LitQueuelitqueue

After

Trey of Swords

Andre Norton1977

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • An Accident of Stars

    Foz Meadows2016

    A teenager falls into a magical world and joins a group of women resisting a conqueror. It focuses on the politics of a multi-world rebellion.

    Same earnest register, still portal fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

earnest → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

    earnest → 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.

    earnest → playful

    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.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    earnest → sardonic

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • A Galaxy Unknown

    Thomas DePrima2010

    An ensign uses her tactical skills to rise through the ranks of a space navy while fighting pirates and internal bureaucracy.

    Same earnest register

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Princess

    Lori Wick2006

    In the fictional land of Pendaran, a prince enters an arranged marriage with a commoner who must learn the ways of the royal court.

    earnest → warm

    pace-1·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.

    earnest → playful

    pace+1·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.

    earnest → 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.

    earnest → propulsive

    pace+1·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.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-2·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.

    earnest → 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.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-2·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.

    earnest → bleak

    pace0·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.

    earnest → 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.

    earnest → bleak

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2