After
The Fifth Head Of Cerberus
Gene Wolfe1972
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser
More like it
Same dreamlike register, still unreliable narrator
- 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.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- 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.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
The Drowning Girl
Caitlín R. Kiernan2012
A woman with schizophrenia writes a memoir to process her encounters with a mysterious girl. She questions if the events were real or delusions.
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Photographing Fairies
Steve Szilagyi1992
A photographer investigates a village where children have captured images of fairies. He discovers a hallucinogenic plant and a local cult.
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Palimpsest
Catherynne M. Valente2009
Four strangers visit a secret city accessible only through sexual contact. They become obsessed with returning to the city and its inhabitants.
Same dreamlike register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
To recover
dreamlike → playful
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Vampires Are Forever
Lynsay Sands2008
A woman suspects her business partner is a vampire after he attempts to bite her. He tries to convince her they are fated mates.
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
The Mane Event
Shelly Laurenston2007
A female cop reunites with a childhood friend who is now a lion-shifter. They navigate a romantic attraction while he pursues her in New York.
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Mile High
Liz Tomforde2023
A professional hockey player and a flight attendant clash on the team's private plane during a season-long road trip.
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Behind the Net
Stephanie Archer2024
A former musician becomes the live-in assistant for a professional hockey goalie she knew in high school.
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
She Went All the Way
Meg Cabot2002
A screenwriter and an actor survive a helicopter crash in the Alaskan wilderness and must hike to safety while being pursued by a killer.
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Matt Dinniman2020
Earth is converted into an 18-level televised death game. A man and a cat must navigate traps and monsters to survive.
dreamlike → sardonic
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
The Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Harrison1961
A futuristic con man is caught by the Special Corps and forced to use his criminal skills to catch other lawbreakers.
dreamlike → playful
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
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.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
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.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
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.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
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
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
Tehanu
Ursula K. Le Guin1990
A widow cares for an aging mage who has lost his magic. The story focuses on domestic life and the aftermath of past adventures.
dreamlike → meditative
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- 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
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Unfinished Tales
J.R.R. Tolkien1980
A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.
dreamlike → meditative
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-1bleak-2
A Slow Regard of Silent Things
Patrick Rothfuss2013
A young woman lives alone in the tunnels beneath a university, finding meaning in discarded objects and daily rituals.
dreamlike → tender
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
Heavier
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
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.
dreamlike → bleak
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-2bleak+1
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.
dreamlike → tense
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak+1
The Poppy War
R.F. Kuang2018
A war orphan enters a military academy and discovers shamanic powers. She leads a unit into a total war inspired by 20th-century Chinese history.
dreamlike → bleak
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Seth Dickinson2015
An accountant infiltrates the empire that conquered her home to destroy it from within. She uses economics and politics as her primary weapons.
dreamlike → cold
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+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.
dreamlike → bleak
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
