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After

The Stepsister Scheme

Jim C. Hines2009

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same playful register, still fantasy

1 more ↓

  • Tigerheart

    Peter David2008

    A young boy travels to the world of his father's stories to rescue his sister. It is a reimagining of the Peter Pan mythos.

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

playful → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

    playful → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    Same playful register

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    playful → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Electric Idol

    Katee Robert2022

    In a modern-day Olympus, Eros is ordered to kill Psyche but chooses to enter a fake marriage with her to protect her from his mother.

    Same playful register

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Identicals

    Elin Hilderbrand2017

    Estranged identical twin sisters swap lives on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard to handle a family crisis and repair their relationship.

    playful → warm

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

    Marcus Aurelius2012

    Same playful register, still fantasy

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    playful → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    playful → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    playful → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

    playful → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • Unfinished Tales

    J.R.R. Tolkien1980

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

    playful → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • A Slow Regard of Silent Things

    Patrick Rothfuss2013

    A young woman lives alone in the tunnels beneath a university, finding meaning in discarded objects and daily rituals.

    playful → tender, still fantasy

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    playful → tense

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Poppy War

    R.F. Kuang2018

    A war orphan enters a military academy and discovers shamanic powers. She leads a unit into a total war inspired by 20th-century Chinese history.

    playful → bleak

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Traitor Baru Cormorant

    Seth Dickinson2015

    An accountant infiltrates the empire that conquered her home to destroy it from within. She uses economics and politics as her primary weapons.

    playful → cold

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2