The Serpent's Shadow

Hood (King Raven #1)

Stephen R. Lawhead2006

A Welsh prince flees into the forest after Norman invaders kill his father. He adopts the identity of Robin Hood to lead a resistance.

Same earnest register, still historical fantasy

pace0·prose0·bleak0

Ficciones

Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

earnest → meditative

pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

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.

earnest → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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.

earnest → dreamlike

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

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.

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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.

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Ghost Ship

Clive Cussler2014

Kurt Austin survives a yacht sinking but suffers from conflicting memories. He investigates a global cybercrime conspiracy to find the truth.

earnest → propulsive

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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.

earnest → propulsive

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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.

earnest → propulsive

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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.

earnest → propulsive

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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.

earnest → elegiac

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Cloud & Ashes: Three Winter's Tales

Greer Gilman2009

A triptych of stories set in a mythic Yorkshire, told in dense, archaic dialect. It follows the intersections of folk magic and celestial myth.

earnest → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

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Unfinished Tales

J.R.R. Tolkien1980

A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.

earnest → meditative

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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.

earnest → elegiac, still historical fantasy

pace-1·prose0·bleak+2

The sad tale of the brothers Grossbart

Jesse Bullington2009

Two murderous brothers travel across 14th-century Europe to rob Egyptian tombs. They encounter monsters and religious zealots along the way.

earnest → sardonic, still historical fantasy

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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.

earnest → bleak

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