LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Stand

Stephen King1978

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Those Across the River

    Christopher Buehlman2011

    A veteran moves to a family plantation in 1930s Georgia. He discovers the locals perform a monthly ritual to appease creatures in the woods.

    Same tense register, still horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Dæmonomania

    John Crowley2000

    In the third book of the Aegypt cycle, characters in the 1970s and the Renaissance navigate secret histories and alchemy. It is a slow study.

    tense → meditative

    pace0·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

    tense → meditative

    pace0·prose+2·bleak-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.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose+2·bleak-2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Smokin' Seventeen

    Janet Evanovich2011

    A bounty hunter investigates bodies found in her boss's lot while choosing between three suitors. The story follows her daily mishaps in New Jersey.

    tense → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

    A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

    tense → wry

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Akira, Vol. 6

    Katsuhiro Ōtomo2001

    A psychic loses control of his body as military forces and superpowered rivals converge on Neo-Tokyo for a final battle.

    tense → propulsive, still post-apocalyptic

    pace+2·prose0·bleak0

  • Omega days

    Campbell, John L. (Investigator)2014

    A priest, a college student, and a pilot struggle to survive as a virus turns the population into zombies. The story follows multiple perspectives.

    tense → propulsive, still post-apocalyptic

    pace+2·prose0·bleak0

  • 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.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·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.

    tense → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Damnation Game

    Clive Barker1985

    An ex-con becomes a bodyguard for a billionaire who made a deal with a supernatural gambler. The debt comes due through gore and resurrection.

    tense → bleak, still horror

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Last Days

    Brian Evenson2009

    A detective is kidnapped by a cult that practices ritual amputation and forced to investigate a murder within their ranks.

    tense → clinical, still horror

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Walking Dead: Compendium One

    Robert Kirkman2009

    A sheriff wakes from a coma into a zombie apocalypse. He leads a group of survivors through various temporary shelters over several years.

    tense → bleak, still post-apocalyptic

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1