After
Tours of the Black Clock
Steve Erickson1989
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Shadow of the Torturer
Gene Wolfe1980
An apprentice torturer is exiled for showing mercy to a prisoner. He travels across a far-future Earth where technology is mistaken for magic.
Same dreamlike register, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
The Seas
Samantha Hunt2004
A young woman in a remote fishing village believes she is a mermaid while mourning her father's disappearance into the sea.
Same dreamlike register, still magical realism
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
The Drowning Girl
Caitlín R. Kiernan2012
A woman with schizophrenia writes a memoir to process her encounters with a mysterious girl. She questions if the events were real or delusions.
Same dreamlike register, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Photographing Fairies
Steve Szilagyi1992
A photographer investigates a village where children have captured images of fairies. He discovers a hallucinogenic plant and a local cult.
Same dreamlike register, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Doves Necklace
Raja Alem2014
A detective investigates an unidentified woman's body found in a Mecca alleyway. The city itself narrates parts of the story.
Same dreamlike register, still magical realism
pace0·prose0·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Thoughtful
S.C. Stephens2015
Kellan Kyle falls for his best friend's girlfriend, Anna. The story retells the events of Thoughtless from Kellan's perspective.
dreamlike → earnest
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown2009
Symbologist Robert Langdon follows a trail of Masonic puzzles through Washington D.C. monuments to save his kidnapped mentor.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Walking Disaster
Jamie McGuire2013
This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
This Man
Jodi Ellen Malpas2013
An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.
dreamlike → tense
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline2008
A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
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.
dreamlike → sardonic
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
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-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak-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-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
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-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
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.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-1prose-2bleak-1
Among Others
Jo Walton2011
A teenage girl at a 1970s boarding school copes with her twin's death through books and subtle magic. It is written as a series of diary entries.
dreamlike → tender, still magical realism
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Little, Big
John Crowley1981
A man marries into a family living in a massive house where the borders of the natural world blur. It follows several generations over a century.
Same dreamlike register, still magical realism
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
Tehanu
Ursula K. Le Guin1990
A widow cares for an aging mage who has lost his magic. The story focuses on domestic life and the aftermath of past adventures.
dreamlike → meditative
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Unfinished Tales
J.R.R. Tolkien1980
A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.
dreamlike → meditative
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-1bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → tender
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
Heavier
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Jack Faust
Michael Swanwick1997
A scholar receives modern scientific knowledge from a demon in the 16th century. He uses it to force an industrial revolution on the world.
dreamlike → sardonic, still alternate history
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
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.
dreamlike → elegiac, still magical realism
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
A Man Lies Dreaming
Lavie Tidhar2014
A Jewish writer in a concentration camp imagines a world where Hitler is a disgraced private eye in London. The two narratives intertwine.
dreamlike → sardonic, still alternate history
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
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+1
- pace+1prose-2bleak+1
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·prose-2·bleak+1
