
After
The Skystone
Jack Whyte1992
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
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The moon in the palace
Weina Dai Randel2016
A young girl enters the Tang Dynasty court as a concubine. She navigates the hierarchies and dangers of the palace to gain the Emperor's favor.
Same earnest register, still historical fiction
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- pace0prose0bleak0
Patrick
Stephen R. Lawhead2003
A Welsh teenager is kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold into slavery. He learns druidic lore while planning his escape and return home.
Same earnest register, still historical fiction
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- pace0prose0bleak0
A Breath of Snow and Ashes
Diana Gabaldon1992
In 1772 North Carolina, Jamie and Claire Fraser face the start of the American Revolution. The story follows their community over 1,000 pages.
Same earnest register, still historical fiction
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Gwenhwyfar
Mercedes Lackey2009
Gwenhwyfar trains as a warrior in a pagan Britain before being forced into a political marriage. She navigates the demands of gods and kings.
Same earnest register, still arthurian
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1 more ↓ ↑
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11/22/63
Stephen King2011
A high school teacher travels back to 1958 and lives for five years to prevent the JFK assassination. He must manage the ripple effects of time.
Same earnest register, still historical fiction
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Denser prose
earnest → dreamlike
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In the Night Garden
Catherynne M. Valente2006
A girl with tattooed eyelids tells a prince interlocking stories of monsters and folklore. The narrative is a series of nested myths.
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- pace0prose+2bleak+1
The Claw of the Conciliator
Gene Wolfe1981
An exiled torturer travels with a gem that can heal the dead. The narrative uses archaic vocabulary and an unreliable perspective.
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3 more ↓ ↑
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Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges1945
A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.
earnest → meditative
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- pace0prose+2bleak-1
At Swim-Two-Birds
Flann O'Brien1939
A student writes a story about a man whose own characters rebel and plot against him. It incorporates Irish myth and multiple layers of fiction.
earnest → playful
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- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
earnest → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover
earnest → playful
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
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.
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- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Royally Screwed
Emma Chase2016
A crown prince visiting Manhattan pursues a bakery worker who threw a pie at him. The story follows their class-clash courtship.
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3 more ↓ ↑
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The Temptation of the Night Jasmine
Lauren Willig2009
A duke returns from India to 1805 England to find a murderer while a modern-day researcher tracks his history in the archives.
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The Princess
Lori Wick2006
In the fictional land of Pendaran, a prince enters an arranged marriage with a commoner who must learn the ways of the royal court.
earnest → warm
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- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
Grunge
Larry Correia2016
A Marine killed in a bombing is resurrected to hunt supernatural creatures. He joins a private company that kills monsters for government bounties.
earnest → sardonic
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster
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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.
earnest → sardonic
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- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
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.
earnest → playful
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

3 more ↓ ↑
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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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- pace+2prose-1bleak0
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
pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

Slower
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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.
earnest → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
earnest → elegiac
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3 more ↓ ↑
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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
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- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner1936
The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.
earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction
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- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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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Heavier
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
Pride of Baghdad
Brian K. Vaughan2006
Four lions escape the Baghdad Zoo during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The graphic novel follows their perspective as they navigate the city.
earnest → bleak, still historical fiction
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The Vengeance of Rome
Michael Moorcock2006
Pyat, an unreliable narrator and Nazi sympathizer, travels through the 1930s. He observes the rise of fascism while remaining self-deluded.
earnest → sardonic, still historical fiction
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3 more ↓ ↑
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Was
Geoff Ryman1992
Three timelines connect a Kansas girl in the 1880s, Judy Garland on set, and a dying man in the 1980s. It examines the reality behind the Oz myth.
earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction
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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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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.
earnest → tense
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
