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After

Beneath the Sugar Sky

Seanan McGuire2018

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More like it

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  • The Library of the Unwritten

    A.J. Hackwith2019

    A librarian in Hell tracks down a fictional hero who escaped his unfinished manuscript. She travels across realms to return him to his book.

    whimsical → playful, still contemporary fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

whimsical → meditative

3 more ↓

  • Ink

    Hal Duncan2007

    Gods and mortals clash in a shifting city where reality is written on skin. The story follows a cycle of mythic archetypes across time.

    whimsical → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    whimsical → elegiac

    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.

    whimsical → dreamlike, still portal fantasy

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • It Happened One Summer

    Tessa Bailey2021

    A socialite is sent to a small fishing town to run a dive bar. She enters a relationship with a local sea captain who doubts her competence.

    whimsical → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Bitten & Smitten

    Michelle Rowen2006

    Sarah is accidentally turned into a vampire and must rely on a grumpy, centuries-old vampire to teach her how to survive.

    whimsical → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble (Underworld, #1)

    H.P. Mallory

    A woman discovers she is a witch and becomes entangled with both a vampire and a warlock while navigating a supernatural underworld.

    whimsical → playful

    pace0·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.

    whimsical → 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.

    whimsical → 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.

    whimsical → 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.

    whimsical → 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.

    whimsical → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • Tam Lin

    Pamela Dean1991

    A college student in the 1970s joins a group of classics majors and discovers their theater troupe is tied to a faerie blood sacrifice.

    whimsical → meditative, still contemporary fantasy

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    whimsical → 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.

    whimsical → bleak

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    whimsical → cold

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2