After
The King's Buccaneer
Raymond E. Feist1992
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace+1prose0bleak0
A Darkness at Sethanon
Raymond E. Feist1986
The conclusion of the Riftwar Saga. Heroes defend the city of Sethanon against an army of dark elves and a powerful necromancer.
Same dark register, still fantasy
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak-1
The Land God Gave to Cain (Bull's-eye)
Hammond Innes1958
A man travels to the Labrador wilderness to investigate a radio distress signal his late father received. He searches for a lost expedition.
dark → tense, still adventure
pace+1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak0
You Only Live Twice
Ian Fleming1964
A grieving James Bond travels to Japan on a diplomatic mission. He discovers his nemesis operating a 'suicide garden' at a remote castle.
dark → elegiac, still adventure
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
A triumph of souls
Alan Dean Foster2000
A group of companions travels to the land of Ehl-Larimar to rescue a captive from a possessed sorcerer.
dark → earnest, still fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Child of a Dead God
Barb Hendee2008
A half-vampire woman and her companions travel south to a frozen castle to find an artifact before her brother can.
dark → earnest, still fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
Denser prose
- pace0prose+2bleak0
My Name Is Red
Orhan Pamuk
In 1591 Istanbul, miniaturists investigate a colleague's murder. Objects and colors narrate chapters alongside the human characters.
dark → meditative
pace0·prose+2·bleak0
- pace0prose+2bleak0
Amberes
Roberto Bolaño2002
A fragmented series of fifty-six short sections follows a police officer, a redhead, and a hunchback through a series of loosely linked crimes.
dark → cold
pace0·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak-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.
dark → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace0prose+2bleak0
The Doves Necklace
Raja Alem2014
A detective investigates an unidentified woman's body found in a Mecca alleyway. The city itself narrates parts of the story.
dark → dreamlike
pace0·prose+2·bleak0
- pace0prose+2bleak+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.
dark → cold
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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.
dark → playful, still fantasy
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-1bleak-2
Medusa
Clive Cussler2009
The NUMA team investigates a missing undersea lab and a bathysphere attack. They uncover a corporate plot involving a deadly virus and jellyfish.
dark → propulsive, still adventure
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak-2
Morgan Is My Name
Sophie Keetch2023
A retelling of the early life of Morgan le Fay. She navigates the court of King Uther Pendragon and discovers her own magical abilities.
dark → playful, still fantasy
pace+1·prose0·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
dark → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
Faster
dark → propulsive, still adventure
- pace+2prose-1bleak-2
Medusa
Clive Cussler2009
The NUMA team investigates a missing undersea lab and a bathysphere attack. They uncover a corporate plot involving a deadly virus and jellyfish.
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
The Jester
James Patterson2003
A man returns from the Crusades to find his village destroyed and his wife abducted. He assumes a new identity to hunt the killers.
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak-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.
dark → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-1bleak-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.
dark → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-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.
dark → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-1prose+2bleak-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.
dark → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
dark → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Moby Dick
Herman Melville1851
A sailor joins a whaling voyage led by a captain seeking revenge on a specific whale. Large sections digress into the mechanics of 1850s whaling.
dark → meditative, still adventure
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak-2
Gödel, Escher, Bach
Douglas R. Hofstadter1979
An exploration of how cognition emerges from hidden neurological patterns. It uses math, art, and music to explain self-referential systems.
dark → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-2
- pace-1prose+2bleak-1
Ulysses
James Joyce1914
Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.
dark → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace0prose+2bleak+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.
dark → cold
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak+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.
dark → tense
pace+1·prose0·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.
dark → 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.
dark → tense
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
