LitQueuelitqueue

After

Tourists

Lisa Goldstein1989

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Necessary Beggar

    Susan Palwick2005

    A family exiled from a magical world for a crime they didn't commit must navigate life as refugees in a near-future American city.

    dreamlike → tender, still portal fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

Denser prose

dreamlike → meditative, still magical realism

3 more ↓

  • The Fifth Head Of Cerberus

    Gene Wolfe1972

    Three interlocking novellas explore identity and colonization on twin planets. A young man grows up in a library under a mysterious father.

    Same dreamlike register

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    Same dreamlike register

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Tours of the Black Clock

    Steve Erickson1989

    A ghostwriter for Hitler's private pornography lives in a surreal version of the 20th century where history and memory blur.

    Same dreamlike register, still magical realism

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

    Malcolm Gladwell

    Gladwell examines instances where perceived disadvantages, like dyslexia or small size, become the primary drivers of success.

    dreamlike → earnest

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Redshirts

    John Scalzi2012

    Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    dreamlike → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace+2·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.

    dreamlike → propulsive

    pace+2·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.

    dreamlike → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    dreamlike → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    Same dreamlike register

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Invisible Cities

    Italo Calvino1972

    Marco Polo describes fifty-five imaginary cities to Kublai Khan. The book is a series of short, prose-poem meditations on urban existence.

    dreamlike → meditative, still magical realism

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    dreamlike → 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.

    dreamlike → tense

    pace+1·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.

    dreamlike → bleak

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2