LitQueuelitqueue

After

All the Stars in the Sky

Sarah Lyons Fleming2015

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Walking Dead, Book Six

    Robert Kirkman2010

    Survivors of a zombie plague attempt to build a community in a fortified neighborhood. The focus is on group politics and interpersonal conflict.

    earnest → bleak, still post-apocalyptic

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

Denser prose

earnest → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Racconti [55 stories]

    Edgar Allan Poe2011

    A collection of 55 stories featuring unreliable narrators and gothic settings. Themes include obsession, premature burial, and the macabre.

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Gormenghast

    Mervyn Peake1950

    A young heir and a social climber navigate the rigid rituals of a decaying, labyrinthine castle. The prose is dense and descriptive.

    earnest → dark

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

    James Hogg1824

    A religious fanatic becomes convinced he is predestined for salvation and commits crimes at the behest of a mysterious stranger.

    earnest → cold

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Score

    Elle Kennedy2016

    A college senior has a one-night stand with a hockey player to get over a breakup. They continue the arrangement as graduation approaches.

    earnest → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Kaiju Preservation Society

    John Scalzi2022

    A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.

    earnest → playful, still found family

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Smokin' Seventeen

    Janet Evanovich2011

    A bounty hunter investigates bodies found in her boss's lot while choosing between three suitors. The story follows her daily mishaps in New Jersey.

    earnest → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

earnest → bleak, still post-apocalyptic

3 more ↓

  • The Fall

    Thomas A. Watson

    A survivalist uses his preparation and skills to protect his family during a sudden global collapse. The focus is on tactical defense.

    Same earnest register, still post-apocalyptic

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • The remaining

    D. J Molles2014

    A soldier emerges from a bunker into a world where a bacterium has turned most people into predators. He attempts to find survivors.

    earnest → tense, still post-apocalyptic

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

  • Soldier On

    Shawn Chesser

    A former Delta Force operator navigates a zombie outbreak to find his family. He uses military tactics to survive encounters with the undead.

    earnest → propulsive, still zombie apocalypse

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Ulysses

    James Joyce1914

    Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

    earnest → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Walking Dead Vol. 7: Calm before

    Robert Kirkman

    Survivors attempt to maintain a stable community within a prison. Tensions rise as they prepare for an inevitable attack from a rival leader.

    earnest → tense, still post-apocalyptic

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+2

  • The Night of the Living Dead

    John A. Russo

    A group of strangers barricades themselves in a farmhouse to survive a night against reanimated corpses.

    earnest → tense, still zombie apocalypse

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • One

    Conrad Williams2009

    A man walks across a scorched, post-apocalyptic Britain to find his son. He encounters red rain, ruins, and cannibalism.

    earnest → bleak, still post-apocalyptic

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2