After
Captain Blood
Rafael Sabatini1922
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Tai-Pan
James Clavell1966
A Scottish trader in 1841 Hong Kong fights to establish a merchant empire. He navigates opium smuggling, naval battles, and a deadly local rivalry.
Same propulsive register, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak0
The World We Make
N. K. Jemisin2022
The human avatars of New York City's boroughs unite to fight a Lovecraftian entity. They face a mayoral candidate influenced by the enemy.
Same propulsive register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000
L. Ron Hubbard2000
A human survivor leads a rebellion against the Psychlos, an alien race that has strip-mined Earth for a thousand years.
Same propulsive register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
One Fell Sweep
Ilona Andrews2017
An innkeeper protects her magical, sentient bed and breakfast from intergalactic threats. She must hide a tyrant while managing a werewolf guest.
Same propulsive register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Star Wars: The Last Command
Timothy Zahn
Grand Admiral Thrawn launches a final offensive against the New Republic while a Jedi clone descends into madness.
Same propulsive register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
propulsive → dreamlike
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
In the Night Garden
Catherynne M. Valente2006
A girl with tattooed eyelids tells a prince interlocking stories of monsters and folklore. The narrative is a series of nested myths.
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges1945
A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.
propulsive → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
propulsive → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
propulsive → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak+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.
propulsive → sardonic
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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.
propulsive → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak+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.
Same propulsive register
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
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.
Same propulsive register
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Monster Hunter International
Larry Correia2007
An accountant kills his boss, who has become a werewolf, and is recruited by a private company that hunts monsters for government bounties.
Same propulsive register
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
propulsive → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
propulsive → elegiac
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
propulsive → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+3
Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner1936
The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.
propulsive → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+3
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
Unfinished Tales
J.R.R. Tolkien1980
A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.
propulsive → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace0prose0bleak+3
Pride of Baghdad
Brian K. Vaughan2006
Four lions escape the Baghdad Zoo during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The graphic novel follows their perspective as they navigate the city.
propulsive → bleak, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
- pace-1prose+1bleak+3
The Vengeance of Rome
Michael Moorcock2006
Pyat, an unreliable narrator and Nazi sympathizer, travels through the 1930s. He observes the rise of fascism while remaining self-deluded.
propulsive → sardonic, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+3
Was
Geoff Ryman1992
Three timelines connect a Kansas girl in the 1880s, Judy Garland on set, and a dying man in the 1980s. It examines the reality behind the Oz myth.
propulsive → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace0prose+1bleak+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.
propulsive → bleak
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace0prose0bleak+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.
propulsive → tense
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
