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After

The Secret History of Moscow

Ekaterina Sedia2007

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  • Castleview

    Gene Wolfe1990

    A family moves to a small Illinois town where the local woods contain a castle and figures from Arthurian legend begin to appear.

    elegiac → dreamlike, still urban fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Ink

    Hal Duncan2007

    Gods and mortals clash in a shifting city where reality is written on skin. The story follows a cycle of mythic archetypes across time.

    elegiac → dreamlike, still mythic fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

    elegiac → meditative

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    Same elegiac register, still mythic fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Undead and Unwed

    MaryJanice Davidson2004

    After dying in a car crash, a fashion-obsessed woman wakes up as a vampire. She resists the local undead community's claim that she is their queen.

    elegiac → playful, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Bitten & Smitten

    Michelle Rowen2006

    Sarah is accidentally turned into a vampire and must rely on a grumpy, centuries-old vampire to teach her how to survive.

    elegiac → playful, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Gentlemen Prefer Succubi

    Jill Myles2009

    After encounters with a vampire and a fallen angel, a woman gains supernatural powers and a high libido. She is caught in a war between factions.

    elegiac → playful, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

elegiac → propulsive, still urban fantasy

3 more ↓

  • Battle Ground

    Jim Butcher2020

    A wizard leads the supernatural defense of Chicago against an invading army led by a Titan. The book is a single, continuous battle.

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • Blood Engines

    Tim Pratt2007

    A sorceress who uses blood magic to power her spells defends her city from a rival. She makes ruthless choices to maintain her power.

    elegiac → sardonic, still urban fantasy

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • Sandman Slim

    Richard Kadrey2009

    A magician crawls out of Hell to hunt the people who murdered his girlfriend in Los Angeles. He uses black magic and a stolen shotgun.

    elegiac → sardonic, still urban fantasy

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Love & Sleep

    John Crowley1994

    Pierce Moffett researches the history of magic while living in a small town. The narrative shifts between his life and the Renaissance.

    elegiac → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·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.

    elegiac → dreamlike, still mythic fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·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.

    elegiac → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    Same elegiac register, still mythic fiction

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1

  • A Matter of Blood

    Sarah Pinborough2010

    A detective investigates a serial killer in a London plagued by a failing economy and a supernatural virus. The tone is consistently grim.

    elegiac → bleak, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+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.

    elegiac → bleak

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1