Trail of Lightning

For a Few Demons More

Kim Harrison2007

A bounty hunter witch protects a dangerous artifact while a serial killer and an ancient demon hunt for victims in Cincinnati.

Same tense register, still urban fantasy

pace0·prose0·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.

tense → dreamlike, still chosen one

pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

Ficciones

Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

tense → meditative

pace-1·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

pace-1·prose+2·bleak-2

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.

pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Grunge

Larry Correia2016

A Marine killed in a bombing is resurrected to hunt supernatural creatures. He joins a private company that kills monsters for government bounties.

tense → sardonic, still urban fantasy

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Dark Lover

J. R. Ward2005

A vampire king seeks revenge against the slayers who killed his parents while protecting a woman discovering her own supernatural heritage.

tense → propulsive, still urban fantasy

pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

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+1·prose0·bleak0

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.

tense → sardonic, still urban fantasy

pace+1·prose0·bleak0

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.

tense → sardonic, still urban fantasy

pace+1·prose0·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.

tense → dreamlike

pace-2·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-2·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-2·prose+2·bleak-1

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.

tense → bleak, still urban fantasy

pace0·prose0·bleak+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.

tense → bleak

pace0·prose+1·bleak+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.

Same tense register

pace0·prose0·bleak+1