After
A Prisoner in Fairyland
Algernon Blackwood1913
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from, nothing slower
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Slow Regard of Silent Things
Patrick Rothfuss2014
A young woman named Auri lives alone in the tunnels beneath a university. She spends a week finding the right places for found objects.
Same dreamlike register, still fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Giant Bones
Peter S. Beagle1997
Six novellas set in the world of The Last Unicorn. These stories explore the folklore and history of a land where magic is fading.
dreamlike → meditative, still fantasy
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
The Dubious Hills
Pamela Dean1994
In a world where everyone knows exactly what others are feeling, a young girl begins to experience physical pain.
dreamlike → meditative, still fantasy
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Centaur
Algernon Blackwood1911
A traveler on a ship becomes obsessed with a man and his son who seem to be remnants of an older, non-human world.
Same dreamlike register, still fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Denser prose
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
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.
Same dreamlike register
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+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.
dreamlike → meditative
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
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
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
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
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
Iron Council
China Miéville2004
Revolutionaries steal a train to build a mobile socialist colony while a city collapses into civil war. The prose is dense and the world is grimy.
dreamlike → elegiac, still fantasy
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
Faster
- pace+3prose-1bleak+1
How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying
Django Wexler2023
A woman stuck in a time loop decides to stop trying to save the kingdom and instead attempts to become its villain. She uses past lives to plan.
dreamlike → sardonic, still fantasy
pace+3·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+3prose-1bleak+2
Awake in the Night Land
John C. Wright2014
Four novellas set in a dying world where the sun has gone out. Humans survive in a metal pyramid while monsters wait in the darkness.
dreamlike → tense, still fantasy
pace+3·prose-1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+3prose-2bleak+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+3·prose-2·bleak+1
- pace+3prose-2bleak0
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+3·prose-2·bleak0
- pace+3prose-2bleak+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+3·prose-2·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace+2prose0bleak+3
- pace+2prose0bleak+3
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+2·prose0·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak+3
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+2·prose-1·bleak+3
- pace+2prose-1bleak+3
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+2·prose-1·bleak+3
- pace+2prose0bleak+3
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Seth Dickinson2015
An accountant infiltrates the empire that conquered her home to destroy it from within. She uses economics and politics as her primary weapons.
dreamlike → cold
pace+2·prose0·bleak+3
