
B.A. Paris2016
A woman is held captive by her husband in a high-security home. She must find a way to escape before her sister moves in with them.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak0
Kiss the Girls
James Patterson1995
Detective Alex Cross tracks two serial killers operating on opposite coasts who are communicating and competing with one another.
dreamlike → tense
pace+2·prose-3·bleak0
- pace+2prose-3bleak0
Verity
Colleen Hoover2018
A ghostwriter moves into a secluded estate to finish a series for an injured author and finds a hidden, disturbing autobiography.
dreamlike → tense, still unreliable narrator
pace+2·prose-3·bleak0
Slower
- pace-1prose-2bleak-1
Among Others
Jo Walton2011
A teenage girl at a 1970s boarding school copes with her twin's death through books and subtle magic. It is written as a series of diary entries.
dreamlike → tender, still magical realism
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-2bleak-2
The miracle at Speedy Motors
Alexander McCall Smith2008
Mma Ramotswe helps a woman find her long-lost family in Botswana. The story follows small domestic complications and slow-paced investigations.
dreamlike → warm
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
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.
dreamlike → meditative, still magical realism
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Little, Big
John Crowley1981
A man marries into a family living in a massive house where the borders of the natural world blur. It follows several generations over a century.
Same dreamlike register, still magical realism
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Blood on the dining-room floor
Gertrude Stein1948
A repetitive, circular narrative about a death in a country house. It uses experimental prose to obscure the facts of a traditional mystery.
dreamlike → playful
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace0prose0bleak+1
American Psycho
Bret Easton Ellis1991
A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.
dreamlike → cold, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-2bleak+1
Sharp Objects
Gillian Flynn2006
A reporter returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two girls while grappling with her own history of self-harm.
dreamlike → tense, still unreliable narrator
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
In Cold Blood
Truman Capote1965
A reconstruction of the 1959 murder of a Kansas family and the subsequent investigation. It follows both the victims and the killers.
dreamlike → clinical
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Lord of the Flies
William Golding1954
Schoolboys are stranded on an island and try to organize a society. Order collapses into tribalism and violence.
dreamlike → tense
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
