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After

The Thread That Binds the Bones

Nina Kiriki Hoffman1993

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Black Water Sister

    Zen Cho2021

    A recent graduate moves back to Malaysia and is possessed by the ghost of her grandmother, who demands help settling a debt with a local god.

    tender → wry, still contemporary fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tender → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    tender → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

    tender → meditative

    pace0·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Sundays at Tiffany's

    James Patterson2008

    A lonely woman is reunited with her childhood imaginary friend, who has returned to her life as a physical man.

    tender → warm, still contemporary fantasy

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Immortal Ever After

    Lynsay Sands2013

    After escaping a kidnapper, Valerie is rescued by an immortal named Anders. He must protect her while convincing her she is his fated life mate.

    tender → playful, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Eleventh Grave in Moonlight

    Darynda Jones2017

    A private investigator who is also the Grim Reaper deals with gods and demons while raising a daughter destined to save the world.

    tender → playful, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

tender → 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·prose0·bleak+1

  • 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.

    tender → sardonic, still urban fantasy

    pace+2·prose0·bleak+1

  • 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.

    tender → sardonic, still urban fantasy

    pace+2·prose0·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.

    tender → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Tam Lin

    Pamela Dean1991

    A college student in the 1970s joins a group of classics majors and discovers their theater troupe is tied to a faerie blood sacrifice.

    tender → meditative, still contemporary fantasy

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Unfinished Tales

    J.R.R. Tolkien1980

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

    tender → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tender → bleak, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    tender → bleak

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • 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.

    tender → tense

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2